A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLENAtomos(Kranky)12"$ 12.98
Atomos is the most recent release from this offshoot of all time aQ guitar-drone faves Stars Of The Lid. Adam Wiltzie from that group, and his partner in A Winged Victory, Dustin O'Halloran, are joined here by a few other collaborators, most notably another big time aQ fave, Ben Frost! Whereas the last AWVFTS record seemed to focus on the piano, Atomos is much more orchestral, sprawling string-laden drones, chordal swells, extended tones, all woven into a haunting, elegiac threnody, darkly melodic and achingly melancholic, the A side is almost poppy with its exaggerated main melody, the dynamic swells almost jarring, but soon, the swirling background strings swell up and swaddle that melody, before dragging it back down into the dark, leaving something much more hushed and haunting, a sound that fades and blurs gradually, before dissipating completely, leaving just a single distant drone, which bleeds into the next track, at which point the piano returns, for a brief bit of wistful chamber music, over a smear of distant dronemusic, drifting atop a bed of excited strings, all woven into a gorgeous backdrop for the aching piano melodies which ebb and flow dreamily. The flipside begins with some abstract softnoise, before quickly building to a gristly, buzz drenched psychedelic crescendo, like multiple Spacemen 3 layered on top of one another, until some strings swoop in, and are quickly transformed Ben Frost style, into angry buzzing blackened swells, but only briefly, leaving a final movement, all hushed ambient shimmer, ethereal and abstract, over delicate piano, settled way down in the mix, and slow moving chordal thrum, a darkly dreamy, and gorgeously heartfelt coda. Fantastic!