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Writer's pictureSylvain Lupari

Forrest Fang Animism (2012)

Updated: Dec 10, 2022

Animism is a folk ambient journey which floats between its fragrances of a melancholy divided between tribal souvenirs and ancestral regrets

1 Tailing Wind 6:49  

2 The Chameleon's Paintbox 6:20  

3 Islands in the Sky 8:55  

4 Evening Chorus 5:21  

5 Passing Suns 7:40  

6 A Tributary Unwinds 8:15  

7 Sleeping Snakes 7:12  

8 Resting Point 9:40

(CD/DDL 60:52) (V.F.)

(Tribal and Dark ambient)

Dark resonant chords fall with dramatic heaviness, raising a delicate whirlwind of chime chords which makes Tailing Wind spin between the atmospheres of a pastoral ode and a dreamlike tribal rhythm. This heavy and slow clan rhythm turns in fine musical corridors where hypnotic tom-toms, various tingles and absent choirs lose their musicality in a dense cloud of chords of stringed instruments, shaping this captivating spiritual trance which quivers as our obedience.

Carrying the 8 tracks that make up ANIMISM around between delicate tribal rhythms inspired by the Middle East and atmospheres both spectral and angelic, Forrest Fang invites his listener on a fascinating musical journey built around an astonishing panoply of acoustic instruments. The Chameleon's Paintbox is a nice example of this duality between the mysticism of tribal trances and the passion for spiritual hymns with its notes of violent guitars which bite a contemplative structure whose musicality is filled by an avalanche of chords of string instruments which dance on the winds of fine and discreet lines of a synth which, between its harmonies, releases a seraphic choir. The intro of Islands in the Sky tears the sky apart with its emerald breaths that activate Tibetan bells. It feels like the relaxation exercises ordered by Ray Lynch and his tender Deep Breakfast. A fine rhythm looms, causing percussion whispering on the synth waves which gradually disappear to embrace a more catchy rhythm. The rhythm is animated by manual percussions which beat under the strident tears of a violin before melting into an attractive clan folk embraced by layers of a more redemptive synth. It's a very nice title. Evening Chorus, which carries its title very well, brings us to the ambient borders of the 13th album of Forrest Fang with synth strata which chant in concert with fine bells. Although ambient, Evening Chorus is gnawed on by an astonishing passion and intense emotion; two keywords to understand the world of ANIMISM. Subsequently, the American multi-instrumentalist of Chinese origin moves his intra-personal vibrations with an astonishing adoration for Aeolus and his whims. The album deviates towards a torrent of winds that will blow with force and / or passion until the dawn of Resting Point. Passing Suns begins with a slow waltz of wind buzzes. These buzzes are warm and sweet and gradually cool, letting out more luminous lines in the form of fine synth stripes which weep and hover over a land of desolation. But the anger of the synth winds, like violins, is not yet satisfied. These silver winds blow with such rage on A Tributary Unwinds that they mask the tranquility of the aboriginal tom-toms who try to rock its ferocity. The bursts of percussion which are dispersed by the winds bring us back to the feudal worlds of Steve Roach. The dense gusts of deserts continue their implacable route of natural predators on Sleeping Snakes and its bells which tinkle blindly in this ambient universe located on clay storms. These tinkles resist the force of the winds to trumpet a soft chimes of buzz which extends its charm until the finale of Sleeping Snakes, before dark and floating winds resume their rights on Resting Point to conclude an album in the colors of a melancholy divided between his tribal memories and his ancestral regrets.

Sylvain Lupari (July 20h, 2012) *****

Available at Projekt Records Bandcamp

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