2022
rainsweet stillness is a new work from prolific sound explorer and Verz label owner, Phil Maguire, and takes its name from a poem by E.E.Cummings.
Maguire's work explores reductive soundscapes which incorportae modular synthesis and sometimes cassettes. His recent output has seen him push the boundaries of extended drone with shades of Eliane Radigue and Phill Niblock present; his vast swathes of stillness and slowly undulating tones are both immersive and meditative.
Review, harmonic series:
This is a lovely work to allow into a space. Rather than filling the air with sound it just offers some sparse sonic additions to the already existing silence of that place. And like that already existing silence and the various sonic events that could occur within it, these are sounds that neither distract or demand – they just exist. The result of playback in this way is a combination of real-world, unplanned, uncontrolled silence with controlled, planned, highly aestheticized sound events. From this perspective, through multiple listens, it becomes increasingly clear that what I expected about this release ever since my first listen was true: that each and every sound present on Rainsweet Stillness, each speck or smudge, is one of abstract, personalized, indescribable beauty.
Review, ATTN:Magazine:
The edges of the composition unravel until there’s no distinction between the music and the listener’s sonic background, and thus no longer a spotless emptiness where the “now” should be. The lights of perception double in strength, and the attention focal point unfurls. Looking through the window and looking at the window become pretty much the same thing.