Main | News Catalog Discography Audio Samples Reviews Order | Contact Links Variety Meats		Unicorn - "Playing With Light" - hpig-001 "Goddamn this record is beautiful. We mean seriously beautiful. So beautiful it sort of has us at a loss for words." - Aquarius Records click here for reviews Anybody who is a Man Is The Bastard or Bastard Noise fan and browsed the Man Is The Bastard Orgy discography website before, probably noticed this rather new project by W.T. Nelson. He is a founding member of Bastard Noise. Bastard Noise came out of the ashes from Man Is The Bastard and kept pumping the world up with the most harsh and droning releases. I've got a huge stock of Bastard Noise stuff in the back of my room and I was gladly surprised and enlightened to get this cd from Unicorn in my hands. Unicorn is basically Bastard Noise, but… totally different. On to the music! Opening track "Playing With Light" opens the record in a gentle and soft way. This is laid back, mellow and relaxing and makes you stretch your arms and just dream away with playful thoughts. To my surprise it’s not harsh at all. "Clay And Fire" is a slow droner that has someone talking about his arts ending up with some field recordings. I wonder what this one was about. "Spots" is definitely amongst my favorite tracks here. It is so good. Nelson starts out with some mellow synth sounds/tones that stay repetitive and make you unwind. But just when you're about to relax a dark undertone comes in what gives it a more dramatic feel, as layered sounds and controlled harsh screeching metal sounds come into your living room. Controlled but gentle. Stunning. "The Sea" is a rather short track of two minutes but the vibrations on here are so deep and warm it gets you even more comfortable in that chair. "Maho Kyoto" can be considered as the harsher track on here, as it goes from silent droning to sheering controlled loudness. But here as well, Nelson manages to keep it gentle atmospheric and well thought out. "Rain/But Not Candy" and "Far Away, Close To You" close off this cd in style. I've been listening to this album a lot of times, especially at night, or just passing out in a nearby couch next to a stereo. I wouldn't call it straight ambient or straight harsh noise. This is art, the art of creating something that lays somewhere in-between both genres. Nelson has the experience and the skills to make something that touched me, this must be good. It's interesting to see a person like Nelson who used to destroy minds with walls of brutal harshness, now challenges us, and drives our minds with sheer beauty. This is good. And definitely a keeper to warm up my coldest winter nights. Minimal ambientesque beauty. But that's not all of it. This cd includes some short movies by Stephanie Miller on which some of these songs on here are used as a soundtrack for them. I definitely liked the concept of both and the movies are rather short but fit well with the music. It just feels good to see something visual, connected with the music. You gotta see that for yourself. The cd comes in a nice printed sleeve, done by the nice folks at Thumbprint Press who have released a lot of Bastard Noise stuff, along with stuff from Amps For Christ and the Unicorn/2673 split cd. All in a closable plastic slipcase. Props to Housepig for releasing this beauty. - Semtex ************************ Unicorn is W.T. Nelson of Bastard Noise and this is his first full-length solo release after a couple of splits and compilation appearances. Three of the tracks on here are for films by Stephanie Miller. These films are included on the CD as Quicktime video files. The inclusion of the films is a great touch, as the music works well with the grainy and mysterious slow-moving images. The audio tracks on the CD are far more musical than the Bastard Noise stylings I was expecting. Something about the starkness of the music (and perhaps small touches like the use of spoken words and the long track titles) make me want to compare this to Godspeed You! Black Emperor much more than Bastard Noise. The pieces make use of some simple, tinkly melodies that sound like they are being played on a music box- this is how the first track opens, before some thick and earthy hums are introduced. The thick hums are the best part of the Unicorn sound- a very rich electric sound that is very deep and organic. I'm not as enthralled by the music-box elements. The release overall feels very slight- I had a hard time grasping the whole thing as a coherent "album"- it seemed like it was over right as I was starting to immerse myself in the sounds. The CD is not particularly short (37 minutes) but feels much shorter- perhaps because the compositions follow a very simple pattern that doesn't vary too much- the music-box