Awake is a collaboration between noise veteran Mike Shiflet and guitarist John Kolodij (aka High Aura'd), and was recorded over the course of three autumn days in Kolodij's Rhode Island studio. This isn't your expected by-email collaboration though; rather, the two sat together in the same room with amps humming and strings vibrating, letting the space and the physicality dictate the music. The sessions were improvisational in nature, and as the recordings were cleaned up and edited, only sparse field recordings were added to enhance the live takes. It's a record that might sound electronic in parts -- indeed, echoes of Tim Hecker or Yellow Swans are present throughout -- but has the guitar at its core. Awake is a direct descendent of Godspeed You! Black Emperor or even Glenn Branca, but has been smudged, distorted, and delayed beyond recognition. What's left are traces -- the ghosts and outlines of songs, trapped in a fog of white noise and overdrive -- and the end result is disarmingly serene. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton. Edition of 500 copies.
