Patten - There Were Horizons (Kaleidoscope,2007)/Sketching the Tesseract (2008)

De las cosas que tenía por revisar, una de ellas era el debut de Patten, disco que pasó por el debajo del radar por lo que se puede observar por la falta de información que se encuentra del mismo (tan solo reseña en The Wire,nada menos). Y es una lástima que seguidores del universo Ghost Box,Boards of Canada,Bibio,Hood,Plone y sonidos hypnagogic varios, dejen pasar este fabuloso disco de electrónica pastoral de  toques folkies y de melodias ancladas en recuerdos de infancia. Desde que pasó por mis oidos , se ha convertido en un clásico de cabecera dentro del género. Por suerte, se puede escuchar online:

http://www.myspace.com/pattensongs

JOYA!

"The music of Patten puts one in mind of miniatures. These instrumentals are built with exacting care, every part a perfect fit. They are like tiny clockwork machines that one might hold in the palm of the hand, whirring and throbbing as they unwind their musical springs. "Memory Pictures" is typical: two closely miked guitars, one Spanish, one steel, mesh together arpeggios like polished brass cogs. Over this a refrain lifts and falls. Each part generally holds one note value, so crochets, quavers and minims lock like mathmatical bricks.


The order and harmony of these pieces is charming, restful and nostalgic. The lo-fidelity of the recording only amplifies this. Opening track "Galapagos" follows a similar formula, but with one of the parts sped up on tape creating a sound reminiscent of Neu! 2s wound-up experiments. On "Two-Hands Writing" one part is played in a sub-harpsichord chime, a lilting melody drifting down unresolved through the piece. It sounds like ambidextrous automatic writing must feel to the self-hypnotised scribe.


There are variants - the fluttering backwards fairground organ snippet of "Glossary"; the harpsichord waltz of "Skydive"; the strange cheap organ riff that is entwined and tamed by piano and guitar on the enchanting "The Bullrushes". But over the 17 tracks and near hour of music on 'There Were Horizons', the listener is drawn into a simplified world of ordered purposeful harmony, as microscopic in its exquisite detail as the music of the spheres is vast and expansive in its wonder"

The Wire,283

La continuación mucho más concisa en los once cortes de "Sketching the Tesseract" , también es digna de admiración y de acercarse a un artista cuyo nombre merece al menos, tener su cabida en las conversaciones entre amantes del género.