Drekka

Item: Take Care to Fall
Author: Chris Brown

Take Care to Fall

(2002)

Reviewed by Chris Brown

Discogs Bandcamp

Label BlueSanct RecordsOpus2003

alternative folk experimental

Originally published at Opus

You would think that after years of working behind the scenes with the likes of Low, Rivulets, The Iditarod, and The Pilot Ships as the head of BlueSanct, that Michael Anderson would have a pretty good grasp on this whole experimental, droning folk thing. You would be correct.

I always have a twinge of nervousness when one of the business types of the indie rock world steps up to the mic. Far too often these sorts of projects are ill-conceived, poorly executed, and should never see the light of day (you reading this Brandon Ebel?), but hell, who's going to say "No" to the boss? In Anderson's case, however, it would have been better if people had been slapping him around in an effort to get the thing done faster.

In the works since 1997, Take Care to Fall is Anderson's first proper release and is remarkably fully-formed for something that began as some simple four-track experiments with friends. The disc is filled with echoes, hum and room noise, drones, and fragments of sound that are arrayed around Anderson's simple, understated acoustic melodies. Vocals, when used, are placed much as another instrument would be -- as one part of a larger whole rather than a focal point. That approach pays off well, particularly with the truly haunting female voice wafting in and out throughout "Fractured."

While Drekka certainly shows the influence of Anderson's label roster, his voice is purely his own. This is no vanity project -- Drekka sits quite comfortably alongside the rest of BlueSanct's roster, which is no small feat considering the quality of that label's acts.