ARTIST:
> The Mist Toggles
ALBUM:
> Skritt
GENRE:
> Experimental
PUBLISHER:
> Witte Dood Records
YEAR:
> 2009
FORMAT:
> 3" CDR
TOTAL PLAYTIME:
> 5:33
[01]Skritt
AUTHOR:
> M
Norwegian "The Mist Toggles" is a really experimental one-man project. He has created songs using solely a gameboy or sid chips for example. He has also made some ambient music and noise, and something in between. He has used a computer, recorded samples, aforementioned sid-sounds and some "real" instruments... and these are just the instruments I know of. The outcome is often rather unusual, even annoying in it's variation.
This single release (titled "Skritt", which means horse's walk) is taken from his album "Spirit on Needles" from '08. The track presents a quite conventional side of TMT, as it features almost no electronics. It's mostly executed with an somewhat thin-sounding, distorted electric guitar and a clear bass guitar, both of which create quite odd-sounding riffs that seem illogical due to not following a rhythm/beat for most of the time. The electric guitar is there to really take the song forward, whereas the bass makes some background soundscape and backs up the guitar. The first two minutes feature a bit improvised-sounding, emotional riffing with a sample of husky dogs barking in the background at one point. The sample fits in otherwise, but it's imbued badly to the track, as it seems to not have no fade-out; this flaw draws too much attention to itself and damages the atmosphere. After two minutes the guitar starts to create a simple, mid-tempo shredding riff, which is backed by the bass and a sample of some machinery (which has, again, no fade-out) to create some sort of a beat to the guitars. The same style of riffing lasts for two minutes, after which the track almost stops for a short while, and then continues in the same vein that it begun; atmospheric and a bit improvised-sounding guitar riffing, a sample of husky dogs and something that sounds like snow being walked on. Sadly, the track ends to a sudden cut. The track has some really small ambient-sounds audible a couple of times, and they sound really nice, are not too attention-grabbing, and fit to the overall atmosphere.
I must say that this song made me rather confused. The overall execution in the string-department is mediocre and even sloppy, but the created atmosphere is enjoyable. The composition seems to be just some blocks put together, as the middle-part just doesn't seem to know it's purpose in the middle of the a lot more atmospheric parts. The used samples were chosen well, but they were added sloppily to the songs, and ended up sounding too glued-on. The sparse electronic ambience is very well executed, but it is just a very small part of the song.
This record was made inspired by the norhern Norwegian setting, according to the artist. Sure, the riffs in the beginning and the end, teamed up with the husky dogs, manage to create a certain calm, ethereal atmosphere... but the middle-part sounds out-of-place and even brooding compared to the other parts, and severely damages the atmosphere. The sloppy inclusion of samples doesn't help the situation, and the mistakes in the string-department also disturb the scenery. Lastly, the ending really kills the mood. Creating a strong atmosphere in such a short time is a challenge overall, and this release didn't even bother to try hard. There's too much going on, crawing for your attention.
I am not sure what the artist was aiming for. He has made some really enjoyable tunes with disturbing elements, but this song just doesn't pull that gimmick off. This song doesn't even hold any noticeable experiments. Thus, I give the artist points for the theme and partially succeeding in creating an atmosphere according to it, but that's all. It also must be noted that this record fails in being a good single-release; it does not provide a good picture about the artist nor the album from which this song is taken from.