Two Lone Swordsmen
The Fifth Mission

The Two Lone Swordsmen have been active since 1996, born from the ashes of the Sabres of Paradise, namely the well-known Andrew Weatherall and his collaboration with Keith Tenniswood (Radioactive Man), but they gained widespread fame especially for their latest album (by the way, AMAZING!) "From The Double Gone Chapel" released in June '04, quite different (for the most part) from their previous productions...

I believe it's difficult to review any of their past albums, as listening to them can be challenging at times... not to mention they never maintain the same line from one album to another.
This one I'm reviewing is their first official album, "cold" in itself, where much is left to the metric; it would be pointless to try to describe track by track and even the emotions they can transmit... the minimalism that characterizes a large portion of Weatherall's career (of which I warmly recommend the Essential Mix @ Radio One 13/11/'93) is felt; the entire melody, more or less catchy, is then structured from the unique initial sound (it also depends on how messed up in the head you are ;).
It must be said that in this double CD with 18 tracks, the trick works, often yes, but sometimes no, making some sounds seem a bit forced, but all this does not affect the uniqueness of this album, abstract, nocturnal, detached, which contains nothing fixed and immutable other than the metric.
Music made WITH machines not BY machines is the motto of the Two Lone Swordsmen, their genre is labeled by the media in the most disparate ways but the reality is that they are a bit of everything, as understood from rare gems scattered in various albums, like "Enemy Haze" above all in this "Fifth Mission" that the two Lone Swordsmen offer us...

Electronic? For sure! And then? Downtempo? Also. Ambient Techno? Indeed. IDM? Let's say yes... the fact is that however you want to call it, the Two Lone Swordsmen know how to offer music that isn't the usual easy and ready-made stuff, plus they have continuously reinvented themselves over time.
This CD is worth more than a single listen if you want to understand it, but it's not enough to be passionate about electronic music, you also need to be a bit sick inside to appreciate it...

In short, a first official release that will herald a long and ever-changing musical journey that will never betray a fan of theirs but may perhaps make some people frown.