Organ Eye

Organ Eye is a four-piece, two-headed band consisting of two members of Osso Exótico and two members of Minit. The first project focuses on acoustic drones (David Maranha here plays organ and violin, while Patricia Machás is credited for harmonium, bass drum, and bowed piano). The second duo (Jasmine Guffond and Torben Tilly) works with electronics. This meeting takes both factions out of their usual territories and into a place that is a bit more than its constituent parts. This self-titled debut contains two long drones (25 and 20 minutes), but the music is far from static. Hammond organ and harmonium provide the basis for both improvisations, although the organ suffers from severe electronically induced stuttering. Guffond and Tilly add various forms of pollution (glitches and harsh textures, mostly). The other aforementioned instruments occasionally come in to spice things up and contribute to the general movement toward escalation. In both tracks, the bass drum, fat and reverberating, comes in around climaxing time, hammering out a mournful call. "Tema #1" is overall quite peaceful in a noisy kind of way, while "Tema #2" quickly gets restless, accumulating several layers of tortured organ lines. Reviewing drone music is very difficult, because on paper (or on the screen), all albums end up described as if they sounded the same. Well, this one is different: its sound palette is unusual, its build-ups have a post-rock-ish yearning, and the overall attention to detail hauls it above the majority of recordings in this particular field. It should appeal to drone fans and to people into Double Leopards and No-Neck Blues Band. ~ François Couture, Rovi