As a duo Tim Catlin and David Brown aka Candlesnuffer come together as 'Helium Clench' and boast long histories in the Melbourne and international avant-garde music world. Both have independently developed a fascination with microtonal sound, in particular through Catlin's construction of harmonic overtone guitars and metal rod instruments tuned in just intonation, and in Brown's case through his explorations using the quartertone bass guitar. 'Sieve', their first duo recording is a studio-based project which amalgamates electroacoustic strategies, bowed objects and processed acoustic and electric instruments.
Shadows gather under cardboard where animal dreams and cello bows struggle to hold off electricity. Sounds of bells are rushed, entangled with rain, through measly slots between tightly crosshatched wires. This fabricates perforated fragments of seeing. These fragments adhere in the air to form a soft abrasive paper, fancied by the remote ones.
(–) David Brown