Joseph Dierker and Tim Donovan, aka 310, have a particular
way to work together. They’ve been friends for years,
and used to both live in New York. However, Dierker
now lives in Seattle, and the only way they can carry
on recording is by exchanging tapes. This might be one
of the reasons behind the disparate sound of their project.
But disparate doesn’t necessarily means weak, and the
diversity of influences and inspirations is the backbone
of their productions.
310 is one of these bands for who it would be necessary
to invent a new tag to pigeonhole them. And, it is quite
obvious that it is the last thing the duo wants. Drawing
inspiration from hip-hop, post-rock, electronica, jazz
or field recordings, Dierker and Donovan create intriguing
soundtracks for unlikely movies, playing with atmospheres,
building an apparently very homogenous record as they
piece together the multitude of off-beat patterns and
sounds particles that they both spent months collecting.
310 compose a slow-moving piece of work, fluid and evolutive,
built around ever-changing song structures, interweaving
Eastern beats, street attitude, environmental noises,
ambient guitars and decomposed vocal samples, supported
by the claustrophobic lyrics provided by Fire/Fly on
The Claw Is Forming and After All.
Despite the eclectism of the compositions, or maybe
because of it, the duo manages to keep a firm grip on
the direction of the record, incorporating the diverse
sources into one simple format. Dierker and Donovan
emulate their ambiences with atmospheric melodies (An
Seanachi, Street Level, Aural Exiter),
pushing forward the emotional character of their music.
At times, After All haunts the neighbourhood
of Four
Tet’s Pause
or Manitoba’s
Start Breaking My Heart, but, at the same
time, 310 seem to avoid any collision courses by retreating
to the comfort of their trans-continental sonic table
tennis.
After All probably won’t make any more waves
than its predecessors in the effervescent world of IDM,
but 310 have far much more to offer than most, and After
All prove to be an enchanting record for those
who take the time to appreciate it.
4/5 |
