Vague Mémoire

With The World Of Dreams

BY Philip James de VriesPublished Mar 6, 2014

6
Montreal-based producer Byron makes his debut as Vague Mémoire with full-length With The World Of Dreams. The album is a seven-track work of dense sound collages, consisting of synthesizers, guitars, feedback, field recordings and enough delay to make many of the sounds on the album indiscernible.

With The World Of Dreams is a predominantly ambient and psychedelic album, however it also hosts a fair share of abrupt, dissonant structures and samples. As a result of this sonic variety, the album's auditory signature is confusing, stuck in the ether between calming ambient music and loosely assembled experimental music.

However, while many of these songs are awe-inducing and inviting in their own peculiar ways, halfway through each of these works Byron shifts the direction of the tracks completely, dropping in kick drums and redefining the songs, changing them from arhythmic soundscapes to left-field experiments built of staccato samples and dissonant percussion.

While it's easy to get lost in Byron's droning sensibilities — which are undoubtedly where his talents lie here — With The World Of Dreams guides us up mountains of euphoria only to lead us astray before permitting us to reach the peak, causing us to hurtle back down the mountainside, much like Sisyphus: over and over again.
(Brothers and Sisters)

Latest Coverage