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Zarko · 04-21-2009, 08:47 AM

Two Way Mirror – Sand Snowman (2009)

GENRES – Folk, Rock, Ambient

The Butcher's Hook - 5:49
I Spy - 3:45
Faded Flowers - 5:21
A Vision On The Green - 2:43
Matryoshka, Muse Of Misrule - 1:51
Mirrors - 8:23
Riverrun - 2:48
Neurotic Zoo - 3:27
Kites - 4:48

Sand Snowman is an alias of the artist Sand, and Two Way Mirror would have to be my favourite release of his. With guest vocals by Steven Wilson, Jason Ninnis and Moonswift, there is quite a bit of variety to it, with instruments and style variety galore. At times if is full on folk, at other times its ‘minimalist rock’ while at others it is some odd mixture of folk, neoclassical and ambient music.

‘The Butcher’s Hook’ starts with some haunting acoustic picking, sometimes sounding as if the notes were playing in reverse. Slowly, more and more elements are added, including some animalistic ‘ohh hah’ vocal work as the tone is set perfectly to match the title of the opening track, until the ethereal and dangerous vocals of Moonswift enter the fray. They aren’t the type to pierce the soul but is rather the type that I would envision a hostile supernatural being possessed. The lines ‘Sliced, and diced and cut’ which lead into a sounds I can’t identify (for an acoustic instrument) is just chilling, before the piece becomes a bit more ‘hearty’ with bass coming into action, as well as some light organ work and children’s voices. The song just captures a particularly chilling mood that offers a great experience. The last minute is purely guitar and mandolin work, which carries the temper throughout, and the experimental nature of the sounds in these last few minutes are a treat, and on the whole make this an awesome opening track.

‘I Spy’ is s similarly structured piece, with a slow guitar riff driving the piece before Moonswift and Jason Ninnis add their vocals to the piece. It is all fairly calm before the singers take off at the line, ‘Devil at the back door’. It still doesn’t become terribly loud, but more vocally structured to what mainstream music listeners expectations are. It’s only a short piece, but it is still fairly good, and only adds to the disposition with an overall chanting/summoning sentiment. ‘Faded Flowers’ is a faster paced, more ‘traditional’ folk sound with some fairly simple guitar strumming and layering with Wilson’s inherently British voice, but it doesn’t carry the same temperament, which is a shame because I was quite enjoying it. The mood has changed from dangerous to nonchalant, but it does have some good electronic backing, which is a nice deviation from the purely acoustic sound. I have no idea how this bloke makes some of these noises, but on every listen you find something new that intrigues you, which I love in music.

‘A Vision On The Green’ sounds like it could go either way at the very beginning. The quiet guitar work is initially surrounded by a groaning sound, only to be replaced gradually with bird chirps and eventually some woodwind instruments. It still exactly the most upbeat or positive sound possible with this combination of instruments, but it isn’t quite as dark as the initial two tracks. The violin is also a treat, with an almost squiggling repetitive nature to it. At the end of the song it becomes more aggressive, with louder and faster guitar picking and that same haunting groan surrounding the piece again. This sort of leads into the next track, ‘Matryoshka, Muse Of Misrule’ which continues the faster paced picking, but in the end I can’t really articulate the way I feel about the track. It just seems disjointed, as if it’s a bit lost in itself. At less than 2 minutes in length, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing to have a little bit of ‘calmed chaos’ but I can’t quite say if I like the track or not.