tinkles and echoed hums recur in every piece. A bit of screechy feedback, some rain sounds and narration spice up the odd track here and there. Still, the sounds and the recording have a very attractive warmth and there is plenty here to make me want to follow what Unicorn might do next. - Angbase *************************** Unicorn is the solo side project of Bill Nelson from Bastard Noise and should not be confused with the Toronto indie band of the same name. And I guess it’s pretty better. As you always never know what to expect from a Bastard Noise, this one is a beautiful collection of diverse assemblage under the sing of the minimalism. The first track is a very calm 5 minute repetitive piano track with some atmospheric undertone. Then it switched to a more drony track that is also as minimal of the first one. The third one begins with a long synth minimal manipulations where some noises and drone are mixed with after three minutes without never leaving the central synth manipulation. I guess this is the center of all the release. Unicorn seems to go more in the path of old school minimalism like Terry Riley and Steve Reich’s classic stuff with a more contemporary attitude, let’s say. The noise undertones on this track called “Spots” really reminds me of some early Terry Riley stuff like Rainbow Curved In The Air. The fifth track is also a winner one which consist of a dark ambient/drone track with a crescendo of tension that suddenly stops to enter a more mellow track with some very deep pulses and some guitar repetition. This is also a very nice way to finish this marvellous album. Everything seems to been well assemble to create a very cool melodic minimal release. This is very very far I guess from most of the Bastard Noise incarnation (that I heard). This is very calm, never alienating and there’s also a pretty nice cinematic vibe. That’s possibly why there’s 3 small movies with Unicorn as CD-Rom. One features a guy doing pot with clay and explaining. The other one feature the first track of the record where someone is “Playing with lights” as the name of the album and of this movie says and where she reflects lights on walls in front of some objects that projects shadows on the wall. The third one is my favourite. It features some shooting of boats in a harbour or something like that with the superb fourth track that is the heaviest track of the album. All of these movies were made by a girl named Stephanie Miller. This release that inaugurates a new label called Housepig Records and is of course a very amazing way to start a new label. This is definitely a killer release, very well assembled and very diversified and very smooth to listen. I very like minimalism music when it’s well done and this time it is! This is a record that will stay around my desk for a while! - In The Fence of Reality ******************************** Unicorn is the solo project of W.T. Nelson, who has done a lot of work with Bastard Noise, as well as the projects Sleestak and Carne-A. "Playing with light" is the first Unicorn full length and it comes in a really pro package, including three cd-rom music videos (directed by California native Stephanie Miller) that look pretty nice. But we all know that pro packages and cool short films don't make the beast, and "Playing with light" definitely holds up in the audio arena as well as the visual. Each track on here is different, so I'll take it one at a time. The title track "Playing with light" consists of a simplistic chimes type melody at it's core, accompanied by very low noises that come in and out of the piece. On the first listen this struck me as a bit too repetitive, but upon further listens the ominous and dark horror movie vibe really pulled me in and made a believer. The miscellaneous noises and sweeps that pop up in this one definitely add a lot to it, helping to keep your attention just when you start to feel a bit impatient. Definitely a solid track. Track two,"Clay and fire" is a gritty dark ambient drone track focused around a man talking about pottery. Low end drones are the focus here along with the sample, high octave drones coming into the mix a lot as well, getting a bit more active as the piece goes a long. The video of this fits the imagery of the track perfectly; Grainy black and white visions of a man creating a pot. It may sound trite, but the way it's done really focuses on the slow beauty of pottery creation, and it fits this piece like a tight glove. Another solid track. "Spots", the third track, is similar in approach to the opening track, only this time around the melody has an electronic organ sound and the noise is louder and a bigger part of the piece. I really like the way the noise and feedback is restrained here, sweeping up and down constantly