Dead Texan - self-titled
It only takes a few seconds (or minutes depending on how you lose yourself in the long tones) of "The Six Million Dollar Sandwich," the opening track from The Dead Texan's self-titled debut, to realize that you're in Stars of the Lid territory. The Dead Texan is Adam Wiltzie's (one half of Stars of the Lid) audio-visual collaboration with Christina Vantzos and the record is a CD and DVD, collecting the music and the seven videos as languorous travelogues through tranquil settings and playful animation in a collaborative process that seamlessly ties the music to the cinematics.
The eleven tracks of the CD, which, as Wiltzie says, were too aggressive and too short for Stars of the Lid pieces (a statement one should take with a grain of salt because, after all, nothing moves very quickly on any of these tracks), are tiny symphonies of pastoral movement: the slow shift of light and sound across bucolic scenery. These are aural landscapes done in slow motion brushstrokes, huge canvases of broad tones and gentle guitar textures. Voices drift in and out of the space along with shards of slow static and temperate synthesizers melodies. Piano on tracks like "Taco De Macque" and "Aegina Airlines" lend a European flair to the record, a soundtrack aesthetic reminiscent of Zbigniew Preisner's work, and are testament to the influence of the Continent on Wiltzie (he's been living in Brussels these past few years).
The Dead Texan is a delightful respite from the frantic bustle of the last week of the year. This is decompression music, an hour of blissful ambient soundscapes that will unravel all the knots and kinks in your spine after a day of holiday shopping. Put this one on in a dark room, put it on the TV with all the lights off, and let Wiltzie and Vantzos blow all the tension out of your head. This is how the year should end: with a slow exhalation. Take a minute. Take an hour. Exhale.
Dead Texan
Kranky [2004]
music
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