They Came Like Swallows – Seven Requiems for the Children of Gaza is the first significant collaboration from two luminaries of alternative music; Thurston Moore, best known for his time at the helm of noise rock legends Sonic Youth and Bonner Kramer (known for many years simply as Kramer), whose reverb-heavy production served as an additional instrument on pivotal albums from Galaxie 500, Low, Daniel Johnston, and many, many more. Both musicians have long histories of collaboration and prolific output tied to no single style of expression, so the possibilities for an album of sounds conjured up by Moore and Kramer are limitless, and They Came Like Swallows takes on tones of mourning, outrage, and hope with its seven expansive pieces.
Tag Archive: Kramer
…Musician, composer, producer, collaborator and more, Kramer, of Noise New York/Shimmy Disc/Half Japanese fame, is so prolific in so many fields that the fact that it’s been five years since his last solo album barely registers. For those who are aware of him, he’s a presence, rather than a specific kind of artist. For those who aren’t …and the crimson moon whispers goodbye, “a 4-part ambient drone-poem for The Living and the Dead,” will give an idea of some of the sides to his talent. It is maybe as good a place to start as any, since there’s no such thing as a typical Kramer album.
Compared to his work of the early 2020s like Music for Films Edited By Moths or And the Wind Blew it All Away, …and the crimson moon whispers goodbye feels almost conventional,…
Pan•American (Labradford’s Mark Nelson) and Shimmy Disc founder Kramer have always been prolific, collaboration-friendly artists, but both have been especially productive during the 2020s, focusing on ambient music that often leans toward cosmic Americana. Interior of an Edifice Under the Sea is their second album together, appearing just over a year after 2024’s Reverberations of Non-Stop Traffic on Redding Road.
Unsurprisingly, it’s in a similar vein, exploring murky, slowly drifting guitar-based drone. The music befits the album’s underwater theme, with the swaying loops and gently trippy echo of opener “In the Time It Takes to Drown” bringing to mind a submarine voyage deep beneath the surface. Some tracks have clear guitar melodies,…