zac keiller For the Soul (CD, £11.50)

First priority album for 2012 from a label which is striking a seriously rich vein of form right now. There’s every chance this label could emulate the success of Tri Angle in 2012, in fact Tri Angle has now signed Haxan Cloak from AB.... Zac Keiller is an Australian musician discovering new and unique sonic textures from one of the most overused and unimaginatively approached instruments in Western music: The guitar. The majority of his previous releases saw him working with ambient textures or electroacoustic improvisation. Whilst more recent efforts have seen him limiting the use of pedals, attempting to find a kind of transcendence through stark purity of tone. His new album for Aurora Borealis: For The Soul has been four years in the making, and a culmination of over 18 years of guitar exploration. A work of rawness and purity. The pickups hum and the blemishes become the highlights with Keiller using the entire guitar, attempting to make it breathe with no smoothing out of the rough edges or slick over processing. The compositions vary and grow to tell stories and create moods, with an atmosphere in parts epic wall of sound, while at others minimal and sublime. The term “drum-less, ambient post rock” has been an occasional descriptor. This is an emotive collection, a river of sound for the soul.” VERY LIMITED VINYL Tracklisting Causation Descending 22:01 Desolation + Redemption 8:56 Waiting Room 10:32 Robinson Crusoe on Mars 10:57 Running Time: 52:30