Once in a year the small, fine and absolute underground label from the Netherlands Konkurrent invites two, mostly quite oppositional bands, to spend two days in a studio recording songs (In The Fishtank series). The spontaneous atmosphere either causes big surprises or something predictable. Latter one happened with such combinations as Tortoise + The Ex, Low + Dirty Three or The Black Heart Procession + Solbakken, who in fact delivered great songs, but in the scope of what one would have gotten from regular releases too.
In The Fishtank 14 again proves the first statement right. For this one they locked up Californian atmospheric noise terrorists ISIS and Scottish dynamic-depression-nuts AEREOGRAMME. Contrary to their albums that range between hellish loud and atmospheric sound walls both bands stay very quiet. They took much time to elaborate the songs or let them run to nothing.
The first song Low Tide gets performed by Craig B. of AEREOGRAMME and begins in a slo-mo indie style, just to end up in a Pink Floyd-like infinite loop. But it shines with a timeless beauty.
Second track Delial comes from ISIS shouter Aaron Turner and might be the first hint how future ISIS recordings might sound like: more singing, less roar… The song gets completed by AEREOGRAMME’s wonderful, melancholic-draped melodies and the usual lunacy consisting of screams and whispers in the background.
The third song Stolen just ends nowhere. More Pink Floyd, less guitars and everything very quiet, the singing of Aaron and Craig only anticipated… That’s a song that touches and captivates, but never bursts. Trademarks of both bands stay in the foreground.
That’s an amazing EP that makes you greedy for more and let’s you looking forward to upcoming releases of these bands. Fans of the In The Fishtank series will buy this one anyway, fans of these bands as well… Fans of the Constellation sounds, Mono and Mogwai melodies or people with stuff from Neurot and Hydrahead in the CD shelf should wish for x-mas.