Loren Dent hasn’t gotten much coverage in the blogs or from major review sites yet. His label isn’t exactly Sub Pop-level, and his packaging looks like it could have been done in MS Paint (Times New Roman, holla!), but his music largely holds its own against the indie majors’ ambient artists. Whether this is a testament to his talents or to the sonic anonymity the genre can provide is up for question.
Empires and Milk, Dent’s solo debut for Contract Killer Records, is a mishmash of various familiar ambient tones and styles that coalesces into a fairly unique, solid listen. Dent’s songs feature a scratchy, staticky feel very similar to that found on Fennesz’s great Venice. They’re also propelled by the same bedrock of droning keys/guitar tones used by SotL. (It’s a bit unsurprising to note that Brian McBride, Stars of the Lid, and Eluvium all figure into Dent’s Myspace top 8. Dent and the SotL guys share their hometown of Austin, TX.) At its best, Empires and Milk evokes a sandy, summery kind of feel–like lying in a grassy field on a hot, humid day at twilight. In fact, I wish I had such a day on hand right now—guess I’ll have to wait a few months.
I can’t tell if it’s symptomatic of the genre or of my own listening skills, but while there’s a qualitative difference between Dent’s work and records by more established genre names, I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is. While I’m sure that “songwriting” is still a factor in ambient music, it’s not as stand-out obvious as it is in pop music–melodies are submerged if they’re present at all, lyrics are exceedingly rare, there’s no chorus to hang your emotions on. If I stack Empires and Milk up against a record like Keith Fullerton Whitman’s Playthroughs (an even less melodic piece of drone), I can feel the songs more strongly in Whitman’s work than I can in Dent’s. My ears can hear a difference and my mind can register it, but there’s a gap of understanding as to what makes it different.
The last paragraph might make it sound like I’m down on this record, and that’s definitely not the case. For a debut release, it’s remarkably assured. It shows great attention paid to genre fathers and a concentrated effort to make something new out of the various ingredients it gathers. I feel like Dent has a great album in him, but he’s got a bit of a way to go before he gets there. Empires and Milk certainly hasn’t had its last listen for me, and I’m eagerly awaiting his next effort.
The album comes out on Friday (March 1st)–kind of odd in an industry with a fairly rigid Tuesday release cycle, but I guess micro-indies can afford to buck publishing trends if they feel like it. He also has a couple shows upcoming in Austin and Houston, both on May 10th. For details, check the link to his Myspace page below.
In the meantime, try: “In the City Again”
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