Strange Attractors
Thuja : Pine Cone Temples (US,2005)*°°
Thuja is Steven R. Smith (solo work, Mirza, Hala Strana), Glenn Donaldson (Skygreen Leopards, Birdtree, Franciscan Hobbies, Jewelled Antler label, etc), Loren Chase (Id Battery, etc), and Rob Reger (Franciscan Hobbies, etc).
Thuja released already various cdr’s on the Jewelled Antler label. This is a compilation of their works between 1999-2004.
Thuja is an acoustic so called “experimental” improvisational group. The first cd sounds at its best with temple-cave like improvisations in a convincing sound-energy field, with many metallic (shrieky and knocking) breathing, pulsing, humming and buzzing sounds, loosely cut and pasted. The use of drones is not always as penetrating because a few tracks later these sounds become more dreamy and then even sleepy with equally sleepy piano. It is as if the music is digging itself under in droney under-earthly sounds. Then we have a few more atmospheric or impressionistic-abstract fragments with amplified or acoustic guitar strummed improvisations. While the stonemill sounds or bells pull the music to deeper undergrounds the guitars are capable of building up the sphere calmly to a lighter, but not too bright colour.
Like an industrial area taken over by nature, the second CD continues with guitars, metallic sounds and background drones and some environmental sounds.
This evolves to the perfect soundtrack that could replace all sounds of preparing a barbecue on your terrace, including sounds of fire, the sphere that develops, the vacuum cleaner that cleans the environment and other preparations, then it ends with some bass sounds and a distant dark barking of another party at the backyard of the neighbours coming through.
