John Reidar Holmes – When Footprints Meet Beacons (cassette)

Tracklist:

• Artwork By – DSM
• Music By – John Reidar Holmes (tracks: All)

“When Footprints Meet Beacons” is the most recent addition to the slowly growing Sound+Matter selection of John Reidar Holmes music. In recent years the Malmoe-based artist has become a regular in our label, and that’s for a reason. His glacial paced ambient drones, created with a very straightforward but highly-mastered guitar and modular synth centered setup offer our listeners a much-needed sonic escape from a world that gets more messed up by the day. While certainly feeling experimental and otherworldly at its core, Holmes’ work somehow manages to remain accessible, personal, and humane. “When Footprints Meet Beacons” is an album that feels simultaneously distant and unknown but also welcoming and touching.
John Reidar Holmes is not interested in busy arrangements, futuristic sound design, or the total deconstruction of timbre found in a lot of the current experimental music. Instead, he’s focused on the gradual unfolding and structuring of textures, harmonics, and
tones. His synth and guitar take turns in going in and out of focus thus fully guiding or carefully adding nuance to the narrative of the record. Holmes’ transcending drones definitely shine at their brightest when experienced in an interrupted deep listening session so don’t be afraid to give yourself to the music and let go of… well, everything else.