Paperbark – Forgotten Narratives
7.28.16 by Scott Scholz

We’re in a golden age of killer synth jammers right now, with folks like Kyle Landstra, Norm Chambers, Joe Bastardo, Daryl Groetsch and many more combining melodic and textural synth work into provocative and introspective soundscapes. It can be a daunting task to keep up with the embarrassment of riches all these folks are dropping, and there are some great newcomers worth hearing as well. Among those, “Forgotten Narratives,” the recorded debut of Jon Mulville’s Paperbark project, has spent a lot of time in my decks over the last few months.

Conceptually, Paperbark embodies a measure of disappointment with the easy, cheap entertainment that defines modern life. “Forgotten Narratives” demands a more mature relationship with its listeners, with an emphasis on layers of texture that frequently dominate more immediate melodic/harmonic considerations. Mulville puts in his fair share of effort to forge these sounds, working with homemade modular units toward a palette of unique, gritty timbres that help to actualize a very personal approach, like the distinct tones of fellow DIY synthesist Günter Schlienz. A little extra effort as a listener is richly rewarded, as these song-length pieces often feel much more expansive than their modest running times.

Where most folks tend to emphasize either melodic or atmospheric development in their work, “Forgotten Narratives” explores strategies to keep both in balance. Several pieces here, like “Letter as Symbols” and the title track, feature some harsher sounds that remain anchored in tonality, while others like “Past the Wooden Fence” and “Tree Verb” are dominated by rich melodic sweeps that are tailed subtly with squarewave industrial percussion. While most of the melodic fragments on this tape are built from drones and pads that gradually drift into one another, this is a great album for deep vertical listening, with some fascinating melodic relationships between different synths cloistered several octaves apart. With lots of heavy stereo panning, it’s also great on its horizontal axis with headphones.

Denver’s Black Box Tapes has released Paperbark’s freshman outing in an edition of 100, and you can still snag a copy at the Paperbark Bandcamp.