to build tension within the piece. But I must say that after awhile the organ melody gets redundant. This is a good track, but it would of benefited a lot from being half of it's 10 minutes. Track four, "The sea" is definitely one of the best tracks here, living up to its name by creating an ocean of beautiful sweeps and swooshes, painting a very dark and plush environment. I think that some of the sound here may be manipulated guitar, as it has very gritty "guitar" feel to it, but I'm not sure. This is an amazing track and my only complaint here it that at two minutes its way too short. It almost seems that Unicorn are apologizing for the shortness of the previous track with "Maho Kyoto", six minutes of chaotic reverberated noise perfection. This puppy builds up slow with low end throbs and then the screaming sinewaves and metallic sweeps come in, killing everything in sight. I think that there is some theremin work here, but it may just be a synth. Regardless of what was used to make it, this is an awesome track that really makes your jaw drop to the fucking floor. Most definitely the overall highlight of the disc. Track six, "Rain (but not candy), is a rather short found sound piece with some cool swells of noise towards the end. Cool but not much else to say as its so short. The closing track, "Far away; close to you", is a really beautiful ambient track full of melodic delay and the occasional asskicking metal violin sounding scrape. This is a pretty intricate piece, lots of different sounds at play with various different squeals and throbs forming behind the focus of the delayed melody. A really nice ending. Conclusion: Though I have a few minor gripes here and there, for the most part I think that "Playing with light" is a really good experimental disc that is worth the cash. I look forward to hearing more form both Unicorn and the Housepig Label. - Industrial.org ******************************** Unicorn is actually WT Nelson of noise outfit Bastard Noise (and the band Sleestak). He has released twice under the Unicorn moniker (a split with BN and another with 2673), but this is his first LP (as well as Minneapolis' Housepig's first release). Way more tame than I expected, but it captured my interests. A lot of hums, drones, loops and samples - minimalism with outstretched notes and a big scoop of eerie. Much of this reminds me of Coil in their Hellraiser era. "Playing with Light", "Clay and Fire" and "The Sea" have actually appeared in films by California artist and filmmaker Stephanie Miller. And lo! These three films are contained in a CD-ROM portion of this release. Thanks Housepig, as it brings the samples from the song "Clay and Fire" into better context once you see the film, which covered pottery and the use of clay. - Feast of Hate and Fear ******************************** This curious experimental outfit comes from the hands of WT Nelson, perhaps better known for his work with Bastard Noise and Sleestak, but those connections shouldn't be ones that bring along any expectations of the sound.  For instance, the title track starts things off with a very chilled out and hypnotic approach that combines ambient textures with a simple and repetitious little melody, but "Clay and Fire" follows with a darker edge that contains some spoken samples over more ominous low-end drones.  It's amazing to realize how a simple sample can really take on a different personality when it's set to this kind of borderline depressing soundscape, as it really puts a different context to the content of the words and shows that there's actually some thought going into this material, which is excellent.  The 10-minute "Spots" is the only track that I don't enjoy, as the musical elements in this piece are actually irritating, simply because I don't care for the sparse melody at all.  I'm quite intrigued by the machinated whirrs going on in the background, but the musical notes sound like a less than accomplished keyboard player searching for the right note and really disrupt the atmosphere a great deal, to my dismay.  "The Sea" is brief but does indeed ebb and flow with what sound like guitar drones and volume swells that have been abstracted enough to sound interesting and not immediately recognizable as such.  "Maho Kyoto" then brings back the more somber approach and reaches nearly seven minutes with a collection of foreboding textures and layers that shift gradually over time, bringing in a little hint at harsher pulses against the cascading ambient backbone, which persists as the aggressive distortion starts to attack more and more and increase in volume and bite towards the close of the piece.  "Rain (But Not Candy)" is a mere 46 seconds that is indeed a field recording of rain; while "Far Away; Close to You" is somewhat similar to "Spots" in its use of musical notes, but the more succinct pattern and cleaner repetition is far more effective and lulling.  I love the absolutely massive bass tones as well, which really add to the atmosphere along with the distant fits of harsher electronics that are barely audible in the background.  This is by far the most emotional sounding piece, and certainly among my favorites herein.  The disc is housed in a plastic sleeve with a nice insert printed in a fade of dark blue to deep maroon inks over faint pink paper with a matte finish.  Minimal artwork is included but it looks very nice, and I admire the hints at meaning included in the booklet for each track title as well.  The CD-Rom portion of the disc contains three short films by Stephanie Miller, all of which contain soundtracks performed by Unicorn (the three songs on the audio portion of the disc whose names correspond to the films, obviously).  "Bob Lawrence: Clay and Fire" and "The Sea" are in black and white (with minimal toning) and I find them to be very aesthetically interesting, though honestly I think the color film, "Playing With Light", is very dull and boring by comparison.  There are around 12 minutes of videos in addition to the audio component of the disc, so there's a lot of content, and each artist (Unicorn and Stephanie Miller) only falters once in my opinion.  Regardless of said minimal blemishes, this is a very nice release and I'd love to hear more from Unicorn.  The strengths exhibited in a few of these tracks point to a wealth of potential that could truly blow me away in the future. (7/10) Running time - 37:45, Tracks: 7 [Notable tracks: Clay and Fire, Maho Kyoto, Far Away; Close to You] - Aversionline ******************************** Thank you. Thank you to the people at House Pig Records for realizing that technology will allow smaller labels to do interesting stuff with a standard CD release. Now, I’m not just talking about creative packaging (which is another thing small labels seem to have on the larger players), but with the disc itself. Some people have offered interactive CD’s when you place them in your computer; others offer ‘secret’ websites and videos for some of the tracks. But more and more, it seems that smaller labels are thinking up new things to offer their customers. And the first release by this new Minneapolis label not only offers the first full-length release by Unicorn, but also gives you three short films to sink your teeth into. First lets start with the music. Unicorn is the brainchild of Bastard Noise member W.T. Nelson. And while Bastard Noise generally deals in the harsher world of droning noise textures, Unicorn is a softer, gentler beast. On the split release with 2673, Nelson was still closely rooted to the Bastard Noise mothership. The songs weren’t as harsh, but they also weren’t as laid back and mellow as his work on Playing With Light. With his first full length, Nelson is allowed to stretch his legs a bit. He takes nearly 40 minutes to get through the seven tracks, varying his sound from song to song. With the opener, “Playing With Light,” the mood is set for the rest of the album. It’s a delicate little track that kind of resembles the Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do material from Sigur Rós, except this is a little more cohesive. The repetitive bells lull you into a relaxed state, almost preparing you for the rest of the record. The slow rolling drone of “Clay And Fire” follows next, and gives way to the disjointed “Spots”. The contrast between these two tracks could sum up range Nelson is able to pull off so seamlessly. “Spots” jumps and plods along like a mouse on morphine let loose on a keyboard. The odd pattern is varied in both tempo and voicing over most of the 10 minute + track. But it’s pulled off in such a way that he creates no tension. It’s soothing in it’s disorganized beauty. The rest of the album follows the relaxed pattern, massaging your brain until you feel your head melt to mush. As an album set alone, this is a fine work in understated drone. But your experience doesn’t have to stop there. As I mentioned earlier, 3 short movies, accompanied by the music of Nelson, grace the CD-ROM portion of this release. California filmmaker Stephanie Miller does each of the three movies, with all of them being relatively short (around 3 minutes each). And I know I applauded House Pig in my opening paragraph about mixing the medias, but I don’t feel like these films meet the high standard set by the actual recording. They are short, barebones productions, but the lack the heart and feeling that Nelson’s work conjures up. I think it also would have helped if the music used for the films wasn’t already on the album. It’s like getting a shortened video instead of a brand new piece of art. So I guess I liked the concept more than I liked the final product. But don’t let my wishy washy review of the short films deter you from such a fantastic album. The world of ambient noise has been flooded in the past few years, but that doesn’t mean the quality is diminishing from the art. Playing With Light is proof of that. - Indieworkshop ******************************** Unicorn is the new solo project from W.T. Nelson, one of the lifers from the good old Bastard Noise.  