far out and back again - no one listens

Far Out and Back Again

No One Listens
self-released; 2013

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

I don't know much about the artist Far Out and Back Again except that he or she is a single organism that has little contact with people, makes music in the basement and has just released an experimental album entitled No One Listens. If you want verses and chorus or pretty, inviting sounds I wouldn't suggest listening to this album but if you are prone to sit down and listen to an artist like Tim Hecker this may be an enjoyable listen for you. The songs on the album are diverse, often abrasive and rely on a particularl tonal palette that isn't abandoned once it's introduced.

The first bit of noise we hear on opener “Menacer Deluxe Redub’d” is squiggly lines of white noise that transmit like an old radio that is morphing in time. In fact Far Out and Back Again is using some type of reverse effect, which fades in and out and is being manipulated by an envelope filter. The song stays with one theme throughout its duration. I enjoyed the first song but the second one “4th World Realism” raised the bar a bit. The warm intersecting tones are creative, more appealing and have a hypnotic quality. The song takes a 360 less than half way through a single sphere of sound that creates a vortex of energy that you might imagine hearing upon entering the engine room of an extraterrestrial ship. 

“KiloMiles” is the first song in which I could decipher an actual instrument - a guitar. The guitar is lo-fi and obviously recorded on consumer gear. The aesthetic fits with the sound as the nine-minute song gets manipulated and layered with effects as it progresses. “My Porcelain Cage” is basically a poorly recorded drum sound with random gibberish happening in the background while “Dancer’d” is a distorted mess of sound that might have the most structure out of any of the songs on the album. The album progressively gets more sporadic and disorganized as it progresses. ”Finalism 2.0” is full of loosely put together drum fills, high-pitched screaming and some creative guitar work. 

There’s no denying that this album is a hard listen.  No One Listens  starts off strong but starts to lose steam when the organic instrumentation comes in. If you enjoy acts like Xiu Xiu you may want to check this group out.

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