Area C

If you picked up Last Visible Dog's recent six-disc Invisible Pyramid: Elegy Box, you were treated to a 19-minute exercise in drone poetics, courtesy of Providence, R.I.'s Area C. His track, 'Chain Bridge,' led off the final disc of the set and proved that this relatively new voice in the drone scene was definitely worthy to sit alongside the likes of Ben Reynolds, Ashtray Navigations and My Cat is an Alien. As great as Eric Carlson's contribution was to the compilation, it was just a tease, preparing us for this, his debut full-length. The fact that Traffics + Discoveries was crafted primarily with guitar loops and effects pedals does not mean that you know what to expect from it before you even listen. The sounds that Carlson achieves with this palette are definitely not monochrome -- a broad spectrum of sound washes over you during the entirety of the album. There is never a dull moment, as each track takes on a separate dynamic realm and the songs themselves change shape, eliciting a stimulating listening experience.