The experimental musician sets the life of the eels to music.
Eels are fascinating and mysterious creatures. It is known where they reproduce – in the Sargosso Sea east of Florida – but not exactly how they reproduce. Hyunhye Seo, who is known by the name Angela Seo from the US experimental band Xiu Xiu, found an exciting theme for an album. EEL, the second album (or Aalbum?) by the Korean-American composer, also sounds correspondingly experimental and enigmatic.
Two long soundscapes can be heard, one 14 and the other 18 minutes long. The former sounds as if you were diving into the deepest depths of the Sargosso Sea: Dark drones and booms, produced with synthesizers, alternate with weird piano tones. In the second piece it doesn’t get any more pleasing or smooth either. Mostly proliferating drones and industrial sounds can be heard. This music feels similar to Xiu Xiu, so it comes straight from the dark side of life – but those who are willing to indulge in menacing sounds are richly rewarded.