[Reviewed by: Iaha Crax]
The present CD is a re-release of Troum’s first full-length album, released in tape format back in 1998. It should be an exciting feeling, especially for the fans, to have a glimpse into the band’s first endeavours, and thanks to the work of the Zoharum label this is now possible for a wide audience.
There are two long parts, entitled I and II, that compose this record, and are being ascribed, ineluctably, in the drone-ambient musical register. Whatever the sound source may be, the value of a drone piece resides in the processing, in the way these droners treat sound, channelling it through an individual understanding of the existence. Under this angle, drone music approaches the existentialist movement more than peripherally, as the artists involved work on the sound material with a certain attitude, where acting or feeling is preeminent to thinking.
The duo formed by Stefan and Martin have trust in the social value of their music, that drones ‘can help you to survive in this insane world’, as they’ve said. Here everything seems to estrange us from real life; technology contributes to the reduction of reality to still-life objectivity. The fluids perpetrated by the processed sounds of Troum seem to occupy the empty spaces and glue back elements of reality and traces of humanity in an attempt to empathize man and nature once again.
The first part of ‘Dreaming Muzak’ reunites principal motifs and decorations of drone ambient minimalism: repetitiveness, pulsating vibes, set up for a motion ideography that both visually and aurally is realized at an immense, often grandiloquent scale. This stream of drones is not intended to ever end, being finally interrupted by the second part, sub-titled ‘The Dream Catcher’. While the melody on the first part seemed to be sweeping across the surface of the earth, this time the drones are being birthed somewhere below the crust, invading caves and diving into subterrestrial waters. This passage is wholly menacing; it constantly shifts form and melody, challenging a proper reaction and an intelligent defense from the listener, otherwise he might turn into a victim of the drone catcher.
It is remarkable how the adventure of Troum has started, and this first album proves and legitimates the unparalleled discography they have amassed over time. We have almost an hour of two paradigmatic drone-ambient compositions, crafted for us to dream this world once again.
Troum – Dreaming Muzak
Zoharum, ZOHAR 074-2
CD/Digital 2014
Santa Sangre 