Eric Fourman – Cloudy

October 8, 2011 • self-released

More goodness from Eric Fourman today; I seem to never get tired of his brand of complex, layered ambient drone, so it's a good thing that he seems to never get tired of making it. Cloudy is one of his more interesting and diverse albums I've heard yet, and just as good as the rest.

I say "diverse" as this album is probably his most abrasive work (that I've heard), especially on the opener "rDNA", which has a much more intense sound than his typical output due to a substantial amount of low, gravelly noise. It's almost hostile, but there are still slight glimmers of the ambient to come hidden in the cracks. A very neat piece, and unexpected.

From there on, the album switches back to Fourman's standard soothing, ethereal sound, though there's still a hint of distortion undercutting most of the droning. It gives the music a bit more of an edge, which I quite like—not that his other stuff ever gets too corny for me, but here it's a nice change.

"1/2cc" stands out as one of my favorites on the album and deserves a special mention. It's a very simple track—droning synthesized strings, layers upon layers of them, slowly ascending and descending the minor scale. Perhaps it's that minor tonality, or maybe the slight dissonance, I'm not sure, but something about this track makes it just absolutely beautiful. By far one of Fourman's best pieces.

It's a rare drone album that feels glacial without dragging along too slowly; a lofty goal, and one that's attained here. As expected, Cloudy is absolutely worth getting a hold of, even if only for that brilliant closing track.

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