daylies music: Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Christopher McFall - This Heat Holds Snow (Mystery Sea)

Posted: 04 Feb 2009 03:06 AM CST

this heat holds snow

This Heat Holds Snow works in and through a threatening atmosphere, but is nowhere concerned with catching hold of it, of partaking in impassive representation, for it’s everywhere engulfed in the tension, care and commitment of (ambiguous) relations and their pained yet ultimately pleasurable recollection.

There is more evidence of computer edits and post-production here, but as with many of McFall’s efforts, however sinuous, it’s still the sound of a mind in real time. Mysterious and oftentimes compelling, the pieces feature dark blasts of sourceless sound that skirl the human-inhuman divide before bursting back into realms of flesh and breath.

The disc makes a real claim for itself in being a fugue through vigorously articulated gestures. In pushing the darker regions of his sound further, McFall also brings out and heightens the potency of the cool, calming elements. As a sonic tableaux, This Heat Holds Snow is thus constantly shifting and impervious to the touch.

Max Schaefer