Bügsküll – Collapsed View

Artist: Bügsküll
Title Of Album: Collapsed View
Year Of Release: 2014
Label: Digitalis
Genre: Ambient, Experimental
Quality: MP3
Bitrate: 320 kbps
Total Time: 00:43:42
Total Size: 106 mb

Tracklist:
01 Heaven_California
02 Olde Growth
03 Billow
04 Icarus Rising
05 Demapped
06 Druids
07 Collapsed View
08 Victory Lapse

Sean Byrne’s Bugskull project returned in 2009 after a long hiatus with the Digitalis-released “Communication.” A few years later they released the acoustic curveball, “Strange Mountain,” on legendary Inland Empire label, Shrimper. We’re very happy that the proper follow-up to “Communication” has landed on the Digitalis shores again.

“Collapsed View” is a whimsical summer excursion through jaded forests and crystalline tides. On the plucked acoustic opener, “Heaven/California,” you’re gently dropped into Byrne’s hazy lair. The repetitive main dirge moves like molasses until you’re appropriately comatose. It’s a dizzying beginning that settles nicely into the bass crunch of “Olde Growth.” Forward movement in the form of a canned ramshackle beat underlines the drawn out leads that appear to floating in a puff of smoke. “Icarus Rising” steals the show with it’s jet propulsion bass line and psych-infused guitar leads. It’s an intoxicating combination that gets better with repeated listens.

Byrne breaks out all the stops on “Collapsed View,” mutating gamelan-esque electronics into an oceanside romp on “Druids.” Hypnotic guitar swells wrap around the piece, elevating it onto a different plane. It begins the second side which, compared to the A-Side, is a meditative ambient affair. Saxophone lamentations puncuate the title track drawing a circle around a star-filled night in the middle of nowhere. There’s an aimless feeling to the piece but in a good way so that you feel weightless as you listen.