We've got an all-Delawarean affair on our
hands here, with Newark-native noise-maker Joe Breitenbach (Methadrone,
Gallows) dispersing this intergalactic 20 minutes through tip-top
Wilmington label 2:00AM Tapes. And if you, like me, are a relative
newcomer to the sonic exploits of the glorious First State, well,
grab your peach blossoms and get your tape
player ready, because Outlander is rather righteous.
Side A kicks things off by laying out a
dense, machinelike drone atop which sepulchral keyboard chords and
airy, swirling samples frolic. As the track ventures on, the drone
subsides, and the keyboards occupy more of the track's aural space,
played, I believe, both forwards and in reverse. It's an eerie and
disarming listen, with various electronic mumbo-jumbo located amid
the sound to add variety to the proceedings. For all its sonic
variety, it's a tough ten minutes to place one's finger on
-- it is
indeed atmospheric, but it isn't quite drone music.
Side B is a gunkier fuss, toying with a
dusty feedback mess, menacing clinking and clanking, an electric
bass, and unusual electronic interference. Here's a track where half
the fun is invested in deciphering how Brietenbach got things to
sound just how they are; there could be just about anything in this
confounded cauldron of sound… a shortwave radio, a sampler, a field
recording culled from the Earth's core? Whatever the background,
it's a stunning length of sound, and this delightful tape's
better half. The only potential indiscretion is the track's liberal use of
left/right stereo sound; this produces a curiously dizzying effect
when paired with the already disorienting nature of the track, but
perhaps a bit more subtlety could have been employed. Either way,
it's a minor detail on a compelling work of sound.