seht - dead bees ((the((quiet)earth))suite)
PseudoArcana CD, 2008
"Campbell Kneale once explained that to describe Wellington's seht as drone music is much the same as describing Antarctica as white. Where as many of us utilise the drone as an ingredient, a point of departure, Stephen Clover's seht project distills drones to craft something very like a fine liquor.
One Moment, the 35-minute first track on dead bees.. is Clover's somnambulist ambient drone masterpiece, a famous insomniac's grand fantasy of sleep. Setting sail with the gentle sound of submerged bells one sinks deeper as lush rich tones gradually merge into a swell of dream-scape waves. Deeper still and one finds oneself glowing in a deep warm golden molasses that shimmers and sways until time somehow folds in upon itself and loses all meaning as ones consciousness shifts into angel gear for the lonnnng coast out.
But Clover is also agent provocateur -- a wry and acerbic wit. To say that there are surprises to follow is an understatement..."
- PseudoArcana website
What they said...
"It's a while since we've had anything from Stephen Clover and this new album delivers with an opening monolithic drone masterpiece. It begins with an ebbing and flowing synth drone with ominous undertow; as the piece progressed the undertow starts to win out and it feels like the dark waves are overwhelming you. The second track is not quite drone-based but is a utterly focussed repetition of some jerky cinema-organ notes until they are submerged in an icy hiss. No-one else does this quite like seht."
- Apex-online 'Boa Melody Bar' website
"Seemingly timeless in its construction dead bees.. is the sound of the elements in musical form, a drifting wind driven drone that is testament to the creator seht. Over 36 intense minutes One Moment becomes the room itself, the power of the drone seeping into your consciousness until nothing else seems relevant, the music becoming the universe itself. Far more dynamic in structure A Dance; Four Moments has a modern classical feel, the notes creating rhythm rather than purely melody, the sound of insects lazily shifting between flowers on a sunny day. As the piece continues, thing slow down again a stately drone once again holding sway, with a chiming presence that has a spiritual quality about it, the album finally fading into nothing, leaving you in sudden silence that is quite alarming."
- Simon Lewis, Terrascope Online
"Brand new disc of free drone weirdness from long time aQ fave seht, aka Stephen Clover, whose discs never disappoint, whether he's crafting long form minimal dronemusic, or kicking up a clattery freerock buzz, dead bees.. is a little of both, two looooong tracks, the first a super minimal dronejam of deep soft shimmers and warm warbly whirs, that begins soft but gradually gains momentum, and along with that momentum, layers of gradually thickening whir, what begins as a barely there whisper quickly transforms into a heaving slab of rumbling static heaviness, eventually introducing some unlikely melody to the mix, the sound suddenly almost orchestral, a layer of horn like drone draped over the undulating lowend backdrop, the grit and buzz and fuzz slowly sloughing off eventually leaving a smooth stretch of soft soft shimmer.
The second track, another long one, is much more active, beginning with some random clatter, and slowly transforming into a weird pulsing circusy abstract pulse, with strange haunting melodies, almost like Chain Reaction via a New Zealand 4-track, soon the playful pulse is enveloped in a cloud of hiss, creating a haunting gauzy throbbing drift that is both mesmerizing and mysteriously unclassifiable. And once again, the hiss dissipates, leaving a warm whirling warble that slowly settles into a dark, dreamlike drift. "
"dead bees.. invites the listener to a long journey of repetition and trance. The opener One Moment, is a piece of 36 minutes that starts with minimal keyboard notes and after a while begins the trip to the inner space, intimate and hazy atmospheres that unfold lengthy soundwaves and submerged drones. The second track A Dance; Four Moments is made out of few key notes and a soft pulse bass around a loop and in the background there is a thin drone. After 15 minutes or so all this disappear and remains a single key note until vanished."
- Guillermo Escudero, LOOP
"Simple and subtle drones, smooth and clear quality, like pure sounds…almost quite sentimental in the end, picking out a tonic chord, I think… drones like synthesizers with big waves or changing low frequencies, and the ever present wash of waves in the background."
"L’altro aborigeno di questa doppia recensione è un altro dei miei eroi, il multiplo seht, also known as Stephen Clover. Oltre al fatto che Stephen fa un sacco di cose, tra cui il programmatore in php, infatti è lui che ha programmato il sito nuovo di Foxy Digitalis, Stephen è anche uno che fa, mangia e caca droni, come se niente fosse. Fin dal primo momento che l’ho ascoltato mi sono subito innamorato di lui. In senso intelletual-musical-platonico ovviamente. Se avete letto KIWI 2000 (ma non era più fico chiamarlo KIWI 2001: Odissea nella Nuova Zelanda?) sapete già tutto e io non starò a dilungarmi ulteriormente. Ma seht se ne esce quest’anno con questo suo ultimo lavoro, che a parer mio va a fare direttamente il paio con The Green Morning. Dead bees.. si compone di due lunghissimi movimenti. One Moment dura 36 minuti. A Danse; Four Moments ne dura 23 di minuti. Sono droni quindi cosa volete di più? E poco importa che Campbell Kneale sostenga che definire la musica di seht come drone music è come dire che l’antartico è bianco, One Moment proprio quello è…una placida passeggiata di droni con le onde bianche dell’antartico a fare da congelante e congelata marea… infatti per metà stiamo a due passi dalla new age bella e buona, per l’altra vicinissimi alla musica cosmica. Ben più strambo e anomalo l’altro brano. Field recordings e campionamenti rielaborati di note d’organo per un balletto stile Lago dei Cigni che vengono piano piano coperti da un noise di sottofondo e poi inabissate nuovamente nell’oltremondo dei droni sospesi cosi caratteristico di seht. Detto poi che il disco esce per la Pseudo Arcana di Anthony Milton figlia e ultima erede delle ormai mitologiche Corpus Herneticum e Xpressway, avete un distillato perfetto (quasi… qui non ci sono le chitarre) del sempre moderno e mai inattuale sound neozelandese."
- Antonello Comunale, Pillaloo blog
"Passado quase meio ano desde a sua edição, só agora demos pela existência de dead bees.., do projecto seht de Stephen Clover, que tão boa impressão nos deixou em 2006 com The Green Morning. O novo trabalho divide-se em dois longos temas que totalizam 60 minutos. O primeiro, One Moment é de um formidável ambientalismo drone, pleno de sugestões alienígenas, com as partículas sonoras estruturais submersas numa evolução de espiral larga, marcada pelo marulhar de vagas oceânicas que se desfazem nas areias de um planeta distante. A estranha letargia assim induzida ao longo de 35 minutos, é bruscamente cortada pelo segundo tema, A Dance; Four Moments. Ao minimalismo monolítico da primeira parte, contrapõe uma construção em loops à volta de um fraseado melódico que parece retirado de um velho órgão, ao qual se junta um som granuloso e modulado que cria uma estranha atmosfera, semi-orgânica e semi-mecânica, de baixa-fidelidade, uma paisagem sonora que acaba por desaguar em novos drones. Dead bees.. – subintulado ((the((quiet)earth))suite) - oferece duas abordagens diferentes do minimalismo que se equilibram e complementam de forma perfeita."
"Aus Drone-Perspektive eines der Highlights des Pseudo Arcana-Katalogs, diese CD von seht. Zwei lange Stücke mit melancholisch-erhabenen Dronescapes und seltsamen Patterns, irgendwo zwischen Maeror Tri und Asmus Tietchens, wobei auch wunderbare Oceanwaves Fieldrecordings zum Einsatz kommen und Vergleiche hier letztlich nur hinken können, so eigenständig und gut ist dead bees.. gelungen.."
- Drone Records catalogue
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