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Review Summary: There is no light. Improvisation occasionally delivers glimpses of brilliance often missed with pre-planning, and it’s easy to marvel at several musicians taking cues from one another to create expressionist noises. The Blunder of a Horse, a free-improv outfit from the Republic of Palau, take notes from early Faust-esque krautrock barraged with elements of folk via scattered woodwinds and stringed instruments. It’s entrancing, cubist, and bizarre - demanding a slightly twisted perspective, as it rarely follows conventional structure. “Through Sunset’s Gate” thrives in uncertainty, while a tanbur leads the disoriented violins and undulating guitars through the black. It’s the musical equivalent of feeling your way through a forest, stumbling over weird textures and getting caught off guard by everything you bump into, like the terrifying strings at the 10-minute mark. It’s a level of chaos heightened by the element of surprise, mixing sparse time signatures with drastic changes in sound, and "Through Sunset’s Gate” is punishing throughout. Listening to it in the wee hours of the morning is surreal; as I drove to work, I felt immune to rational thinking, as though I could let go of the wheel and nothing bad could possibly happen. It's scary to feel so susceptible to mere sounds.
Refusing to let up, “A Bird Replacing The Tree” is appropriately titled, as the recorders attack with the ferocity of the Hitchcock film - as if I didn’t hate recorders enough, now they’re pecking my eyes out, darting this way and that. The shamanistic guitars counter them in a sort of impromptu ritual, as though they’re using ancient warding techniques, further demonstrating the powerful call and response effect in musical improvisation. It feels like a moment of feral harmony only occurring in the depths of the wilderness, never to be properly documented. I mean, it’s a re-playable song, but the cacophony takes different forms with each listen, so each experience should be cherished. “Lost Asteroid” is, again, titled perfectly, though resembles an amorphous blob floating through a psychedelic wormhole. It’s just trippy, and I’ll leave it at that. These descriptions give hints of what to expect with The Blunder of a Horse’s spacey improvisation, but can’t hope to capture it, like taking a soil sample from an enchanted forest. Mystery Manta is an impressive feat in sonically diverse improvisation, with odes to exploration and no safety lines. The three tracks, averaging at ~17 minutes apiece, resemble different landscapes with unique characteristics arising from spontaneous interactions between various instruments. There is no logic, and that's perfectly fine. This is all pretty grand I suppose, and sounds like I’m pressuring you into a pointless expedition for the sake of my own self-indulgence. Maybe. Still, I can’t help but remember many of those ‘forced trips’ from my childhood turning into the best experiences of my life. It's probably a bit easier to understand if you share my (limited) experience with fatherhood, hoping to spread mutual enjoyment of some sort. It’s fun to share. Indulge me this one.
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Album Rating: 3.0
http://theblunderofahorse.bandcamp.com/album/mystery-manta
feedback appreciated
Update: made some changes based on the feedback vvv, should read a bit better.
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Wow that was one of the most literary reviews I've ever read.
I'm still not completely sure what it sounds like based on the review, but I'm guessing it's chaotic.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
It's kind of... idk man, interpretive. Like anything like this, any joy usually comes from the listener's perspective. It could sound like a chaotic mess to some, but I think it's pretty neat. A bitch to describe it though
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I'm listening to the first track now and it's um very out there and lo-fi. Not really all that
structured. Can't say I enjoy this.
Do you like Coil by any chance? I just listened to an album by them (Horse Rotorvator) and a
track from it is running in the back of my head as I listen to "Through Sunset’s Gate" which is
making this even weirder of an experience.
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Hmm interesting and deep read. However, like Ars said I don't really know how it sounds. You mostly compare the music to
things other than the music itself haha. So this basically reads like you're indifferent to it, with really no opinion of it, but maybe
that's what you were going for? Still a nice, intelligent read though pos.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
never heard that album but I'll try it
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
@mongi - I thought I gave enough descriptions to describe the sound pretty well in places, though tbh I'm more interested in the effect than anything. It made me think of those different visuals, which to me was more worth mentioning than going too in depth with the actual sounds maybe. Always tough to try to describe these sort of albums, but maybe I'll revisit this review later and add a bit to it. Cheers
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It's totally well written so if you think that's best go for it, but honestly I know it's improv and spacey so...would you consider it lo fi space rock or something? haha. Don't take anything out because you're flow is fantastic and those visuals you mention are great but maybe just add a few more things to bring to mind what genre it might be or something like that.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
The best way I could describe it is 'improvised noise with folk influence' which I kinda do in the first paragraph anyway, though even that doesn't really sum it up. Idk, it feels like a cop out to say that, but it really is the case.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
And I mention Krautrock too
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Ehh it's just me I guess then. I've really only listened to one record that has a bit of krautrock on it so really can't describe it and it took a couple more reads of that paragraph to catch that cause your review was so complex haha. I tend to prefer the more straight forward style of reviewing but that's just me  whatevs don't change anything if you feel you've said enough.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
I might make some edits. This is different from my usual personal style, so maybe it was a bit of a miss. Felt like trying something different just cuz. Thanks for the feedback though
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Some of the comparisons here are a bit too obscure and ambiguous, giving me little idea of what the music actually sounds like. Your reviews normally hit the mark with the descriptions, but this one comes across as too self indulgent. I wouldn't change it though, its important to experiment with your style even if it doesn't totally come off.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
agreed. always good to mix up your style, even if it doesn't succeed with flying colours. all part of the process of improving in the grand scheme of things. my next review will be better I think - more relatable at least
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sweet rev, have a pos. I would say it's too abstruse but I'm in a 300-level English course this semester so this is far more accessible than some of the discussions we have haha. one thing: Faustian is actually an adjective which does not mean "like the band Faust" so unless you're trying to bring in some Goethe "Faust-esque" is probably a better idea
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Got through the first 10 minutes of the first track and I gotta say, it's pretty good. A bit unsure when I'd listen to this in my free time though; probably be study music. Will listen to the rest tomorrow, good find mate!
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
this seems pretty interesting
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
decent entry point for this kinda stuff maybe, though tbh I've only heard a handful of albums even close to this style. I took to it pretty easily though, so I'll rec it to anyone looking to get into improv that isn't necessarily jazz-based. nice dig btw, I was just saying how CS is a fairly under appreciated Autechre joint
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Late to the party here, but review is fine. Definitely a lot more on the literary side, but you still do manage to sufficiently describe the music as well. Pos from me.
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Yeah, I'm on the other side of a few of the opinions here in that I'd always prefer to read a review that really goes in-depth on conveying how it makes you feel and the imagery you got from it even if it's a subjective thing that not everyone will share, rather than one that's just a by-the-numbers description of what's contained within the album.
I find that to be even more true of something that's streaming for free - if a review only tells me exactly what I'm going to hear, why don't I just listen to it? And after hearing it, a straightforward review always ends up being a bit of a redundancy.
Now, this review might take it a bit too far in that direction, and it's a little jarring at least for me when you step out of that style of description towards the end. But I do like that you addressed the review's arguably self-indulgent nature, the self-awareness makes it more tolerable IMO. And I actually think this style of writing works pretty well in capturing the music - which is also a pretty messy and chaotic experimentation. Maybe the review is a bit flawed, but I think that's OK and I like your approach quite a bit.
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