reviews / 2008

ULAAN KHOL - I

Name: ULAAN KHOL – I
Item: I
Rating: 7
Author: Marco Sgrignoli

2008 (Soft Abuse)

psych-noise

by Marco Sgrignoli

It's never long before Steven R. Smith lets more than a few months pass between albums. I barely have time to notice the release of "Owl" before a new work under the name Ulaan Khol is already out.

On "I" it's the noise component that dominates. The electric guitar, as acidic as ever, is smothered under a uniform layer of feedback and not-so-background noise, with distortion oversaturating the amplification and producing a grainy crackle. Here and there a keyboard emerges, a breath entirely devoid of attack noise. The melodic lines sway and drift, alternating peaks of intensity with moments of flat calm, never once easing the tension.

It all converges into an oceanic sound, shoegaze-tinged at times. The resemblance to Ride isn't limited to the perfect match "I" would make with the gorgeous artwork of "Nowhere": just listen to "Untitled 02" to believe it.

Ride the wave of great music

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23/03/2008

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Marco Sgrignoli, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition