A gentle breeze. The hum of the open highway. The drone of a refrigerator.
These sounds invoke a nostalgia hard to capture outside of one's mind. Each may
be uninspiring or even mundane to ponder, but somehow these everyday harmonies
are able to link themselves to memories. A gentle breeze may recall the time you
stood at the crest of ebbing ocean waves as the sun set. The collaboration of
rubber and concrete may conjure up the many roadtrips to see friends, family,
bands, or just to get away. The isolation of the refrigerator's motors working
overtime just might make you hungry.
These reactions are what Adam Forkner appeals to throughout the five discs of his
ambitious box set. Packed to the gills with drone and ambient detours, White
Rainbow Box infiltrates each one of your senses, taking you to a time in
your life when things were idyllic. And though one aspect of the collection may
never stand out above another, it's the sum of the parts that creates a musical
landscape as picturesque as Forkner's imagination.
The mammoth venture is a lot to devour, even in multiple sittings. With five
discs of material, the peaks and valleys of each track get lost in the total
listening experience. Your senses forego the luxury of picking up every little
nuance of noise and sound as it's forced to absorb each disc as a whole. Forkner
has passed up the prototypical verse/chorus/verse cliché in favor of a more
classical approach. Each track is just a cog, a nut, or a screw in this very
large and overreaching machine. Hell, it's even bringing out the worst clichés I
can string together.
But that's what White Rainbow Box is truly about. Listen upon listen, the
only thing that changes is how you interpret it. It's background music for
reading or work; it's foreground music for relaxation; it's the soundtrack for
imagination. Each movement of ambient sound and melodic drone becomes impossible
to dissect. It becomes a part of your memories. It becomes the gentle breeze,
the highway's din, and the refrigerator's monotone hum.
Disc 1
1. 4-10-04 porchdusk
2. Takeoneeee
3. 8-1-04 acoustic
4. 5:35 A.M. July 6; 2004]
5. Tuuubms
6. Chimes 12-26-04
7. Tryp with Me
Disc 2
1. Shanty Town Exclusive
2. 7-20-04 8:29 P.M.
3. 6-12-05 BANJOSMEAR
4. Birthday Pt. 1
5. Birthday Pt. 2
6. Birthday Pt. 3
7. Yawswell
8. Zome Zome Zome Zome Zome
Disc 3
Ahh
1. 1 Minute Movie
2. Found Found
3. Fffffffff
4. Trust 7-7-05
5. Ahhhhhhhmmmmmm
6. Gauntlet of the Dying Soul
Disc 4
Native 78
1. 7-18-04
2. 6-12-05 HOLYFUCK
3. FROOOZZZZMOP
4. 6-12-05 BELLS
5. Churchlazer
6. TANGERINECRUNK
7. MOUTH
8. Evenworse
9. Brainwave Meditation Sync Cycle
Disc 5
1. Heal Yourself Through Self-Hypnosis (Tussle Remix)
2. Replication of the Audio Portion of the White Rainbow Full Spectrum
Installation (Feb. 2004 @ CCA, San Francisco, CA)
3. Sleep Now We're Eally Soft (Remix of Dirty Projectors source)
4. Vibe on Infinite Now (Soundtrack to Alex Hubbard's Infinite)