Feast Of Fear And Hate =

I could not be listening to this on a better day. It's raining like hell outside, and the one I want to be near more than anything is 1200 miles away. Will this make my critical ear biased? I doubt it. First some backstory... Anduin is Jonathan Lee of Souvenir's Young America from Richmond, Virginia, while Jasper TX is Gothenburg, Sweden's Dag Rosenqvist. As you may have already guessed, The Bending of Light is a collaboration between the two. The music is a vocal-less swirl of ambient electronics and hypnotic guitar tones. Most often than not, this half-hour of instrumentals are heart-wrenching bits of aural sadness that bring to mind the emptiness of space, black hole vortexes that destroy star systems, and galaxies without light. A great listen for a rainy day or Sunday evening to bring a long weekend to a close. Interestingly enough, the six song titles make up a paragraph, quoted from scientist and skeptic Carl Sagan. There is a vinyl version of this disc, but it's been pressed at only 300 copies. Good luck finding any, I'm sure

Heathen Harvest =

The Bending Of Light is collaboration between Anduin and Jasper TX. Jasper TX being Dag Rosenqvist and Anduin being Jonathan Lee.  Both are musicians within the ambient and electronic genre.  A limited release, its song titles come from quotes from astronomer Carl Sagan.  The quotes are of the formations of black holes and the vacuums of darkness that are broken apart by light.  An interesting theme to place music to and be inspired by to say the least.

“A Beam of Light Bends Back Upon Itself” starts with a feeling of spaciousness.  A vast landscape is constructed, yet within this is an overwhelming feeling of loneliness.  A nice use of ambient to build an atmosphere.  “Producing Great Jets of Radiation” is a force of chimes.  The sound descends on us and is tenacious.  “Everything Disappears In A Tunnel of Light” is a collective swirl of tones.  An intense piece but at the same time peaceful.  It features a guitar played softly under layers of cosmic ambient.  “Where a Star Once Was” is the most drone-like piece on the cd.  One could definitely hear Lamont Young’s’ influence on this piece, with drone sounds married to a minimal piano fragment.  “Like the Footprints of an Invisible Man”, has grating, droning pitches.  Tones are heard beating and pulsing.  The piece is a once uplifting and melancholic.  A gentle chord melody is played throughout adding a placid aura.  “Walking in the Snow” is distinct in its haunting melody that is played delicately.  Droning guitars give great effect to the sad and forlorn atmosphere.  

Whether the titles in themselves add anything to the music, as a whole is debatable.  I like the idea of using quotes to stimulate the creative process.  There is a definite aura of space and spaciousness, and the experience of light and darkness.  Aspects of drone, ambient and electronic are fused together nicely.  Anduin and Jasper TX prove this collaboration is a favorable one.  There is a melancholy to the whole of the album, yet at the same time peacefulness.  Together they have succeeded in creating a graceful, introspective, and solid piece of music.