Heath Yonaites - Rim of the Sun

It took me awhile to actually sit down and listen to this album, primarily I think due to the cover art. I couldn’t help but feel that it would be a hippy/new age/exotic type album, more than the atmospheric glitchy ambient I found when I finally pressed play.

Now having had the opportunity to listen to it, I really enjoy it. But I still feel the cover is misleading. Mind you, I am predisposed to having covers that are dark, gothy and in many cases, somewhat minimal (not forgetting of course the plethora of war imagery rampant in “industrial” music circles).

I’ve been exposed to a lot of dark experimental ambient lately, Triumvirate being a great source, and though I’m finding it overwhelming and a bit tiresome (as can also be said for the amount of uninspired rhythmic noise being released), I still enjoy sitting down and relaxing to mellow sounds.

The artist, Heath Yonaites, seems to be more active in the field of painting and other visual arts than music, although he has previous releases to this. “Rim of the Sun” is a drone-y moody album with glitches and building soundscapes. The first track holds one of my favourite moments at about the 8:14 minute mark, where the building bell-like glitches just -- stop! -- leaving a few seconds of empty silence. [At first, I kept assuming the song had ended and therefore we were onto a new track, but I have since sat in front of my CD player and watched the time counter, only to find the song had not ended, which seems to make this surprising cut-off of sound all the more better.]

Having only four tracks, each track is quite long (something not unusual in the ambient field), and each offers a different “trip” of sorts. With an atmospheric nature theme [it seems] and using “found” sounds -- church bells, burning logs, lake waves, etc. -- in combination with household instruments -- empty bottles, wine glasses, a metal bowl, etc -- Heath Yonaites creates an atmosphere of minimal soundscapes, hollow-like echo-y beats, and drones. The low frequencies give way to noisy distortion, even with drums on one track, creating a metallic yet natural sound… that I have now realized does fit with the cover art, that being dark moody clouds surrounding a greyish purple sun/planet, with a base of yellow clouds building below.

So perhaps the real problem simply lies with me and my preconceptions?

-- January 2003

 

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