‘Mirrors’ is by far the longest track on the album, which is to its detriment at times. The track opens with some foreboding signs as we travel into a dark underworld, curious but not quite knowing what the results of our trip will be. The faint violin streams in an out, never sounding like it is played to perfection, having an incessant squeak to it. The piece picks up with the introduction to some heavy electric organ and electric guitar playing, but it still isn’t at the forefront of the track, reverberating from the depths before it all quietens. The remaining instrument is a solemn and simple piano performance. The haunting backing floats in and out, same with the electronic guitar work. Nothing attacks you until the key strikes at the piano become more prominent, and even when you think an eruption of noise is going to happen, it all composes itself once again. There are noises introduced at random intervals which are a pleasure to try and grab out and identify. It finally changes tone when a deep bass line becomes out-standing as well as some light drumming. It’s almost as if you stepped from the depths of hell into a seedy little side bar, and everything remains unknown and foreign to the listener, as you can never have your back to anyone for too long for fear of your own safety. As quickly as we stepped into this world, we step out again and some quaint choir work enters the background with the piano work once again. I love the grinding sounds in the background (Just wanted to point that out

) as we exit the world, not knowing if we are better for the experience or not.

‘Riverrun’ is a needed change from the darkness into another mysterious world that isn’t quite as ominous as the last. Wilson is present once again which waft around the instrumentation in a casual manner. It isn’t quite as nice as other tracks, but it is a break that was required. ‘Neurotic Zoo’ carries on the basic guitar riff whilst adding some rock-ish structure with a deep driving bass line and some basic drumming. I think it’s safe to say I really dislike this track in the whole scheme of things.

The album ends on a high note with ‘Kites’, as a serenity returns to the album. It envelops the dark atmosphere from the beginning the album, and although at times it is a bit similar to Mirrors, it is nonetheless a beautiful track.

To be honest, I disliked a lot of the album when I first chucked it on. It seemed clunky, I didn’t like the vocals and I wasn’t huge on the overt similarities between songs. However, when review time rolled around, I found myself loving most of the tracks as they went on. They were nothing outstanding or pioneering but they maintained a great atmosphere in different ways than I normally experience. I even had to go through it again to see if I actually did like it that much. I don’t want to be overly generous knowing my opinion on it changed so drastically so quickly, but you can’t replace simply enjoying an album with technical prowess. There is a bonus CD out there as well in some versions if interested.

