Aversion Therapy by Drafted By Minotaurs

"Drafted by Minotaurs mainstays are guitarist Ryan Wilson and Ian Fulcher, who contributes trumpet and glockenspiel. Meanwhile members of a floating cast chip in with added textures from cello and violin. Opener "Blueprints for Sunbuilding" spools out a hail of plucked and bowed strings, webs of sound solidifying then melting into steely flow, stall set out somewhere around cultivated Constellation post-rockeries, a mood and sound that may feel familiar to those acquainted with the new backwoods chamberisms and neo-folk drone of UK cottage industrialites such as Richard Skelton (aka A Broken Consort/Clouwbeck) and Seasons (Pre-din). "Sault Locks" proposes cyclical patterns of stringed things that seem to hover shyly apart, before swarming to swell and billow over the listener - not so much a Storm of Drones as a squall of tones. "Skin the Night and Fog," a more veiled sister of the previous pluckings and bowings, plays out a psych-infused dream sequence. These three tracks forming Side A work with their own distinct harmonic and textural patterns, while seeming like movements of something overarching. Miasmic minor chord tidal flow abounds, the music's motion determined by languorous bow-strokes, its textures by warm-prickly needles of guitar pizzicatos. Side B's single extended track, "Sunday's Morning Ghost," is wrought from similar materials, but aspires to more transcendant levels, led by the celestial harmonics of Fulcher's treated trumpet. It takes on atavistic echoes redolent of some distant Miles Davis or Jon Hassell blowback, as if viewing In a Silent Way through a post-Kosmische kaleidoscope, or channeled through Eno/Budd cathedrals to meet today's psych-drone and ambient trajectories.
Overall, Aversion Therapy thrives on such productive tensions between genres and eras, as it does between live and recorded, spontaneous and pre-structured, making for engaging, at times thrillingly psychotropic, listening." - alan lockett

"Drafted By Minotaurs who's 'Aversion Therapy' album is the labels first ever foray into the magical world of vinyl. There really has been zero compromise as far as the quality of the physical thing is concerned: Heavy duty gatefold sleeve in quality plastic wallet with obi strip and then a fine plastic inner sleeve for maximum protection of the ultra weapons grade heavy vinyl. So clearly a special release and my expectations of the music are high... So what about the audio that lurks within those exceptionally well cut/ pressed grooves... I put the needle to the record and the journey commences. 'Blueprints For Sunbuilding' begins with delicate, gentle twinkles with what sounds like distant pianos and heart-wrenchingly gorgeous strings that give off pure emotion, like everything that's beautiful about life compressed into vibrations. The track has a loose structure but the feeling of warmth just builds throughout with an edge that's almost harrowing. I'm reminded of Max Richter in terms of its emotional impact. Close your eyes and the cycle of life, with all its highs and lows is all in there. A very moving and touching tune if you allow yourself to be absorbed. The brief yet complete 'Sault Locks' builds on the preceding instrumentation giving off a vibe that is almost tropical yet hints at a darker space in time. This vibe is then realized in the third and final cut on the A-side 'Skin The Night and Fog'. The scenario of being lost in a rainforest on a distant island is evoked with the sun setting, as glimpses of its departure beam through the vegetation. An image which is loosley depicted on the sleeve photography yet becomes even more vivid as the track progresses. The feeling of being lost and alone, yet somehow not alone but surrounded by nature. Again this is a very emotional piece of music but rather than sounding more like modern classical stuff as the previous two tracks, it is more traditionally "ambient" sounding with the deeply soothing synths and ever evolving drones. The B-side of the record is dominated by a single piece entitled "Sunday's Morning Ghost". I'm not entirely sure which player is responsible for each part here, but accompanying Ryan Wilson are Ian Fulcher, Colette Alexander, Carol Grey and Susie Pilzinski. This seemingly has them all working in total harmony. Often musicians in rock music are referred to as being "tight" but that term can also be applied here as they seem to know and respect each others parts and this helps to build music that is both sublime and vivid. Much in the same way as Stars Of The Lid. There's space for each sound to make it's statement yet they melt together seamlessly.... After you've made your way through the forest, the tones begin to take on a sense of hope and the promise of sunlight until you find your way home. A very sophisticated work which is a powerful and deeply haunting record. Explore and drift away... Limited to 489 copies and very highly recommended." - Norman Records


The details...the outer sleeve is a Stoughton printing tip-on style gatefold. OBI strip. 180 gram virgin vinyl pressed at RTI. This LP pressing is limited to 489 copies.

"A great package with a gate fold sleeve - no costs
are spared here. Their ambient is much more open and gentle...like shimmering metallic sounds
pushed towards the end of the spectrum...Great cinematic beauty. Top class ambient album." - vital weekly

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