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From my first impressions of this label, by no means are they going for feel of an elite underground label, rather they seem to operate with a DIY aesthetic that is most associated with tape labels that were so prevalent in the years before CD’s became the dominant recordable media.

So, in quoting directly from promo blurb for The Haunted Cobblestones Sunset Concert Series: “Ending at sunset with the first recording and beginning at sunset with the last recording – individuals play what they will out the third floor window on a desolate cobblestone street in the last days of summer. Attendees listen street-side, eating tacos or stretched out on the concrete. Stereo recordings made in a single take – screaming kids, violent cars – sirens and animals to be considered as collaborators”. It is quite a cleaver concept actually, where the CDR’s act as a formal document of the concept, as well as the ‘concert’ performance, whilst creating an experimental release that can in itself be considered as an actual album and not merely a live album from the project involved.

Area C rise to the task for the 7th performance in the series, resulting an almost 50 minute album that plays out as a single piece despite having 13 tracks. Merging what are in essence actual field recordings of the familiar sounds of neighbourhood going about its business, these are underscored with sparse fractured melodies and subtle washes of sound. Although the musical aspects are generated from a guitar, the instrument is not played in typical fashion. Rather its output it used in an understated and abstract way to create a mellow & melancholic droning ambience to reflect the fading light of dusk.

By way of a providing an overall compliment, the merging of muted guitar drones with sound artefact contributions (on the part of the neighbourhood), it evokes a vibe that draws parallels to the incidental bridging sections of music that post-rock band God Speed You Black Emperor! have produced in the past.

With an intriguing concept and methodology that has paid off in final results, you could do far worse then checking out this release.

RJS