Glimmer In The Ganzfeld – The Voyage of Vona
Glimmer In The Ganzfeld is the somewhat strange moniker chosen by Athens, Georgia resident Micah Proffer. Apparently, Glimmer is Icelandic for Micah and Ganzfeld is the German word for a featureless field. Proffer writes, performs and produces all his own work and his first release is ‘The Voyage Of Vona’, which is – in Mr. Proffer’s own words – ”the soundtrack to a journey experienced by a crew of existential sailors at sea”. I don’t feel qualified to dispute that but in layman’s terms it’s twenty-one minutes of instrumental post-rock split into four parts.
The first of these parts employs several pretty and intricate guitar patterns and the second is similar but starts off more gently; even using some pleasant keyboard washes before heading for heavier territory. So far so good but one factor which clearly distinguishes ‘The Voyage Of The Vona’ from other post-rock releases is the drums. They are very prominent throughout; it’s not that they are particularly loud but because they are pushed to the foreground of the mix. Track number three features too much of Proffer’s percussive skills and is the most difficult stage to listen to whereas the final section tries to build into a crescendo of noise but the dated synth sounds somewhat diminish the apocalyptic effect that the musician is clearly aiming for.
At its best, ‘The Voyage Of Vona’ is strongly reminiscent of early Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It’s reasonably melodic, makes all the right dramatic moves and wouldn’t seem out of place as a film soundtrack but there is a strong sense that this has all been done before and with more consistently favourable results.
For more from Jon, please read his ‘zine Leonards Lair