Warmth - "Michi-gone-again"

Hailing from Holly, Michigan comes this cassette released on Cherried-Out Merch (which I can't find any official site for, or else I'd link it) this year by one man named Steev Thompson who goes by the name Warmth. Filled with quiet (sorta), but brooding ambience, Michi-gone-again is quite refreshing in the best of ways. It's minimalistic in approach and it's composed very well, but giving an accurate description of the sounds filled within may be a little difficult. From the sounds of it, Michi-gone-again is most likely composed using some sort of delay effects, guitar + e-bow (maybe?), and other various textural layers and loops.

Side A fades in quietly and is filled with loose, haunted, spacious delayed guitar tones and rumbling vibrations. After listening to this tape a few times, you'll notice the use of loops, but its use is executed with a much more effective result than, let's say, some of Eluvium's more monotonous work. Interesting enough, it almost puts me somewhat into a meditative state, even though when consciously listening to the sounds within, you wouldn't necessarily think it's a very logical thought...

It's not all peaceful and meditative though, with Side B darker, even more expansive, unexpectedly loud and climactic. Remaining vague with the description of Side B is purposeful, because it's definitely one of the reasons you'll enjoy this tape. Michi-gone-again ends with some beautifully shimmering, quiet guitar tones akin to, perhaps, Blues Eyes of the March by the wonderful Andrew Chalk. Another reference that comes to mind as an influence for this release is Brian Eno's Ambient 4: On Land, which just happens to be one of my favorites.

Now before you go and write him off as sounding like other good (this is important) ambient artists, Warmth definitely provides sufficient interesting and unique texture and sounds to his work. Steev Thompson has a way of making the listener feel at once, isolated, but somehow he keeps his recordings feeling warm (appropriate band name, I guess) and organic, which is not an easy task. After hearing this Warmth release, I'll be looking forward to hearing more of his work and even backtracking some, in hopes of gathering some of his older material.

Warmth
Warmth's MySpace

-Nicholas A. Szczepanik