Like with Frans de Waard, telling something about Howard Stelzer is unnecessary. His name is mentioned so often that it’s almost like a ‘Frans and Howard Weekly’. Just kidding, of course, but I do have your attention now. And that is needed because this release is an absolute joy to listen to. It is a one-track album, it plays for just over 50 minutes, and there is a lot to explore
Howard is a math tutor by profession, and it might be me, but the title of this release might indicate that the subject of the week was calculus of probabilities. So with the little bit of background that I have in reflection on this release, I immediately start thinking if this is an album where the sounds are created with algorithms or if it’s an aleatoric composition. “Five Thousand Pretenders Who Passed the Test By Luck Alone”. Reread it and let your mind flow wherever it goes. What is the meaning behind it … Is there a meaning …
The composition starts with quite a loud sound and some horn sound, which brings me to the caves of Lustmord’s ‘Paradise Disowned’—followed by more concrete sounds of unknown origin. We’re joining Howard in drinking a beer in silence near a pond where we can hear the cicadas, and after that moment of relaxation, we’re on a real journey. It’s noisy on one side, while the saturated basses create beautiful layers of drones. There are harmonic structures to enjoy, but dissonance never seems too far away. Drones topped with concrete sounds and field recordings, where the field recordings take control, and at other moments the drones are a bit noisier.
I’m still puzzled by the title, and playing it again. Who are the pretenders? Does it have something to do with the cicadas? Various stages they go through? Or is there absolutely no link between the title and the sound? What if the field recordings aren’t field recordings, but the outcome of an algorithm which includes cicades … Why isn’t it 55 minutes and 1 second long … I need more coffee and I’ll listen again … Thank you Howard, for yet another sleepless night <3
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