Pelt, Effigy (side C)

Over the nearly 20 years of Pelt's existence, their line-up has evolved, and their sound has grown more consistent and refined.  For 2012's Effigy, founding members Patrick Best and Mike Gangloff are joined by Mikel Dimmick, who first joined for 2005's Untitled, and newest member Nathan Bowles.  Where most early albums could be chaotic and diverse, Effigy varies far less across its four sides.  Each side contains one or two long instrumental tracks, and each track creates a feeling of drone and suspension, through the use of a consistent palette.  Most of the instruments employed produce overt attacks in their performance, so the idea of drone is more conceptual than a simple use of held tones.  The liner notes point out that all of the sounds were created with acoustic instruments.  The palette changes slightly from one track to the next, often with different instrumentation, but the overarching sound of the album remains consistent.  Each track moves through its space without having any obvious structure or logical progress toward an end.  Sonically, the album is slightly thin and bright, with limited low-end and very present treble — this is especially noticeable when the bowed cello is used.  The beautiful paintings on the packaging hint at the vaguely folk-y nature of the contents, but they're far more representative and narrative than Pelt's music.