Loren Dent

The second release from Contract Killers (a small, independent label founded by sculptor and sound artist Anthony Romero), Empires and Milk unfurls as a subtly experimental, mood rich soundscape that seems almost bled from some American art house film. Spartan and deconstructed electro acoustic tones such as droning keys and guitar slowly drift over the beat-less desolateness, and the submerged melodies, combined with the slow and sombre mood, at times, hover in an almost auditory stillness. Coalescing into its music/sound art ambiance, Empires and Milk’s tracks are only subtly different in mood and texture (alternating between static and echo-y audio drifts), and the tracks bestowed with distinctive titles, such as "Colonial Blues,” "Master and Slaves,” as well as the trilogy of "Love Songs” and a pair of "Work Songs,” all similarly lull and reverberate under the bleak and sometimes metallic ambiance. And while it never serves for a listener to question song titles, one can’t help but get the feeling that the track names allude to some mind’s eye movie score in producer Loren Dent’s head.