The Flashcards - 23trees

The Flashcards - 23trees - 2021 (2021)

23trees sounds somewhat minimal, featuring acoustic instruments, wind instruments, tribal percussion, and more—giving it a feel like field recordings with Central Asian and Middle Eastern nuances. A strong example with the most clear and layered components is "Mandala." A sort of grand piano appears on "Melancholia," but it still doesn't sound melancholic enough to my ears. Then the noise waves on "Verse of the Undergrowth" serve as a transition into tracks that feel slightly darker and more peculiar, even without employing strong or pervasive ambient/synth layers.

I definitely skipped through most of it, but there was one interesting moment when "Blue Noise" played like a fake ringtone, making me reflexively think it was my actual phone ringing and instinctively reaching to answer it.

Tracklist:

1. Dawn (Šestinski dol)

2. Melancholia

3. Mandala

4. Verse of the Undergrowth

5. Blue Noise

6. Formulas Fatal to the Mind

7. Morning Dust

8. Vertebrae noctis

9. Entanglement

10. -

OVERALL: 70/100

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