Sunn Amps Always Set-Up In The Northwest: Dylan Carlson's Solid "Gold"

When you need a film score for a period piece set in the wiles of the Canadian West, Dylan Carlson may not be the obvious choice. Yet, that is exactly whom director Thomas Arsian tapped for his newest feature film Gold. A foreign-language drama that takes places during the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1800s where the discovery of the movie’s namesake is the guiding principle of being. An odd paring at first glance but this collaboration turns out to be proper inspiration for a solid piece of electric guitar work.

Gold the original soundtrack by Dylan Carlson released under his recent handle of Drcarlsonalbion has succeeded in creating a guitarscape on par with the showiness of nature that is the Canadian backdrop of this film. Mr. Carlson’s 24 guitar compositions (titled Gold Parts I – XXIV) come across as a singular vision echoing the best elements of other notable six string heavy soundtracks such as Neil Young’s ominous arrangements in Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man and Jonny Greenwood’s stark string work on P.T. Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. Appropriately country-tinged at times, meditatively repetitious in others but always full of mysterious open spaces and creative, emotive sounds; Mr. Carlson’s creation triumphs with only the occasional accompaniment of percussion to provide a sense of containment to the vastness of his sound. Mr. Carlson plays with a distinctively slow hand, turning every strum of his electric guitar into a mission statement. Fuck Eric Clapton, Mr. Carlson is the real slow hand using this soundtrack as a showcase of his trademark powers in patience, atmosphere, feedback and sustain.

The Drcarlsonalbion name is a new addition to the Dylan Carlson brand. Having cut his teeth in the early nineties with his band Earth, a nearly ten year break followed before being convinced to come back to, dare I say, Earth. In that elapsed time, his underappreciated musical vision had taken hold and there were now bands, labels and a whole niche genre of music waiting eagerly to back any new offerings he coaxed out of his guitar. Out of this arrangement, a new Earth was born- eventually becoming less caustic and droning with the addition of new layers such as string arrangements, horns, country influenced guitar and an underarching, overlying nod to nature, history and spirituality. Drcarlosnalbion is an extension of that newfound dimension originally using this moniker to indulge his anglo-interests in the “folklore/history of cunning-folk and fairy-faith in the British Isles”. However, it appears he is now expanding his interests into other areas of the British Empire by focusing on Canada and/or possibly lending the Drcarlsonalbion name to all other recordings outside of the Earth imprint.

Over twenty years have passed since his earliest forays into feedback and Dylan Carlson continues to evolve at his own slow revolutionary pace. 2014 looks to be Mr. Carlson’s most prolific year on record with at least two more releases on the horizon- Earth’s new full length Primitive & Deadly and Drcarlsonalbion’s long gestating and Kickstarted Wonders From The House of Albion. For his devotees, both Gold and the overall outlet of Drcarlsonalbion serve as another reason to feel the gods are just and smiling upon them. As for Mr. Carlson himself, a career renaissance continues with this premiere trek into the soundtrack wilderness with a stellar, low-pulsed album. While borrowed from the film’s title, Gold turns out to be an apt descriptor for this album as well- an embarrassment of riches to be found by the dedicated listener from a deep vein of musical resource and vision.