If Thousands, I Have Nothing

reviewed by dave heaton

If Thousands - Aaron Molina and Christian McShane's ongoing experiment in using instruments that they're not technically proficient in - rolls beautifully onward and upward with their sixth release I Have Nothing. Their approach has always been to try everything and anything, in order to stumble across unique atmospheres. They're always succeeded, at making music that wraps itself around you and pulls you in, yet each album has its own distinct aura. That's certainly true of I Have Nothing - if there were an If Thousands formula, this album would be the sound of them breaking free from it.

There really are no rules in If Thousands' creative world, yet here they seem especially into pushing their sound in new directions. The album opens with a distinctly Eastern-sounding elegy which also features an accordion and sounds like the beginning of a day, like a score for the sun slowly rising over a silent landscape. From there the album glides through a consistently compelling array of drones and moodscapes and gentle improvisation.

Sometimes there's a cloud of sound, ocassionally one instrument crying on its lonesome. Silence never seems too far away. Often they're in an Eno-esque ambient zone, though initial impressions of homogenity will erode the closer you listen. And occasionally they'll be an explicit change in tone, as with the delightfully odd "Crispin Glover", sort of a warped carnival tune, or the banjo-led closing number "Stella and Me". Even with the album's diverse textures, though, what often stands out most isn't one instrument but an overall feeling and sound. The overall aura is silently sad, perhaps, or quietly filled with awe...or as if we're caught in the middle of a contemplation, or the moment between thoughts. Winds howl, open spaces beckon, our minds empty into a pure state of just being.

Of course the feeling the album exudes will no doubt be different for each listener, or for the same listener in different frames of mind, yet the music certainly will provoke an emotional reaction, accompanied by a far-secondary intellectual one ( i.e. 'what instruments are they playing now?'). For a rich work with so many hidden corners, I Have Nothing also feels like one cohesive, even compact work, not like a maze you might get lost in. It offers expansive, involving atmosphere, but in a pointed, powerful way. It's the most inspiring recording yet from If Thousands, a duo in the midst of an exciting musical adventure.

{www.silbermedia.com}