''Crater'' is a collaborative studio album between American drone/noise artist

Daniel Menche Daniel Menche (born December 4, 1969) is an American experimental musician and multidisciplinary artist from Portland, Oregon. Since 1989 he has recorded many albums that are categorized as electro-acoustic, noise music, dark ambient music, abst ...

and the American post-rock band

Mamiffer Mamiffer is an American band based in Seattle, Washington. It started out as a solo project for former Pyramids and Everlovely Lightningheart member Faith Coloccia that later saw several session musicians and collaborators, most consistently Aar ...

. The album was released on November 13, 2015 through SIGE Records, an independent label founded by

Aaron Turner Aaron Turner (born November 5, 1977) is an American musician, singer, graphic artist, and founder of label Hydra Head Records. He is most widely known for his role as guitarist and vocalist for the post-metal bands SUMAC and Isis, while also ...

and

Faith Coloccia Faith Coloccia is an American artist and musician. She is most known as being the founding member and primary songwriter for the post-rock band Mamiffer. Coloccia has also been a member of Everlovely Lightningheart, Pyramids, House of Low Cultu ...

of Mamiffer. ''Crater'' was created over the course of four years and was inspired by hikes through the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. On those hikes, Turner, Coloccia and Menche collected

field recordings Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibrat ...

of nature, which make up a portion of the music on ''Crater''. About the collecting of these recordings, Turner said: "the process of making many field recordings together for this record while hiking and exploring nature, was a lot of fun—our mutual obsession with field recordings is one of the things that drew us together in the first place. The enjoyment of each others company in the process of making something together added a lot of meaning to the music itself, and made it all much more like play than work." Music critics generally praised ''Crater''. In his eight-out-of-ten rating for Scene Point Blank, music critic Spyros Stasis wrote: "''Crater'' is a case of a multidimensional offering. The tracks progress and evolve, attaining different characteristics as time passes. The mysterious tones of 'Aluvial,' the hypnotic sound of 'Husk,' the pitch black darkness of 'Breccia,' the peaceful moments of 'Exuviae' and the melodic interludes of 'Calyx' and 'Maar' are just some of the elements that Daniel Menche & Mamiffer awaken through the seventy minutes of ''Crater''." ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' ranked the album at number 12 on its "The Best Experimental Albums of 2015" list. In his description of the album, ''Pitchfork'' staff writer Grayson Haver Currin wrote: " aniel Menche'space has slowed during the last few years, but his new collaboration with Faith Coloccia and Aaron Turner, or Mamiffer, makes up for the lost time. A half-decade in development, the six-track ''Crater'' is a vivid exploration of uncanny sonic phenomena."

Track listing

All music composed by Mamiffer and Daniel Menche. Arrangements by Menche. # "Calyx" – 6:19 # "Husk" – 14:12 # "Alluvial" – 16:15 # "Breccia" – 16:19 # "Exuviae" – 11:25 # "Maar" – 4:04

Personnel

Music

– arrangements, field recordings, electronics, drones, noise *

– piano, organ, vocals, field recordings *

– guitar, electronics

Production

Randall Dunn Randall Dunn is an American record producer, audio engineer, and musician. As a record producer, he has worked with musical acts such as Sunn O))), Six Organs of Admittance, Marissa Nadler, Wolves in the Throne Room, Boris, Anna Von Haussw ...

– guitar and piano recording * Daniel Menche – additional guitar and vocal recording, mixing

Artwork

* Faith Coloccia – photography, illustrations, design * Daniel Menche – photography

References

External links

Crater
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

{{Authority control 2015 albums Collaborative albums