Album released on ltd.CD by Shimmering Moods Records. You can still by it digitally at: shimmeringmoodsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/fishing-for-shadows

Fans of poignant, personal and craft-based ambient soundscapes will be served with this new monthly batch of releases by the highly prolific Shimmering Moods Records (key DIY actor and publisher in the latest development of electronic/shoegaze/ post-minimalisn). Fishing For Shadows from the obscure No One provides a compelling collection of moodily introspective, detached and fragmented microtonal sceneries based on eerie experimental guitars, field recordings and submerged melodious lines. The whole thing suggests a vibrant, emotional and melancholic soundtrack for lonesome days. All instruments are heavily treated and processed, favoring electro-acoustic researches on raw sounds, pattern and motion. The music is structured as a long and expanded dusky ambient tale of austere and morose beauty. Harsh noises slowly and subtly cover the mix while ghostly evanescent melodies are shrouded in a flowing sadness. This one will instantaneously appeal to listeners of brooding, bittersweet drone artefacts from Deathprod, Tape Loop Orchestra, Offthesky, Celer et al. (Igloo Magazine)

It is appropriate that sound artist No One has landed with Shimmering Moods Records. This elegant 54-minute piece – his first for the Amsterdam-based label – shimmers, sparkles and a good deal more. Previous releases can be found on Midira Records and Consouling Sounds (the latter of which serves as an equally apt description of Fishing for Shadows).

The source material was recorded and composed during the winter and spring months of 2017-18. The work continued last summer, before the tapes were handed off to Raffaele Pezzella (a.k.a. Sonologyst) for mastering.

Pieces this size can sometimes be difficult for an artist to get their arms around. There are plenty of hour-long soundscapes that could be presented more compellingly in a 30-minute or less format. The same can’t be said of this one.

It never stops progressing. New ideas are draped over one another like cool summer linens. And there isn’t a single bad thought among them.

Electric piano, organ, strings, drones and field recordings all add to the mix. Not that any of them are recognizable. No One has transformed these sources into a gentle fog of sound.

I’ve written before about the importance of anchoring work like this with some form of contrasting abrasiveness. It adds dimension and prevents pieces like this from being confused with large, well-tuned appliances.

While Fishing for Shadows could never be described as course, there are enough gritty surprises along the way to keep an active listener engaged. Those who choose to leave it in the background will miss a lot of the fun, but won’t be the least bit disappointed by it.
(Bad Press)