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DateMonthYear - EP Review: The Exodus Suite

22 May 2021 // A review by malexa

The metamorphosis of the genesis of Exodus into The Exodus Suite while not quite of Biblical proportions is nevertheless on a grand scale.

These five degrees of separation, with accompanying videos (the final installment – which is on its way) might share the same source material but, as always, DateMonthYear founder Trevor  Faville twists and shape-shifts with an informed sense of musical invention.

There are fragments of quite eclectic composition throughout The Exodus Suite - musique concrete, Avant Garde, minimalism, dark ambient, industrial drone - which coalesce into a uniquely textured and vivid patchwork quilt.

As experimental and maybe challenging as that might sound, these pieces are far from lifeless – within each one beats a sentient heart.

Air, has an eerie intensity about it. The effect of the gongs and other percussive sounds conjure up images of a fogbound ship blind to potential hazards, while a distorted spatter of speech patterns, that has a curious, almost voodoo rhythmic pattern to it, unnerves in a background of slowly swirling electronics that simmer and then threaten to boil over.

Wind is equally unsettling. Evanescent and shimmering spirals of sound whirl around a tolling bell and ritualistic percussive repetition. A snatch of radio static is caught in the upstream as the textures disappear into the ether.

Commission1 brings things back down to earth with a wiry thud, thud and looping boom, boom. It rolls over and over itself, closeting the indistinct mutterings of a caged voice that appears to say, “what just happened”, enmeshing it further with precision metallic coating before the voice finally breaks with a gasp of “it was not an isolated incident”.

Entropy squelches with sluggishness under the weight of a buzzing bass line, a steady rhythmic pulse and grinding electronic effects that belie the suggestion that it is anything but random. As the force of gravity brings things to a halt, the bass line coils off reverberating around empty space.

Factory zooms in on itself in an almost claustrophobic way with a slightly irregular heart beat and steely electronics, that hum and circle around and around with industrial business.

One of the exceptional qualities to all these pieces, that speaks to Faville’s percussive ingenuity, is that he’s alternately an electronic iron-smith forging and bending metallic sounds and an old school sculptor, chiselling away to reveal what isn’t part of the imagined work.

Although not within the parameters of this review, the accompanying video interpretations by Matthew Thomas Taylor, Kathleen Christian, Elysia Koretz and Andi Verse offer distinct, sometimes to the extent of re-titling, and shifting perspectives, which accentuate the immersive nature of The Exodus Suite.

It doesn’t seem to matter what DateMonthYear it is, there’s always a beguiling aura surrounding it.

Rating: ( 5 / 5 )
 

About DateMonthYear

DateMonthYear began as a way of making music back 2003.The journey since then has involved five self-funded albums, five self-funded music videos and many, many gigs.

DateMonthYear are proud advocates of musical independence, ignoring established rules and norms of the music industry in New Zealand.

The end result has meant airplay on hundreds of radio stations around the world, music licensed to TV, Ads and Movies-again, worldwide-, gigs with Symphony Orchestras, live theatre and so much more.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for DateMonthYear

Releases

The Exodus Suite
Year: 2021
Type: EP
7 Ghosts
Year: 2011
Type: Album
Pot/Kettle/Black
Year: 2009
Type: Album
Sampler
Year: 2003
Type: EP

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