Playing with Light  is Unicorn's debut, and as far as sonics go, its a much more introverted, subtle affair than what listeners, at least me, have come to expect. Playing with Light  is an excursion into pure minimalism, with the majority of the album displaying repetitive, Goblin-ish hypnotic, mesmerizing electronics; a good example being the repetitive drive of the title track.  The album's tracks are layered with sharp, harsh background scraping, with a consistent descending/ascending, droning build up of tension and an atmosphere of impeding dread that never really comes to pass. The sounds are focused, based on electronics and ambient, unidentified, alien effects compared to the more humanized destruction of Bastard Noise material. Although I think "Rain" displays a convincing identifiable atmosphere within its static brevity, the majority of the material here is much more ambigious and imaginative,  letting the listeners decide for themselves just what the sound of light really is or what it could be. Overall Playing with Light  is a quiet, subdued album of soothing gentleness within its somewhat alien ambient electronics, and an excellent example of the power of minimalism.  Packaged in an attractive slip and including three short films to the music of Unicorn, Playing with Light  is sure to please W.T. Nelson fans as well as ambient electronic fans in general. Playing with Light  is an excellent beginning for Unicorn, and a great start for the Housepig Records label. Recommended! - Jackal Blaster **************** Soundtrack music, literally. This release also includes 3 short films by Stephanie Miller. Sparse electronic, soft sounds that make for great lullabies for folks on the brink of sleep, you know, when your mind is wondering, figuring out what dream images you’re going to be using that night. - Blastitude **************** An empty street, in the wake of a heated thunderstorm. A creeping sensation drops over the mind as the echoing of foot steps fall from behind encircled in paranoia. A world smothered in a bizarre and crooked view of life. Unicorn does this for me. Setting in action a looping catchy little chime in the title track, Unicorn quickly seized my interest. Taunting my inclinations of what was lying and waiting for me if I delved any deeper. The song "Clay and Fire" draws you from out of the rain into a rotting hollow building. You hear a older man speaking of fulfillment in life, creation and structure over a corroding static radio transmission. Using pottery as a symbol of life and death, layered with a mesmerizing and clasping drone. Brooding in the back lay of "Clay and Fire" you'll find ghostly guitar feedback that transforms (gentle still) into a decaying noise. As the transmission ends the rain starts to fall like angels and the convoluted world opens up once again. The usage and balance of the guitar and gentle dissonance on tracks like "The Sea" to the exercising rhythms on the bass with tracks like "Spots" are well thought out and sometimes very colorful. The song that did it for me was "Far Away, Close To You." In the beginning of the track is an endearing guitar overlaid with a faint decaying abrasive static. High pitch bleeps rapidly discharge softly as keyboards maneuver with sympathy. Along with a steam whistle for which cries out in the dispiriting nightshade of the song there can be found a field of admiration and thought for this song alone. With longtime members of Bastard Noise and Sleestak stepping outside the usual realm, you can find an amazing world built for you with "Playing With Light." Passionate, resigned, dismal, and sometimes just beautiful this masterful breathtaking album will carry your thoughts away. - WormGear **************** I could easily rip into Unicorn's Playing With Light but I'm not going to. Musicians consider themselves artists and their music is their art. Unicorn, which is the solo project of W.T. Nelson, is art in its truest sense. This is avant-garde music that on its own really has no affect, but accompanying three short films by filmmaker Stephanie Miller the music starts to resonate on a deeper level. The films are art house type pieces with two of them shot in a similar way as that film the Ring with its grainy, black