TOTAL SCORE

7.8/10

– The Butcher’s Hook
- Mirrors

04-21-2009, 08:47 AM	#60 (permalink)
Zarko Barely Disheveled Zombie Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,196	Two Way Mirror – Sand Snowman (2009) GENRES – Folk, Rock, Ambient The Butcher's Hook - 5:49 I Spy - 3:45 Faded Flowers - 5:21 A Vision On The Green - 2:43 Matryoshka, Muse Of Misrule - 1:51 Mirrors - 8:23 Riverrun - 2:48 Neurotic Zoo - 3:27 Kites - 4:48 Sand Snowman is an alias of the artist Sand, and Two Way Mirror would have to be my favourite release of his. With guest vocals by Steven Wilson, Jason Ninnis and Moonswift, there is quite a bit of variety to it, with instruments and style variety galore. At times if is full on folk, at other times its ‘minimalist rock’ while at others it is some odd mixture of folk, neoclassical and ambient music. ‘The Butcher’s Hook’ starts with some haunting acoustic picking, sometimes sounding as if the notes were playing in reverse. Slowly, more and more elements are added, including some animalistic ‘ohh hah’ vocal work as the tone is set perfectly to match the title of the opening track, until the ethereal and dangerous vocals of Moonswift enter the fray. They aren’t the type to pierce the soul but is rather the type that I would envision a hostile supernatural being possessed. The lines ‘Sliced, and diced and cut’ which lead into a sounds I can’t identify (for an acoustic instrument) is just chilling, before the piece becomes a bit more ‘hearty’ with bass coming into action, as well as some light organ work and children’s voices. The song just captures a particularly chilling mood that offers a great experience. The last minute is purely guitar and mandolin work, which carries the temper throughout, and the experimental nature of the sounds in these last few minutes are a treat, and on the whole make this an awesome opening track. ‘I Spy’ is s similarly structured piece, with a slow guitar riff driving the piece before Moonswift and Jason Ninnis add their vocals to the piece. It is all fairly calm before the singers take off at the line, ‘Devil at the back door’. It still doesn’t become terribly loud, but more vocally structured to what mainstream music listeners expectations are. It’s only a short piece, but it is still fairly good, and only adds to the disposition with an overall chanting/summoning sentiment. ‘Faded Flowers’ is a faster paced, more ‘traditional’ folk sound with some fairly simple guitar strumming and layering with Wilson’s inherently British voice, but it doesn’t carry the same temperament, which is a shame because I was quite enjoying it. The mood has changed from dangerous to nonchalant, but it does have some good electronic backing, which is a nice deviation from the purely acoustic sound. I have no idea how this bloke makes some of these noises, but on every listen you find something new that intrigues you, which I love in music. ‘A Vision On The Green’ sounds like it could go either way at the very beginning. The quiet guitar work is initially surrounded by a groaning sound, only to be replaced gradually with bird chirps and eventually some woodwind instruments. It still exactly the most upbeat or positive sound possible with this combination of instruments, but it isn’t quite as dark as the initial two tracks. The violin is also a treat, with an almost squiggling repetitive nature to it. At the end of the song it becomes more aggressive, with louder and faster guitar picking and that same haunting groan surrounding the piece again. This sort of leads into the next track, ‘Matryoshka, Muse Of Misrule’ which continues the faster paced picking, but in the end I can’t really articulate the way I feel about the track. It just seems disjointed, as if it’s a bit lost in itself. At less than 2 minutes in length, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing to have a little bit of ‘calmed chaos’ but I can’t quite say if I like the track or not. ‘Mirrors’ is by far the longest track on the album, which is to its detriment at times. The track opens with some foreboding signs as we travel into a dark underworld, curious but not quite knowing what the results of our trip will be. The faint violin streams in an out, never sounding like it is played to perfection, having an incessant squeak to it. The piece picks up with the introduction to some heavy electric organ and electric guitar playing, but it still isn’t at the forefront of the track, reverberating from the depths before it all quietens. The remaining instrument is a solemn and simple piano performance. The haunting backing floats in and out, same with the electronic guitar work. Nothing attacks you until the key strikes at the piano become more prominent, and even when you think an eruption of noise is going to happen, it all composes itself once again. There are noises introduced at random intervals which are a pleasure to try and grab out and identify. It finally changes tone when a deep bass line becomes out-standing as well as some light drumming. It’s almost as if you stepped from the depths of hell into a seedy little side bar, and everything remains unknown and foreign to the listener, as you can never have your back to anyone for too long for fear of your own safety. As quickly as we stepped into this world, we step out again and some quaint choir work enters the background with the piano work once again. I love the grinding sounds in the background (Just wanted to point that out ) as we exit the world, not knowing if we are better for the experience or not. ‘Riverrun’ is a needed change from the darkness into another mysterious world that isn’t quite as ominous as the last. Wilson is present once again which waft around the instrumentation in a casual manner. It isn’t quite as nice as other tracks, but it is a break that was required. ‘Neurotic Zoo’ carries on the basic guitar riff whilst adding some rock-ish structure with a deep driving bass line and some basic drumming. I think it’s safe to say I really dislike this track in the whole scheme of things. The album ends on a high note with ‘Kites’, as a serenity returns to the album. It envelops the dark atmosphere from the beginning the album, and although at times it is a bit similar to Mirrors, it is nonetheless a beautiful track. To be honest, I disliked a lot of the album when I first chucked it on. It seemed clunky, I didn’t like the vocals and I wasn’t huge on the overt similarities between songs. However, when review time rolled around, I found myself loving most of the tracks as they went on. They were nothing outstanding or pioneering but they maintained a great atmosphere in different ways than I normally experience. I even had to go through it again to see if I actually did like it that much. I don’t want to be overly generous knowing my opinion on it changed so drastically so quickly, but you can’t replace simply enjoying an album with technical prowess. There is a bonus CD out there as well in some versions if interested. TOTAL SCORE 7.8/10 – The Butcher’s Hook - Mirrors Last edited by Zarko; 04-22-2009 at 08:39 AM.