Dylan Carlson makes some of the most melancholic and profoundly beautiful music I have ever heard. I don't know exactly how to describe it, other than that it's slow and patient and meditative, and at times incredibly sad. To me, this music is the sound of a man's intimate relationship with his own being; a life-time of painful reflection, and an exploration of the way chords and melodies and lingering moments of empty space can become extensions of ones self in order to communicate those abstract sentiments that words can't possibly express.
Appropriately, Dylan's band, for which he is the founding member and principle songwriter, is called Earth. The only comparison that I can think of is Popol Vuh, because their spacious and repetitive music, used to great effect in Werner Herzog's slow-paced movies, invokes the same kind of meditative visions that Earth do for me. I remember discussing both bands with Shaun once, and saying that I felt it was impossible to have mundane or vapid thoughts whilst listening to their music - it almost demands that you slow down and reflect, and contemplate matters of importance instead.
Appropriately, Dylan's band, for which he is the founding member and principle songwriter, is called Earth. The only comparison that I can think of is Popol Vuh, because their spacious and repetitive music, used to great effect in Werner Herzog's slow-paced movies, invokes the same kind of meditative visions that Earth do for me. I remember discussing both bands with Shaun once, and saying that I felt it was impossible to have mundane or vapid thoughts whilst listening to their music - it almost demands that you slow down and reflect, and contemplate matters of importance instead.
But enough about Earth; the reason for this blog post is to bring some attention to the fact that Dylan Carlson is currently trying to reach his funding goals for a solo project called Wonders from the House of Albion, and he only has one week left. The album sounds like it will be an ambitious and deeply personal work, involving a visit to his ancestral homeland in the UK to make recordings at megalithic sites, and investigate his experiences with suspected ffayre-ffolke or familiar spirits. As Shaun and I shall be making our own gnostic odyssey (to put it in Julian Cope's words) to the UK in about 5 weeks time, the concept behind this album is particularly exciting to us. If you would like to help with his project, no matter how small the amount, please visit his Kickstarter page and donate what you can. In the meantime, enjoy some Earth.
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