US project SILENT MAN STANDING is the creative vehicle of composer and musician Craig Walkner, and is self-described as a downbeat/electronica oriented venture. The EP “The Watcher of Thoughts” is the first production released under this moniker, and was issued in 2014 through Swedish label Mareld.
I’ll have to admit that this particular kind of music isn’t one I’m all that familiar with. I’ve listened to my fair share of music in the electronic field, but the downbeat moniker doesn’t mean anything to me personally, and many of the artists cited as likely influences on the artists Facebook page are also ones that I’ve never come across previously. So my apologies to those more familiar with this kind of music if there are notable aspects here I haven’t tracked.
For me this EP basically comes across as a creation with one foot inside progressive electronic music while the other appears to be firmly cemented somewhere in the ambient universe. Careful, frail and delicate notes combines with dampened rhythms and ethereal textures to form gentle landscapes, where careful and sparse use of electronic noises is just about the sole aspect that adds a slight bite to the material. Creations with a careful ebb and flow nature, slowly flowing from sparse, frail landscapes to more elaborate layered constructions that while rich in details never grow to become majestic or even close to overpowering. A celebration of the beauty you can find when creating electronic music, but also shying away from the ear cotton landscapes of purebred ambient and new age music. There’s always a presence of one kind or the other that maintains a nerve and that gives these creations a slight edge, even if the edge is closer to being smooth and silky than it is to be stark and dramatic. The closest thing to the latter you’ll find on this EP is the track Shopping for a Diagnosis, Parts 1 & 2, where bass and drums both gives this piece more of a vibrant and urgent edge, and seeing the name of this particular composition one might suggest that these elements are rather appropriate in such a context.
If you tend to enjoy electronic music of the more careful and deliberate kind, Silent Man Standing’s debut EP “The Watcher of Thoughts” is a production you should lend an ear to. A production standing on the border between progressive electronic music and ambient electronic music, that more often than not appears to be able to blend the strengths of both of these types of music fairly well.
My rating: 72/100
