The sounds on the
Above Buildings album come from field recordings blended with noise from
Schaefer's custom-built three-armed turntable, but the processing of these ingredients is so extensive the sources are impossible to identify. Whatever the roots of these tracks,
Schaefer has brilliantly shaped them into a complex and unsettling work of sound art. Many of the pieces on
Above Buildings are of interest to fans of dark, cinematic drone music. "Thousand Camera Corona" begins with deep bell-like tones, builds into an ominous rumble mixed with what sounds like buildings breathing, and then transforms into a piercing, high-pitched sine wave tone. "Forglen" uses the sound of chattering turntable static to add tension to an uncharacteristically warm and shimmering drone; the contrast is intriguing, almost like
Oval remixing
Windy & Carl. Another central figure on
Above Buildings is
Schaefer's extreme use of dynamic range. Passages of "Albarad" are so quiet as to be essentially inaudible, and then the track erupts into rich noise as loud as CD technology allows. Definitely on par with the best of similar artists like
Fennesz,
Above Buildings establishes
Janek Schaefer as a major talent on the experimental music scene. ~ Mark Richardson