Andrew Anderson – In Shadow And Ruin
8.5.15 by Mike Haley

Austin-based ambientrepreneur Andrew Anderson (a fella so nice his mamma named him twice) was already on the Tabs Out radar (or “tapedar”) with last year’s slammer “The Red Dream“. His latest effort, “In Shadow And Ruin” is another intense stroll down Hypnosis Lane. Anderson’s ability to form and manipulate moods like clay is gorgeous. Tide after tide of hulking drone waves build and crash on the floor, all the while a circus of charged zaps rattle about just below the surface. Ten minutes of that plays out over the second track, The Sand Will Swallow Your Voice. It’s a battle of tug-of-war between massive and microscopic playing out on the edge of a cliff. A cliff like one of those epic ones you see on postcards from Ireland. The ones that look like spots forbidden lovers would jump to their deaths from. Those cliffs.

Keep in mind that comes AFTER a 7:25 walk-through-an-grand-church-basement burner of an opener and BEFORE a 7:19 mental-flosser with vocals that make your eyes dry and the sound of slow-motion snakes shimmying out through your duct work. And hold on… There’s another stunning track, nearly nine and a half minutes in length, where cylinder-shaped blobs of synth ooze right through your skin, making it all bubbly like you’re in an X-Files episode or something. And that’s just the A side, so…. I guess what I’m saying is that this sucker is insane. It’s dark, it’s menacing, and it’s wonderful. Anderson occupies the fluffy clouds and the bleak trenches for the duration of this long-player “In Shadows And Ruin“.

It’s limited to 40, and you know I’m down with the gold imprinting on those smokey shells, so go ahead and get on it right now.