and white film. The other one, "Playing with the Light", is exactly what the title says. A woman is in the dark playing around with different light effects and angles. The films are CD-Rom content and can be accessed by any computer with QuickTime. This album is not for everyone and you're never going to hear any of these songs on the radio but it may appeal to art house junkies and college film students. Haunting, bizarre and harsh at the same time, Unicorn's Playing With Light is a reminder that art and music can go hand in hand where experimentation and expression take precedent over pop sensibilities and image. - Mote **************** Housepig Records, never heard of it before. But judging from the quality of this cd by Unicorn, their first release, this is a label to watch. Unicorn is the project of W.T. Nelson, perhaps better known for his activities in Bastard Noise. If you now expect that "Playing with light" is a harsh and noisy occasion, you are wrong. The album title fits the music well, because the seven tracks can in general be described as subtle atmospheric ambient with a moody undertone. I very much like the first piece, which is also the title track. It has a very dreamy, ethereal atmosphere, with delicate piano touches. 'Clay and fire' has a darker mood, with a deep ongoing bass drone and a sampled monologue somewhere in the background about the creation of pottery. The third and very long piece 'Spots' is also much to my liking, mostly dominated by a minimal synth/organ improvisation, which gives the track a 'modern classical' feel. Things get denser on the short 'The sea', which nicely flowing waves of delicate droning sounds, evoking images of the tide coming in at a lovely beach and being slowly engulfed. Things get noisier and out of control on 'Maho Kyoto', which high pitched sharp noises which torture your ears. Perhaps fitting as a soundtrack for a violent manga movie. Afther the short intermezo 'Rain (but not candy)', the album is finished by a minimal, tranquil ambient piece called 'Far away, close to you', which is as pleasant end to the rewarding "Playing with light". By the way, I very much like the stylish packaging. And if that wasn't enough, there are also three short present in Quicktime-format. They were created by Stephanie Miller and of course accompanied by Unicorn's music. 'Clay and fire' contains images of a pottery maker at work, which form a surprisingly good combination with the dark ambient music, rather hypnotizing. "Playing with light" shows a photographer working with a variety of objects, playing games with light and shadow. 'The sea' contains a bit shady pictures of ships in the harbour, with a nostalgic atmosphere. This multimedia content is more than just a nice bonus! - Funprox **************** Goddamn this record is beautiful. We mean seriously beautiful. So beautiful it sort of has us at a loss for words. Not at all what we were expecting as our last exposure to Unicorn was a split with Bastard Noise. But this is definitely one of the most beautiful, and satisfying ambient / drone records in recent memory. Delicate and barely there at times, thick and dense at others, but always imbued with this haunting sense of dread, and loss and loneliness. Hard to put a finger on, but the overall impression is one of longing, a melancholy sense of something missing. Very evocative. From glistening crystalline shimmers atop barely audible melodic drones, with distant freaked out guitars all hazy and indistinct, to a thick fuzzy whir over brief snippets of overheard conversations, to simple melodies constructed from distorted overblown tones, backward rhythmic swells, and high pitched cricket like skree, to gentle, sepia toned ambience beneath chiming melodies and more distant sonic wails. So completely haunting and mesmerizing. And that's just the music. The disc includes a series of short films that the music was composed to accompany, and when coupled with the images, it's totally breathtaking. Strangely decaying home movies, found footage, quite stark and simple, but visually emblematic of lost innocence, or a bitter longing for stolen youth, or just a series of slightly sad memories, set to a music that lays out the sorrow in a way that words never could. - Aquarius Records **************** A field report from an outpost at the border where droning ambience, minimalist melody and pure noise share an uneasy truce. Unicorn is the brainchild of W.T. Nelson, a longtime member of Bastard Noise and Sleestak . Here, he serves up seven tracks of grey clouds and soft light, where melodic lines skate across a surface of disturbing drones and scathing noise. Brilliantly beautiful, falling somewhere between the Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do