Looking for a soundtrack to a slow ride in a fast car? If so, this album should fit the bill perfectly.
It is named after the SnowGhost studio where it was recorded, situated high in the mountains of the state of Montana.
Huddled together in the driving seat are Dieter Moebius, Tim Story and Jon Leidecker.
Moebius is a renowned “Krautrocker” thanks to many fruitful years spent with Hans-Joachim Roedelius as part of Cluster. The other two are accomplished American electronic musicians from diverse backgrounds.
Story is the one most obviously on the same wavelength as Moebius having worked previously with Roedelius while Leidecker is more of a maverick figure who made his name with anarcho-deconstructive projects like Negativland and People Like Us under his “Wobbly” pseudonym.
All the tracks contain hypnotic rhythms familiar from Cluster albums yet are replete with improvised interjections that resolutely resist following a straight line from A to B.
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Splintered and spiky touches frequently threaten to descend into abstract noise but there's always a central pulse to keep things together.
Eight of the eleven tracks have one word titles although made up names like Yaak and Pinozeek don't give the listener any clues about content.
High points are to be found in the chugging beats of a track like Fracture Fuss and the multifaceted moods of the ten and a half minute Vex.
You could make cool shapes to the slow funk of the closing track Defenestrate but mostly this is head music to drift to as long as you remember to keep your eyes on the road.
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