Saarn

N is the moniker of Dortmund-based German experimental guitarist Hellmut Neidhardt. December 2014 marks the release of two new solo records, N(35) „Saarn“ and N(36) „Heven“, both of them slightly entering aspects of drone he did not work on that much before. With both „Saarn“ and „Heven“, N is focusing on the use of vibrant distortion, but in distinctive different ways within the concept. The whole 3-track album „Saarn“ is determined by oscillations between heavy and minimal with a mood of (at least the danger of a coming) aggression even in its most silent parts. The opening piece, „Toevermanns Gruben“, is telling the story of an imaginary place buried under huge amounts of gritty fuzz, while „Seltene Erden“ keeps irritating with its movement in static. The closing piece, „Schwarze Heide“, then walks further the dark path that was first discovered with „Wehle“ (from N(22) „Goor“) some time before. „Heven“ in fact achieves very different results, even while using the same tools: way more ethereal, otherwordly in its atmosphere, proving that even the utmost minimalism can gain an intense feel of beauty, a fortiori when „Heven I“ changes from stuttering static to a broken melody before getting lost in its own memory, somehow. „Heven II“ finally just uses grainy white noise to built up a cathedral of feedbacks, infinitely reflected.