The Artificial Pine - Saturnine Firmament
The Artificial Pine, previously known as Epiglottis, is an ambient producer from Kraków, Poland. His album, Saturnine Firmament, is a phenomenal venture through opalescent soundscapes and an incredible fusion of ambient, drone, modern classical, jazz, noise and other experimental facets.
Sun homes luscious baroque opera within a dreary, lifelike soundscape that masterfully degrades into cosmic insanity. Drones creep in half through the track as if to detract from sound mind. Mercury boasts a stunning arrangement of keys that mask a harrowing, muddled clamour. The soundscape evolves in a heavenly manner only to return to the tranquil keys and virtuous chorals. The title of the third track, Venus, is rather deceiving; the track is entirely immersed underwater, complete with transcendental whale hums and eerie undertones. Throughout its length, the track becomes increasingly senile, introducing tenacious dogs and harrowing mallets.
Revealing many ideas from previous efforts, Earth begins in a rather austere fashion. The track is very reminiscent of Godspeed You!’s Static; rummaging soundscapes and spacious stores evoke homely vibes. The convivial clamour is overly joyful at its early peak, almost as if to celebrate life itself. The track menacingly decays over the next half an hour to reveal a decayed, baron wasteland. Compared to the lively Earth, Mars is ominous and mysterious. Creeping doorways, typewriters and haunting keys breath life into the baron soundscape. Despite feeling like another planet, many ideas from the first two tracks are repeated here. The track slowly evolves, however, into a cold industrial IDM track. The resulting amalgamation of beats is purposefully muddled, resulting in ambience that is disordered yet stimulating.
Asteroid Belt is perhaps the first time Saturnine Firmament feels like it’s in space. The track is pad-filler, yet works perfectly fine in the tracklisting. Jupiter sounds like a collaboration between Constance Demby and Robert Rich, with an interesting and delightful experimental vocal section at the beginning. Unlike the previous works, the track feels more new-age and thus a little cheesy, though overall the track boasts some beautiful drones and intricate moments of delight. These two tracks pale heavily in comparison to the phenomenal Saturn; a masterclass in subtle, microtonal progressions. The Hassel-esque electronically modified wind instruments in conjunction with the keys are exquisite, and the gradual decay of the song is heavenly.
Uranus is another highlight; the opening acoustics are somewhat diabolical yet alluring. The track beautifully transitions into an incredible jazz spectacle before slowly degrading into a cathartic electronic stream of consciousness. Neptune follows suit with feculent bodies of water and shifting soundscapes; it’s ideas less refined than the preceding tracks. Pluto is more clear, however; with its return to modified field recordings reminiscent of life back on the 3rd rock from the sun. Despair Snuffs of the Sun from the Firmament is a short celebratory finale to the incredible journey one experienced.
What makes Saturnine Firmament stand out from Pine’s previous body of work is the clear vision. While it has some moments of filler (to be expected in a 4-hour body of work), there are many ideas that justify its length. Beeline from the Sun to the Pluto are godly tones and flawless transitions. Saturnine Firmament is not merely a celebration of life, it’s a celebration of Pine’s previous works. It combines most of his best works into an incredible celestial suite. Turn off the lights, put on some headphones, and be prepared for one incredible journey.
Great
Listen to it here:
https://theartificialpine.bandcamp.com/album/saturnine-firmament
The Artificial Pine - Saturnine Firmament