material from Sigur Rós, the ghostly guitar based drone music of Troum, and the more musical moments of Nelson's work in Bastard Noise. Dreamy, ethereal piano, deep bass drones and minimal synth burn, buried noise carnage barely audible beneath a blanket of sunlit tones. Playing With Light also features enhanced CD-Rom content that includes three short films by Stephanie Miller, with soundtracks by Unicorn.Presented in a gorgeous letterpressed sleeve by Thumbprint press. Ver highly recommended, particularly to fans of droning post-rock drift and melodic, edgy ambient. - Crucial Blast **************** Normally my curiosity would not be fulfilled, as I would like to know what Unicorn is about after hearing such a nice track on a compilation, but luckily Housepig's first release as a label is a CD by Unicorn. We learn that it's a project of W.T. Nelson, who is a member of Bastard Noise, Sleestak and Carne A. On his 'Playing With Light' there are seven of his musical pieces, along with three short films, with his music. The music is not the same as on the compilation, which is not really a big problem, since it shows us that Unicorn plays more cards. What can be noticed that the music is more electronic, or rather less acoustic than the compilation suggests, dwelling mostly on manipulated guitar sounds. Sometimes they are soft and subtle, such as in the beautiful title piece or in 'Clay And Fire'. Things are louder and meaner in 'Rain (But Not Candy'). In all a pretty varied disc of ambient and drone related music, but certainly with a strong edge of its own. - Vital Weekly "Playing with light" is the first full length release by W. T. Nelson of Bastard Noise and other projects. He contributed the slow and minimal ‘Sleeper Wave’ track to the intriguing "Six Doors" compilation which I highly rated [read review here]. The 7 tracks on this release fully explore his musical influences and he conjures up a quite heady brew of different musical styles stamped with his own individuality. This crossing of genres isn’t something new, as the Sky Burial release showed [read review here], but done right it makes for a more engrossing experience overall. "Playing with light" touches on sparse, nearly empty sound sculptures, drone work, experimental phases, dark ambience… even slightly avant-garde (ish) in places. With a run time of only 37 minutes he crams as much as possible into such a short time span that it makes me wonder what he’s capable of over a 60+ minute release. The answer lays within him. A quick dissection of the tracks that these ears of mine heard. 1. ‘Playing with light’…a tinkling melody over sparse subdued electronics which starts all lovey dovey before becoming increasingly sinister. 2. ‘Clay and fire’…a sample takes centre stage over a hissing / crackling ambience accompaniment. 3. ‘Spots’…a repetitive set of notes are hit over a slow growing swell of fuzzy electronics bordering on harsh noise. 4. ‘The Sea’…short and sweet highly amplified drones. 5. ‘Maho Kyoto’…a throbbing swell of electronics and feedback that freaks out near the end. 6. 'Rain (but not candy)’…a track so short its over before it kicks in. The sound of rain hitting off rooftops / windows ended with a foghorn blast to the ears. 7. ‘Far away; close to you’…a haunting refrain atop scrunched up electronics and gently plucked / played melodic notes. There is no outstanding track as all, in their own way, are perfectly executed. Each different from the other and exploring different avenues. I can’t speak for the artist himself but within these pieces I heard artists such as Pere Ubu, Band of Pain, Electroverde, Ontario Blue, Remanence, Contrastate, God Speed you Black Emperor and many others. The word beautiful is sometimes overused to describe recordings… I use it a lot because I’m very emotional about my music… but here it best describes "Playing with light" as an overall aural experience. I suppose divine, elegant, or even mysterious would also have sufficed although beautiful is the ideal summing up word for this release. A breath taking experience that exceeded expectations. As a bonus there‘s also included three short Quicktime films by the artist Stephanie Miller. The films are in black & white / colour and slightly grainy giving them an old school charm about them and act as perfect companion pieces to the musical tracks 'Clay and fire', 'Playing with light' and 'The Sea'. - Aural Pressure Unicorn is the new solo project of former Man Is The Bastard/Bastard Noise member W. T. Nelson, and here and there you'll probably recognize some of the scorching electronic machinery of the aforementioned projects - but as a whole, "Playing With Light" is a stunning collection of largely melodic drones and melancholic minimalism. The carillon-like melody