Bond Inlets by Howard Stelzer
"it would be unforgivable to overlook 1998’s Bond Inlets, Stelzer’s crowning achievement; an album where he was able to pick the inherent limitations of consumer-grade tapes apart, laying out a foreboding work of rare emotional power." - j. Rodriguez, Tiny Mix Tapes
“Rich, immersive piece with drama and detail aplenty. Hear this!” – Brian Olewnick, Just Outside
“…a large expanded dread. Like walking into a cave, the further you go into Bond Inlets the more the darkness spreads and impenetrable it may seem. But there is a calm to this material that never moves into predictable explosions of noise. This is my favorite stuff by Stelzer yet!” – The Fader
“Stelzer knows and likes his noise, that much seems to be clear, but unlike so many noise makers around, his main effect is not the pure wall of noise, but rather a full wall of sound, with small events happening on all levels. A great work this one that shows a much more mature composer and one that has been constant refining his work over the last decade to cook up this master piece.” – Vital Weekly
“Stelzer’s drones come in waves, long and slow, while the other gestures are bitty, percussive and often shrill, and are given salient structural impetus by their silent framing. As a structural system, this has real depth, and it lends itself well to observation as one approaches it from different points of view… a haggard melancholy is all pervasive; in the fleeting half-melodies, the warm though foreboding bass drones, and the fetishistic hiss—all so many residues of a living whirlwind that devours the darkness.” – e/i Magazine
“For all the gloomy imagery that Bond Inlets produces in the mind, it’s not an overly somber affair. The sound is dark in hue, but Stelzer’s most sinister storms are offset by segments of an almost relaxing (though still bleak) sonic drift.” – Dusted Magazine
Credits
Composed and recorded 2005 to 2007 at Intransitive - Cambridge, MA. Cassette tapes etc by HS, with a few moments of cello and electronics from Vic Rawlings. Photography and design by Mike Shiflet. Mastered by Ernst Karel. For my brother, Craig.
License
All rights reserved.Tags
Stelzer's music is assembled out of cassette tapes, tape machines, and a stubborn refusal to admit defeat. He & his family live on a small farm in rural MA. At night, he hunches over piles of plastic, wires & little boxes and makes this stuff. No one knows why.
"I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares." - Saul Bass