Audio By Carbonatix
On Westerner, Tjutjuna’s latest album, it seems as though the band is creating the musical equivalent of a moving sculpture crafted to give the semblance of life. “Mousetrap” is like a psychedelicized Neu! song, but with uncoiling whorls of bright drones and tones, while the pounding, pulsating rhythm of “Heavy Metal Dick” feels like a part of some cunning inside joke. The haunting, ethereal repetition of “Montauk,” meanwhile — particularly the urgent tone near the end — captures an unending sense of isolation. That tune, combined with “Desert Song” and the Aphex Twin-like “Oneironaut,” reveals a band that’s reveling on the outer edges of drone, exploring its possibilities through psychedelic rock freakouts while also absorbing the hypnotic, psychologically healing qualities of ambient music.
