Loscil: Endless Falls (Kranky)

Loscil has been on a slow but steady trajectory away from the electronic pulse of his earliest outings on Kranky toward something more sublime and organic. Endless Falls is the next logical step in that journey, with a gorgeous palette of strings, drones, textures and overtones. The tools are still predominantly electronic, but these 8 tracks exude something tragic and human and cut deep in the process.

Endless Falls begins and ends with the sound of steady rain, and living in Portland, despite how mild this winter season has been, I can’t help but feel at home with the music between these rainy bookends. The title track that kicks things off is by the far the richest, with its clear, beautiful acoustic string arrangements and persistent, lingering drones. The tracks that follow are comparable if at times less immediately stunning, navigating through the slice of hazy melancholy Loscil has carved for himself.

Daniel Bejar from Destroyer appears on the last track, reading a monologue about the creative process. It could have gone horribly awry, but the decidedly gloomy track that percolates underneath fits perfectly with his thoughts about music: “I should only make things I understand … however imperfect. It’s not even like dictating to someone… it’s less than that." 

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