A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Atomos

A Winged Victory for the Sullen

Atomos

6 October 2014

Kranky/Erased Tapes

 

4 stars out of 5

 

 

Self-taught post-classical pianist and film scorer Dustin O’Halloran; sound engineer and ambient musician Adam Wiltzie: together, A Winged Victory for the Sullen. Wiltzie, perhaps best known as half of drone/ambient duo Stars of the Lid; O’Halloran, from the band Dévics and film scores. Atomos, the second album, the original score for the dance piece of the same name by Wayne McGregor, which premiered 9 October 2013.

 

The music: strings and piano, also synthesizer and sampled voice collage. Long, sustained notes, slowly combined into chords, subtly shifting as elements of each chord are removed, others added to create new chords. Songs titled “Atomos I” until “Atomos XII,” skipping “Atomos IV.” The more structured pieces, like “Atomos VIII,” recalling the work of Glass. On the whole, a feeling of “modern” in the proper sense, with structures and assumptions given importance, and little or no questioning of such structures and assumptions.

 

“Atomos XI,” the penultimate track, a waltz for the doomed and dispossessed: the rules of ambient music broken, the melody strong and the rhythm insistent. Emotional impact, deep; images formed by “Atomos XII,” haunting. This review, over.

 

reviewed by Richard Krueger