Here’s a true story. One morning I woke up between the two worlds – the one created by my mind, and the one perceived by it. With the remaining bits of dreams still lingering in my peripheral consciousness, I set off to the start of a new day. But the dreams kept coming back. In particular, an image of a needle playing on a dusty record, evoking two words spoken by that 60s radio jockey, repeated over and over in one continuous loop. The same two words appeared on the DJ’s t-shirt – one on the front, the other on the back. Those two words were ‘dying’ and ‘alone’. That dream stayed with me for weeks, sending chills down my spine upon every recollection. Unable to interpret its meaning, I shelved it for another time. A month later, I have discovered bvdub‘s latest album. Have I seen this title somewhere else before? Perhaps. That doesn’t change a thing…
There’s something about Brock Van Wey‘s music that makes me connect to nature, to consciousness, to being, through sound alone… Brock serves the highest sermon to all the listening gods in my church of music. The repetitive passages of sound create a blissful mantra, imploring you to erase all thought, forget about the past or future, and just stay in the present. The titles of the tracks, give me even more reason to believe that Brock’s message is indeed reflective on the nature of our short stay in this world: “Descent to the End”, “To Finally Forget It All”, and “No One Will Ever Find You Here”. The release includes the following message: “We all die alone, but some make it their last work of art.”
Released on an Italian ambient label, Glacial Movements Records, the album was written and produced by Brock in Shaoxing, China, where he currently resides. On his last album, White Clouds Drift On And On (echospace [detroit], 2009) released under his real name, Brock Van Wey paired with Stephen Hitchell to release a double disk full of deepest dub and emotionally absorbing music. On The Art Of Dying Alone, Brock returns with ethereal atmospheric pads, seamless loops over frequency saturated sonic soundscapes, with distant and delicate voices, gentle piano, and acoustic guitar. At the centre of the album is a theme of contemplation on life, isolation, detachment, and inevitably, death.
Be sure to pick up bvdub’s We Were The Sun released on his own, Quietus Recordings. I also recommend you grab the single track release, To Live, released by Smallfish in 2009. Additionally, I am looking forward to bvdub’s upcoming release on Home Normal, titled Tribes at the Temple of Silence, scheduled to hit the streets in January 2011. The album features a track titled “These Walls Will Always Remember (for Dani)”, which I’m sure is dedicated in memory of Danielle Baquet-Long (Celer / Chubby Wolf), who passed away in the summer of 2009 at the young age of 26. With all of this reflection on death, I must end this review, and set about my day, attempting to accomplish even the smallest tasks with full devotion, hoping that my presence would leave a tiny trace of my existence behind, when I’m ready to go…
