As Giants Watch Over US
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Edition of 500 copies in 4-panel Digipak.
Recorded September-December 2003 at the Institute for Organic Conversations.
“James Keeler used a variety of instruments and devices to create “As giants watch over us”. A display of high resolution ambiance and up to date composition, this new album offers a fresh view of Wilt’s creation, as James Keeler here incorporates various elements and influences of today’s electronic music into his drones and sound-layering.
The focus of this new Wilt album is indeed current matters. As he did with “Radio 1940”, James Keeler tries (and manages) to find sonorities which speak and evoke the underlying themes of the album, not walking the easy way of sampling and quoting Wilt’s most accomplished album so far, “As giants watch over us” is in the very words of Keeler “a sonic declaration of political unrest, social engineering and coming plagues”.” – bleep
“This record is stated to be a “sonic declaration of political unrest, social engineering, and coming plagues”, and opener “Empire of the Snake” certainly represents the latter portion of said declaration perfectly, through walls of sinister dark ambience. The following title track, by contrast, it a lot different than what I’m used to hearing from Wilt, with a few obscure musical elements, stuttered loops and staggered arrangements, quick shifts and changes, etc. As a whole this material is far softer than much of Wilt’s earlier work, and has more in common with the controlled and conceptual “Radio 1940” 2xCD, solidifying the project’s more “mature” (for lack of a better term) and perhaps more focused direction. “Media Labyrinth” is another dark and somewhat ethereal piece, whose slight glitchiness foreshadows the crisp and stuttered electronic cutups and shape shifting that takes place in “Engineering Eternity” – one of the busiest and most frantic tracks herein. “Reversing Magnetism” is among my favourites, as it’s a mysterious track that has a very strange sense of feeling and musicianship to it, relying mainly on repetition and consistent tones, but creating a strange progressive rock nuance that’s very interesting. Many of these tracks (“The Mystery of Iniquity”, for example) are indeed well crafted soundscapes that do suggest a visual element, and that ties in nicely with the “progressive” sort of edge that comes into play at times. The CD comes in a digipack with lots of abstract artwork on it, and I enjoy it for the most part. I almost like the colours and textures of the centre spread more than the front cover, and the back of the package is a bit too colourful and stands out from everything else, but it’s still a nice looking piece of work for the most part. It’s definitely different visually than most of what you’ll see accompanying this style of music. One of the things that I really enjoy about this CD is that, aside from the fact that there is obviously a strong conceptual base, the track titles are very suggestive and curious, showing that a truly respectable and admirable level of thought is involved with the process here – and you don’t find that with every release in this genre by a long shot. It makes a difference, for sure. Wilt has yet to disappoint, and the intelligence and effort of the work alone calls for a great deal of admiration.” – aversion online
