Keith Fullerton Whitman

Album: Playthroughs
Release: 2002
Label: Kranky

Tracklist:

1. Track3a (2waynice)
2. Feedback Zwei
3. Fib01a
4. ACGTR SVP
5. Modena

Get ready 2 dream. Keith Fullerton Whitman's first full-length album Playthroughs is not only his best work, but is a pillar of 2000s ambient drone. The album was made with nothing but a guitar and some very complex pedals, using some sort of mathematical composition method that I won't even pretend to understand.

What I can comprehend is that this is one of the best electronic albums I've ever heard; it's absolutely stunning. Each of the five songs is amazing and each one improves upon its predecessor. "Track3a (2waynice)" opens the album with a steady, high pitched tone that rings out with the occasional low-end pulse. It's simple, yet effective. The appropriately titled "Feedback Zwei" slowly and subtly builds its way up into waves of feedback and static. "Fib01a" is the closest thing to KFW's Hrvatski project in that it features glitching, but is far more ambient than anything produced under that name. The track shares a striking resemblance to Farben's "Live At The Tahoe" in its balance of glitch and ambiance.

The next two tracks are where it's at, though. "ACGTR SVP" is the most diverse of the tracks, acting almost as the rising sun. It's the densest track here and it slowly ascends until it reaches a place of shimmering, empyrean glory, all before slowly receding into the distance, gorgeously. Still to come, however, is the true highlight of the album: the closer "Modena." The piece is seventeen minutes of pure aural bliss. KFW returns us to the simplicity of the "Track3a (2waynice)," but adds bubbling and gentle pulsations. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard and I wish it would never end.

Playthroughs is a great introduction to one of the contemporary masters of the craft. If you dig this, be sure to check out his other incredible (yet very different) releases, particularly Lisbon and Multiples.

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