Martin Siewert & Martin Brandlmayr 

Too Beautiful to Burn

★★★★★

This has taken longer than it should have. I honestly didn't believe an Erstwhile record would be this important to me. I've been listening to this album basically nonstop for four days now, through all different environments. Whether it be falling asleep, waking up, concentrating on every detail, putting it in the background, or trying not to doze off in a class; I've done it all in order to see what secrets this music holds beneath its surface. Martin Siewert and Martin Brandlmayer are two musicians that have never reached my ears before, and since they have, I've made sure to add some of their other releases to my listening list in order to see if this was a true representation of their music or merely a one-off album that sounds different from anything else they've put out. While I won't find that out for a while, I'm really excited to see. Firstly I wanted to say that what attracted me to this album was the cover and title. I've noticed that sometimes that's all it takes for me to listen to an album, such as Marc Leclair's  Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes, which I saw in a used CD rack and decided to look up the music to save for later. The rusted out lonesome basketball hoop in the ocean was something surreal but definitely tangible and vivid. Now I regret not buying that album and have been on the lookout ever since. This cover is also a ruin in the ocean but it's not as solid or concrete as the basketball hoop. The completely overexposed and white background contrasts with the blackened and industrial wreck that floats above it. It gave me the impression that I was looking at a decaying animal but through some research I found it to be a pier that had been shut down and mysteriously burned afterwards. Maybe that has something to do with the title, I'm not really sure. But what I do know is that this image is a snapshot that cannot be recreated, as the pier has become even more damaged and barren now. And I can see that in the music too, not that it's rotting away, but that it was a snapshot that cannot be recreated in any place or time. A perfect session, that to my ears, is one of the more unique pieces of music I've had the pleasure of listening to.

Unlike many of Erstwhile's releases, this album isn't very long or straining on the ears. In fact it hits the sweet spot for me in terms of experimentation and length, making it a project that can be listened to more frequently and in more environments than the usual EAI style album. And I say EAI in a somewhat broad manner, this has the marks of jazz, electronic and post-rock all in one. The two main elements that help form this music is percussion and guitar, though both come in many forms. Siewart uses acoustic, electric, and lap steel guitar throughout, making the most of each in the environment it deserves. Brandlmayer provides the percussive elements utilizing the vibraphone and drums. And through only five songs they stretch out every idiosyncrasy and application of those instruments, like pulling a long strand of chewing gum. Of course the music isn't limited to these acoustic instruments either, very often electronic sequencers and synthesizers are mixed in but in a very amoebic or plasmic way. The album personally reminds me of an ancient but mysterious and towering obelisk that has always been there and will always be there, but the reasons for which won't be known. It can sound menacing but hopeful and very much of the time, curious. Everything is transforming and many times you are teased in a direction that doesn't really exist. Like on the enthralling and captivating opener, "Form", you are tricked into thinking the piece is a lot grander or mountainous than it really is. It slopes upward but falls quietly down as you can hear the echoing of space engines whirring and the asteroid belt coming towards you. But all you can do is sit and watch. 

The most memorable experience of this album for me thus far has been when I was listening in class, transitioning between this neutral state of sleep and consciousness that made me think of surrealist concepts about the music. It's hard to describe but your mind really wanders off and when you snap out of it, you don't understand why you were thinking those things. On the song "Source" I was imagining a beehive being emptied out by the beekeeper and all of the honey pouring out at a slow sluggish rate. "Is This Love?" is a similarly dreamlike song that borders on some of the microhouse and techno that would be popular a decade later. It's constant but decaying, and it's coupled with some very beautiful synths that remind me Basinski's The Disintegration Loops. The last two tracks, "Axis" and "Hold" are a lot less dynamic or accessible compared to the three tracks prior. But they are an amazing couple that helps round out the album with providing serenity and progress. There's peaks and troughs in the music that takes patience to fully understand. On the song "Axis", the music is mesmerizing in its single tone that builds and switches between pitches, like a church choir all channeled through one single device. It's not until near the end where you finally get a taste of some guitar and percussion, but they are present only to provide the singular tone with more texture. "Hold" is by far the harshest and most cinematic song on the album. It has a heartbeat like that of a chugging machine while the sharpness and intensity of the noise rises into a level of distress. It cuts off then trudges up to a point that is dark and sinister, but not as severe or tinny. The music is alive and breathing at this point, and it's a pure leviathan. 

The two Martins have succeeded in creating a memorable album that draws you in, and as much as you want to leave the barren and parched atmosphere, there's nowhere else to go. The atmosphere becomes more of a biosphere at times, breathing life into industrial attributes and man-made creations. You're transported into a different time and place, it's like something I've seen in my dreams before. And maybe that's why I connect with it so much and perhaps that's the reason I fell asleep to it every night thinking I would be also transported to that dream environment in the depths of my unconsciousness. Unfortunately that was not the case, but the dream consists of loneliness and pure lustrous metal that surrounds me. Everything seems to be pulsating, with life around me even the abiotic components. It's not action filled or supremely surreal, but pretty austere and stark. It's a dream-state that is not achievable in the real world, its cleanliness and perfection is something that can only be visited in my deep sleep. But I feel only that much closer to it when listening to this album.

Favorite Song: Source