Best of 2011 (albums) WILLIAM FOWLER COLLINS - The Resurrections Unseen (Type)

William Fowler Collins is the modern György Ligeti. He creates the kind of drones that emit from "2001's" black obelisks. He produces some of the deepest music being made today, and by deep I am referring to the philosophy of "deep listening" that experimental legend Pauline Oliveros has dedicated her life toward, which is basically the act of taking the time to put a pause on all the extraneous bullshit in life long enough to immerse yourself into the soundworld being created by a given artist. It's kind of like sonic meditation, and Collins' music deserves to heard under those circumstances to be fully appreciated. As academic as that may sound, his music is also incredibly visceral, calling to mind your most unsettling moment, your worst nightmare or some primal collective memory. Personally, I love to put on his music when I have to drive through rural Indiana, as it casts a blackened grip over the heartland in a way that makes "Children Of the Corn" look quaint.

On "The Resurrections Unseen" Collins moves away from the blasted rural soundscape of the phenomenal "Perdition Hill Radio" for something deeper, more cosmic and more primal. This is an album that takes place in either deep space or far below the Earth's surface, depending on your prospective. Canyon sized drones burn across this record and sink the listener into a place that is both harrowing and familiar. If the evolution of the universe had a soundtrack, this would be it. I can't shake how massive this record is, how entirely beyond our individual moment in time it sounds. It's more like a transmission from the origins of the cosmos than the work of a lone individual living here and now. Although one could easily call this dark experimental music, it is bigger than that; it's a sound beyond the distinction of light and dark. The only other act that I can think of making music this expansive, this primitive and this spectacular are Sunn 0))). With "The Resurrections Unseen," Collins has solidified himself as one of the premier artists on the experimental scene. This record should be in every single serious music fan's collection, it is nothing short of astonishing.

"Abattoir"

William Fowler Collins - Abattoir from John Twells on Vimeo.