New in stock! Austere says:
"Our most difficult release, some two years in the making. A miasma of droning analogue and digital sounds, a curious collection of
gimcracks and oddities open to exploration and interpretation."
"...there's no beat to shake your bon-bon to, no "chord progressions" to get tacky about, no "solos," no "singing" (voices burble up from the background briefly here and there, but i suspect those are samples), and no tedious foolishness to get in the way of the almighty drone. I think their main mission in life is to remind people of what true ambient music is (hint: it has nothing to do with Aphex Twin or the Orb, bands who use elements of ambient music but are still technically dance music). Austere's vision of the holy grail of ambience involves droning keyboards assembled into a spiraling cathedral of sound, and it's a haunting and beautiful sound."
--Dead Angel
"I'm listening to Dwine right now. Very warm sound, reminds me of LaBradford, in that I think the basic drone is a highly processed guitar sound. Austere is more like their first album, "Prazision" (formless warm processed guitar drone). Extremely impressive.
I must tell you, walking home last night in the midst of a snow squall whilst listening to "Dwine" was a beautiful and surreal experience."
--Benjamin Hudgins
"The comparisons are easy. Obmana's sugary swells with Rich's scratchy(?staticy?)-timbre discomfort. We've got Lull's false hypnosis peering over the edge of Lustmord's bad dream. And we've got David Darling's tristesse buffetted by Roach's dissolving sunsets of sound. And, though it would probably never gain an admition, a little bit of Roger Waters catching a 'fleeting glimpse.'
Actually, I think Waters really did put it best when he sang, 'When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse, out of the corner of my eye...' Suddenly, I realized isn't that the entire point?"
--Chip Hart
"Curio is a limited edition release from Austere. Located in Portland, Oregon, the hotbed of American minimalism, this ensemble has shown tremendous diversity and creativity in a relatively short career. They have accomplished all of this while staying within the umbrella of ambient minimalism.
This disc, while dark and thick, combines organic drones with symphonic and pastoral textures. Indeed, the highlight of the CD is a transcription (or manipulated sample) of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. That is at the beginning of track 5, “Wawl.” They reference the piece throughout the track.
The rest of the disc features some wild vocal samples and primal screams. Those samples add much to a satanic soundscape.
This is first-rate somber minimalism. Do not listen alone in the dark!"
--Jim Brenholts
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