Flow Control - Endless March
Elm Records is at it again with one of their latest releases by a new and unknown act called Flow Control. I did a search on Discogs but couldn´t find any info regarding this new act, but what I did locate was a Bandcamp site that held 3 other only-digital releases. The act is described as something which lurks in the realms of ambient, lo-fi, classic IDM, and synth-wave music. The album endless March was released on Elm Records on cassette (30 copies) on the first of April 2021 and it isn´t available on Flow Control´s official Bandcamp site. Another thing that I can reveal about this album is that it works around a certain concept built on an experience... here goes:
This album is called "Endless March”. It’s an ambient exploration into alienation and anxiety, which I began composing near the onset of the pandemic but gained significant meaning as I watched the Bighorn Wildfire engulf my home wilderness in Tucson, AZ at the time of the riots. It became a contemplative journey into the sonic landscape of the fires that raged in my backyard and within our current social conditions. The work is 3 tracks in which I explore these using field recordings, tape loops, eurorack modular synths, and piano.
I like the concept. I like the idea when you have, stuff that crashes into another and then afterward creates another kind of view on things. Yes, a worldwide pandemic is a pretty big deal, but so is a wildfire (and the riots going on as well). Between the first and the second world war, people didn´t have time to worry about the Spanish flu... although it actually killed around 25-50 million people. Big things/stuff is happening all the time, and it usually happens so fast in our information-driven society that our minds cannot actually relate to it when it does happen. Enough of my philosophical mumbo-jumbo, let´s get it on!.
First track Normalcy. Gives the listener an idea of being somewhere where the land is flat, and the sky is huge! Not much is going on, the essence of quietness is there for sure. Somewhere along the line in this quiet and peaceful place, something is changing (going on). The sound of something burning? Melancholic ambient moods and a beautiful glass/crystal-like drone sound. There is also a piano-driven melody hiding in the vapors of the wasteland. and eerie tv-samples going on. A very good and mysterious ambient-drone piece with a good adventurous expression of sound.
We flip over the cassette and start the B-side with the second track, called Release. Backward recorded piano recordings going on at the same time as the normal piano recording, lovely slow-driven melodies going on as well. A really kind of sad sort of a track. Getting back to some of the drone/post-rock-related stuff made by The Swans here. Also, a kind of Angelo Badalamenti feel/mood going on. Really good ambient stuff going on here kids!.
The last track Summer Fires works like a beautiful ending for a beautiful album. After the wildfire, things will grow (hopefully). There is hope/light beyond the tunnel. Might just be my favorite track on the album, certainly the most mysterious track on the alum.
And that ends the Endless March! A beautiful and relaxing trip through an unsettling apocalyptic setting! Fans of Steve Roach, Swans, and Brian Eno take notice. An album filled with contradictions, apocalyptic and sad, but also very peaceful.
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