FOREST MANAGEMENT “Shifting” C24 (White Reeves Productions)

Get me of this plane, I’m not kidding. Man is not meant to fly – we place our trust in a machine made by humans, a species prone enough to mistakes that there is an actual term, “human error,” to account for it. Add that human error to a distance of, like, fifteen hundred miles (or thereabouts) straight up in the air, and you’ve got a very very fast date with a solid surface of a planet you should never have left in the first place.

I hate flying.

But I’m not that crazy. I will if I have to. Which means I need an aural sedative, a valium and white wine ear cocktail. Enter Forest Management, aka John Daniel, whom I’ve written about before. Naturalism and wonder are his forte, served up in meditative slabs of synthy drone. This is perfect for my headphones any time I find myself in one of those ungodly flying machines. All I have to do is shut my eyes, and I’m drifting off on a transcendent journey no one can disturb me from. The three tracks on Shifting form cloud banks of psychological solidity, soft, ambient formations that envelope and support. In fact, if I allow enough time to pass, I’ll probably forget I’m on a plane to begin with. Even if I crack an eyelid, I’ll only bear witness to the cloud formations beneath me, the curvature of the earth, and the sun in the sky. Great – looking just fine. I’ll just have to make sure this C24’s on repeat, otherwise it’ll run out too quickly.

Forest Management

White Reeves Productions

--Ryan Masteller

FOREST MANAGEMENT “Departure” C30 (Hylé Tapes)

 

Maybe you have an idea of what you’re about to hear, but if you don’t, you’d be well advised look at the cover of this tape and consider its title, Departure, as well as the moniker of the artist who has recorded the music. A filtered photograph of an autumn tree and a blue sky here is an icon, one that punctuates memory and immediately causes a reaction. For me, I inhaled deeply, tasted the frigid air on my tongue and felt the chill in the back of my throat, and exhaled a warm cloud of breath steaming into the morning. My atoms, my heat mingled with the atmosphere, and I became one with my surroundings.

That’s the point of Departure, I think, to remove yourself from your environs and depart, physically, mentally, emotionally, into another state. The tranquility of the processed field recordings and arrangements, coupled with the plaintive tones, stamp the music with a deep sense of nostalgia and allow the compositions to imprint themselves deeply onto your psyche. There is hope in removal and ultimate renewal, and through these songs that hope is grafted to your bones and your organs in ways that are unforgettable. Well after the tape ends, I’ve found myself longing for simplicity and peace, and looking toward the natural world for those qualities.

Forest Management is John Daniel, a Cleveland- based minimal/ambient composer. Matthew Anderson played Schumann Grand Piano on this recording. The black cassette is limited to 50 hand-numbered copies. The “Hylé” logo is hand-stamped on the back of the j-card.

Hylé Tapes

Forest Management

--Ryan Masteller