Thuja - All Strange Beasts of the Past (2002)
Real ephemeral stuff, this. Thuja's brand of earthy, improvisational folk seems to drift on the outskirts of perception, with consistent rhythms and melodies seeming fleeting at best. This effect is aided by the massive amounts of foley and ambient drone used on this album, as sounds of metal, rock and wood as well as vast yawns of mysterious hums mask the muted guitar and percussion.
If I were to summarize
All Strange Beasts into a mental image (which it constructs musically very well), I'd say it's like walking through an abandoned town that floats in the cloudy sky. Where there once was a vibrant culture of bustling, friendly markets and children running through the streets now lies only dilapidated shacks and emptiness. All the while during your stroll, this album is playing in your peripheral, drifting seemingly halfway between a dream and a memory. Every time you try and focus your ears to it, it fades into the windy ambiance. It's music that shows great age but is simultaneously ageless- it's music of a time long forgotten that has, through time, sort of fused itself with the harmony of nature.
Thuja execute a well-done but relatively short-lived atmosphere with this album. It's not mind-boggling or life changing, but I don't think that was the intention. They attempt to create ghostly music that exists in the past, and they do a good job.
7/10