Venetian Snares - “My Downfall (Original Soundtrack)”
Venetian Snares. My Downfall (Original Soundtrack). 2007. 4.5 stars.
Winnipeg’s Aaron Funk can feel my pain. Hailing from the frozen prairies, Funk (yes that is his birth name), has crafted cinematic suites that seem to capture the chills of a dark, Canadian winter. Under his Venetian Snares moniker, Funk revels in insanely kinetic drum and bass compositions (a la Aphex Twin), that blend seamlessly with weeping classical string, synth and choral movements - treading in the same post-rock shadows as Godspeed You Black Emperor, Mono and World’s End Girlfriend.
The combination of seemingly disparate musical forces is surprisingly seamless and fluid, allowing Funk to craft a unique musical language of his own, touching on his most frantic, isolated or contemplative frames of mind. The album’s progression moves from haunting choir samples and moving string arrangements to drilling beats and then back again, maintaining lush and organic transitions that are as emotive as they are composotitonally complex.
My Downfall provides, like its proto-classical contemporaries, a soundtrack to a movie never made, with all its tension filled buildups, chaotic breakdowns and exhilarating climaxes. If you are looking for a companion piece for your winter odysseys, look no further than Venetian Snares.
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