The Golden Vessyl of Sound

None of the songs on Golden Vessyl of Sound have titles — Yume Bitsu created the tracks out of improvisations, fragments, and barely structured pieces, and the band felt that it would seem contrived to create titles in retrospect. It's fitting, because the resulting album is hardly something that can be broken down into simple songs. A sprawling, grandiose mélange of space rock, Golden Vessyl finds the Portland, OR, band using guitars, horns, synthesizers, drums, and loops to forge an epic that crosses My Bloody Valentine and Godspeed You Black Emperor! From the spare, non-Western "Song Two" to the gurgling fractals of "Song Four," Golden Vessyl is hardly mellow, ambient music. It is a difficult album that demands the listener's attention and, though it could benefit form the intricate structure of a band like Boards of Canada, Golden Vessyl is quite rewarding.