When David Simon’s latest foray into television, Treme, began airing on HBO, you can’t fault people for assuming we’d get The Wire Pt 2. On the contrary, what Simon provided was not so much of a plot driven narrative, but a slow, reflective look at New Orleans and its people. In some ways, it was more of a painting than it was a television show. Blunderspublik’s latest cassette Barren Immensity follows a similar suit. Blunderspublik’s Discogs.com page says that he writes “audio pieces for distraction.” Barren Immensity couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather than distract, they serve to affect your environment – not to be listened to on its own per se, but to be used to experience life as you listen. Some tracks move faster than others – “Elastic Modulus” is one such example – but many tracks rely on slower, or at least, more minimal presentations. “Vast Undulating Black” is more or less exactly what one would imagine the sound of vast undulating black to be. “Born to be My Unicorn” is as close to pop as this album comes, as it includes vocal and background percussion, but despite a somewhat conventional structure still retains a dreamy quality. This is not revolutionary ambient or electronic music, but it serves to affect your atmosphere appropriately.
It’s been said that this album is “perfect for walking at night” but also “ideal for winter hibernation.” These two acts are contradictory, but it makes sense when we consider both Treme and Winnipeg. Generally, Winnipeg is a place where it is ideal for winter hibernation on the best of days, and yet there is something alluring about it, something that is maybe only discovered by walking the streets of this city. It’s that sort of understanding about New Orleans that David Simon has, and it’s the sort of understanding that Blunderspublik has about Winnipeg on Barren Immensity. (Dub Ditch Picnic, notype.com/drones/catalogue.e/panospria/) Devin King