of the eponymous track, the guitar tones and sparse bleeps of "Far Away; Close ToYou", and the repetitive clusters of "Spots" are all trance-inducing in their apparent simplicity, and "The Sea" is a peaceful fragment that could easily last much more without tiring. "Clay and Fire" and, especially, "Maho Kyoto" (with that peculiar oscillator screeches) opt for more sullen and cloudy ambiences, but perfectly merge with the rest. What's magic in "Playing With Light", apart from the high quality of every single track, is indeed its cohesiveness and sense of flow. At times it sounds like the missing link between Labradford's melodic minimalism and heavier noise electronics. The enhanced cd also includes three Quicktime-format videos by filmaker Stephanie Miller, each of whom has a Unicorn track as its soundtrack. "Bob Lawrence: Clay and Fire" surely empowers with its visuals the whole feel of the track, with Lawrence's tale of self-realization through handicraft pot-making, and "The Sea" is a perfect counterpart to the music with its blurred images. I've only found the "Playing With Light" video dissatisfactory, since the sparse stills just didn't match that perfect tune for me. With that being said, the video part is a welcome add. Do check out this awesome disc and everything else Unicorn has put out. - Chain DLK  Unicorn ist das Solo Projekt von WT Nelson, der eher durch Bastard Noise, Sleestak und Carne-A bekannt ist. "Playing With Light" hat mich gleich vom ersten Track an durch seine schüchterne Einfachheit und Zurückhaltung überzeugt, gleichwohl sich die 6 Stücke nicht verstecken oder gar langweilig sind. Minimalistische Wiederholungen, spärlich gestreute Samples oder eine endlos repetitive Gitarre, die erst nach Minuten durch noisige Klangcollagen durchbrochen wird. Dichte, dicke Drones scheinen den Hörer zu überrollen, aber kaum sind sie da, sind sie im Nichts verschwunden. Ruhige, entspannte Klänge im Wechselspiel mit metallischerem "Kreissägegefühl" und dynamischen, sich aufbauenden Klangcollagen. Die gleichmässigen Ambiancen bahnen sich wie eine ruhige Welle kilometerlang ihren unaufhaltsamen Weg und laufen am Strand mit heroischer Haltung aus. Neben den Drone/ Ambient Klangforschungen sind auf der CD 3 Kurzfilme enthalten zu denen 3 der Stücke auf "Playing With Light" die musikalische Untermalung darstellen. Ohne die Musik von Unicorn wäre die subtile, hypnotische Stimmung der Clips lange nicht so kräftig und sagen wir seltsam. Hier also die fundamental wichtige Vereinigung von visueller Kunst und Musik. Insgesamt betrachtet, ist "Playing With Light" eine schöne, homogene erste Veröffentlichung von Housepig Records und ich würde gerne mehr von Unicorn hören. Rating: 8/10 - Creative-Eclipse (if you can help translate this, we'll give you free stuff - get in touch!) This is not just brilliant shit, but eerie and unsettling shit -- hardly surprising, given that Unicorn's lineup includes members of Bastard Noise and Sleestak. The feel of the entire album is somewhere in the borderlands surrounded by ambient, drone, and minimalism, but its tonal range is closer to dark ambient or black metal, which means there are some mighty disquieting moments along the way. Whether they're weaving waves of sound that rise and fall around an endlessly repeated noise / keyboard riff ("Playing With Light") or burying you in ominous washes of drone and static ("Clay and Fire"), the mood never appreciably lightens. Even the relatively pleasant keyboard tones opening "Spots" are deliberately too loud and treated by some effect, and soon the minimalist riff fractures and devolves in not-quite-random notes designed to disorient. As this continues, the ambient noise in the background eventually comes up to drown out the keyboard before dying away... but soon it's back again, creeping slowly but surely up to maximum volume, all while hideous scraping sounds go on in the background. "The Sea" is pure surging power drone built on dark but resonant tones, like being plugged directly into a power line slowly flapping in the wind. The power drone is a bit less violent in "Maho Kyoto" and the brief noise and atmosphere snippet "Rain (But Not Candy)" is so short (under a minute) as to be negligible, while the closing track "Far Away, Close to You" revisits the strategies of the opener, with a heavily-reverbed piano figure looped endlessly as ambient drone and oppressively slow synths gather and build in intensity and volume. Powerful, potentially mind-altering stuff. Do not throw this on the next you're huffing glue! Wait until you come down first.... The cd also includes three short films by Stephanie Miller, all featuring soundtracks by Unicorn, and comes in a lovely letterpress sleeve housed in a clear plastic jacket. - Dead Angel