Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Barn Owl - Ancestral Star [Thrill Jockey - 2010]

Barn Owl are the San Francisco based duo of Evan Caminiti and Jon Porras, and "Ancestral Star" is the ninth release by this heavy guitar based drone project. The album is as powerful and unstoppable as an ever burning, ancient and immense ball of flame, with the project  keeping this almost religious fire burning as they shift between heavy reverb soaked oriental guitar playing and  super massive feedback drones. With each new track Caminiti and Porras seem to be ever expanding, pushing their own boundaries and always reaching beyond what they achieved in the previous track

The album opens with "Sundown", which draws a pretty gloomy picture with its slow and heavy guitar drones. This is a beautiful opening from where Barn Owl keeps growing in power and passion. The fourth track, bearing the name of the album, is much more open and expressive, with endless guitar drones which reveal more and more musical horizons for the listener to give their attention to. This magical track gives way to even more mystical parts of the album, such as the great "Flatlands" or "Awakening". At this point the drones of Barn Owl seem to be much more lyrical, powerful and warm, and towards the end of the album it seems as if at this point 'Ancestral Star' has gone to even higher spiritual dimensions than where it started, as Caminiti and Porras deepen their musical meditation, making their music even more intoxicating and stirring.

Ancestral Star mangers to reach hights that other drone albums fail to reach. The ten tracks can easily take the listener far, far  away from everyday life as Caminiti and Porras work their magic together, and gracefully bringing to mind several musical projects, such as Alio Die, Raison d'etre and even Tangerine Dream. The result, in my opinion at least, is breathtaking. Go get this one!

Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

Latest Reviews

Barn Owl - Ancestral Star
Barn Owl are the San Francisco based duo of Evan Caminiti and Jon Porras, and "Ancestral Star" is the ninth release by this heavy guitar based drone project....
280324   Typhoon Club - Typhoon Club(B...
270324   Jerzy Skolimowski Collection ...
260324   Latex Choker - Sealed
260324   Occlusion - 59: No Input Wall
260324   Nihil Impvlse - Anabasis
260324   Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För...
260324   The New Boy - The New Boy( Th...
250324   The Stargazer’s Assistant - ...
250324   Liza Lim - Annunciation Trip...
220324   Patrick - Patrick( UHD/ Blu Ray)
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom