HEADWIND/TAILWIND (WITH FREIBAND)

The EP called "Haze Shrapnel" by Bass Communion consisted of 1 track that was an outtake from "Molotov and Haze", the outtake being called the same as the ep title. The 2nd track that was added to this EP was a remix done by Freidband. That EP was so minimal that it went nowhere, just plain droning with a few tones weaving in and out, there was a reason it was an outtake, and the remix was even less than that consisting only of the drone.

This album "Headwind" is a companion EP to that "Haze Shrapnel EP. Except now the main track 'Headwind' is an original track done by Freiband and this time Bass Communion (Steve Wilson) does the remix using only the source material. The original track is much better than the one from "Haze Shrapnel" and actually is a lot more interesting, but definitely not mainstream, not by a long way. It is still a study in minimalism, as to be expected, but the music is much better and interesting, there is direction to the overall track and more variation in the sound. The music is beautiful and trandenscent., even elevating. Great sound to use with the headphones. The remix is going to be of most interest because of Bass Communion, or Steven Wilson. The remix here is much more interesting than the remix from the companion EP. This sounds more like the stylizing of BC's own albums, except for the drone, which is an unexpected high pitch instead of the expected lower pitch drone. The pitch is not annoying, but is reminiscent of a bunch of cicadas in a tree (or maybe tree frogs, but more steady). Electronic tones and textures swirl around. The remix sounds nothing like the original here, but it is interesting how you can remix something and not add any other material and still have a very original sounding track. Also very meditative and minimal. Not quite as good as the original, but still nice.

This is not the best offering from Bass Communion, but it's still much better than the companion EP. Still, it's something I would listen to more often than "Haze Shrapnel" which is just boring. This is one of the few cases where an outtake made by Steven Wilson would have been better off not released. Not the case with this record though, this one is good enough, but it is also non-essential, there are better BC albums out there. 3 stars.