A transept, according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary is either arm of the part of a cross-shaped church at right angles to the nave and a drone is a number of things including a deep humming sound. Of course, drone music has been around for some time now, perhaps long enough for a lot of people to know it occupies a space in the leftfield independent sector of the musical galaxy.
This album starts off with the track Happysburgh which is named after the mispronunciation of the eroding Norfolk village of Happisburgh. It is a fifteen minute pseudo-raga of an old keyboard played through a rattling crystal inside a stone. How do I know this? Let’s just say I have a good ear. Anyway, it sounds more druid than reverend. It doesn’t move much at all for the most part but there is some subtle change as it falls merrily into the sea.
Sea Sentinel (COD – a lookout) is a song I like, it has a feel of glitch about it, some nice ‘verby’ keys and even some shoddy vocals on top. The next track is Let’s Go and it follows on nicely with a disembodied voice for a melody and some minimal feedback effects booting it along.
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The album is pulsing and pulsating at this point. Supermoon Party Bucket is more of the same but a bit more subdued. Muscle Beach is all crepuscular sand action. Crabs march forward and The Prodigy are taken. It has a touch of Kraut and Portishead about it. Bright Eyes is a cover of the 'Watership Down' song and not only does it disappoint me as a cover (it IS a cover as it relies heavily on the vocal melody) it also detracts hugely from the album as a whole. It would have been far better to leave it off and have a relatively short album that finishes with the great Muscle Beach.
I couldn’t quite get into this album as much as I would have liked but it does have its moments.
Transept's Buff As Fuck website
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