BOSCH’S WITH YOU – wired promise
to be
(CD, R.A.I.G.)
The “songs of the whale”
was probably the worst hippie thing to come out of the not at all hippie
like Eighties. But to sit on the back of a whale and to sing to the melody
of yourself playing the flute is a completely different thing. In some ways
post rock was one of the worst things to come out of the Nineties, but also
one of the best. Bosch’s
with you, the former solo project of Dima T. Pilot now a band in
every respect, is proof that everything bad can spawn a lot of good if the
right people pick it up. The bad news is that Dima T. Pilot passed away last
year, only 29 years old, and this album is testament and dedication to a
great talent. A promise that will forever remain to be.
A lot of people tend to call
instrumental music post rock instantly, but to me post rock’s main feature
always was the search for new voices to come out of a traditional band
context, replacing the dominance of vocals and words, with the more subtle
meaning of four instruments playing together and the evolution of the music.
This, unfortunately, in a lot of instances led to the bands becoming more
and more complex without adding to the meaning. Bosch’s With You tends to
focus more on the evolution and dynamics of sounds and melodies as the song
evolves throughout at least three thirds of the album, and therefore in my
opinion, if you need to label them, it should be called psychedelic.
Throughout the whole album a
dreamy, sad beauty flows endlessly through the music. Be it within the soft
and slow atmospheric tracks or the rocking, dynamic, energetic ones. The
ringing notes played by the guitar(s) left hanging in the air, suspended in
the fog driven up by sounds and noises from various sources, including field
recordings, the static yet lively rhythm section giving the music a
fundament to rely on. All these parts work together to create a living,
breathing sound that seems to flow endlessly. At times very subtle and
almost ephemeral, at other times working towards an explosion of rock music.
But even these explosions are
gentle and focused, if you compare them to heavy 21st century
prog bands like Red
Sparrowes, which indeed shows where Dima T. Pilot comes from. I
mean, if you close your eyes, fall into the songs and later on it takes you
a few minutes to realize that the birdsong you heard some time ago did not
come through the windows (it never did, why should it now?) but was included
in the music you heard and might even not have been bird song at all but
some manipulated guitar sounds with lots of echo, then the music had the
wished for tranquilizing effect on you.
What a common place it is to
say that some kinds of music really take you away on to a journey to your
subconscious or to the forgotten dreams you had, but here even I would take
it and use it. Because it fits, plain and simple. Me, usually I would never
go to state a lot of esoteric blabber, because I hate this kind of speech.
Try to find the inner child, come to grips with your insecurities, et
cetera, all of this makes me want to puke. But there are some things about
the mind and the way our brains and consciousness work that make sense, and
taking a deep breath from time to time and to soothe your brain by infusing
it with a flow of sounds that are both gentle and encompassing can really
relax your mind. This I know from experience and with “wired promise to
be” it works.
This final record of Bosch’s
With You is a tender to the idea that some things last longer than death and
that some are even eternal. It is the great fortune of an artist to create
something that will outlast him. Bosch’s With You leaves behind about half
a dozen albums with rising artistic relevance and impact. No need to light
candles now or fall into prayer, but listening to “wired promise to be”
just might tip the balance of energy in the universe to the better side,
even if just for a little.
