Although Sweden’s Moljebka Pvlse has been around for 20 years, this is the first time one of their recordings has crossed my desk, which makes me wonder how much more music of this caliber is out there that I’m not aware of. Komoku explores a cross-genre blending of dark ambient and electroacoustic music, an area in which more and more artists are poking around. As such, it consists of oscillating drones with soft noise walls as well as string, reed, and percussion elements in the foreground (or at least, audio structures that resemble these instruments). Gentle grinding and humming accompany waves and pulses throughout the frequency spectrum. Fractured samples and fleeting utterances overlap with unsteady synthesized rhythms.
The album was developed by Mathias Josefson, who made field recordings in American deserts, and John Björkman, who plays instruments acquired in Nepal. Throughout, both have been deconstructed and processed into waves. These are merged in various ways and forms. The result is an album that is rich in information and detail, with a feel that is both organic and architectural. Each listen brings forth nuances and subtleties that may not have previously been apparent, but without ever being overbearing
Needless to say, this is an unusually strong release that follows its own unique and twisted path.
Avant Music News 