Murmurists - Iam You, Dragging Halo [Zoharum - 2016]Iam You, Dragging Halo is the third full length slice of sonic puzzlement, shifting sound scaping, and creative genre melting composition from this collective headed up by British experimental artists Anthony Donovan. I guess sonically it’s close to something like NWW, but with a more finely homed improv edge & more lose/ shifting compositional feel. The Murmurists project has been active since the late 1990’s, and has seen a Donovan joined by a selection of different collaborators coming from all manner of different experimental genres- moving from improv, ambient, krautrock, electro-acoustic, experimental theatre, jazz rock, modern classical and beyond. So trying to pin down & describe what we have here is far from easy. Featured here is a single nearing forty six minute track, which morphs & shifts though all manner of surreal sonic territory along it’s length. We move from stand alone philosophical feminist spoken word, onto creaking ‘n’ twitching elector-acoustic composition alive with strange field recordings & shifting voices. Through to crashing & sinister soundtrack like composition. Onto wondering ‘n’ dozy percussion & oboe improv. Through to slamming yet moody blends of pounding jam-rock & simmering organ. Down to slowly growing ambient unease & avant classical sour bloom. Though to woozy & blurred electronica meeting sustained wind instrumentation brood, and elector acoustic detail. To really to try & fully map out what we have here would be fruit-less, and also a little point-less, as with this type of composition it’s best to experience & explore it fully for ones self. All in all this a great & varied bit of experimental composition- I wasn’t aware of either Donovan or the Murmuris collective before, but this has certainly made me eager to hear more of his work. So in summing up- if you enjoyed genre shifting, multi-facetted, and squarely surreal sound art- this is a must have!. Roger Batty
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