Pholde - To Favour the Occurence

Pholde – To Favour the Occurrence – CD/Download – Absurd Exposition – 2023 – AE76

https://absurdexposition.bandcamp.com/album/to-favour-the-occurrence

https://pholde.bandcamp.com/

Paul Van Tright Artist page

1.    Adjust One’s Desires.

2.    Accompanying the Onset.

3.    The One Intended.

4.    Take In Order.

5.    As a Result of Action.

6.    In Order to Gain.

7.    The Process of Forming.

Artwork from Absurd Exposition Bandcamp

Pholde is a project of Alan Bloor of Knurl; there have been Pholde releases since 2001.

To Favour the Occurrence is an interesting album as it explores low level noise that seems to be sourced from contact microphones and metal scrapings. It isn’t Ambient or Dark Ambient in what it does due the obvious physicality of the sounds and there is a strong exploration of a quieter use of noise and its inner workings. The noise cuts into the silence gently as if to slightly disturb the layer of tranquillity and the sound is incredibly subtle in its’ workings. The titles Pholde uses seem to imply personal context as if relating to the artists life or events around his life. This contrasts to the Piece numbers of his work in Knurl greatly.

In recent reviews, I am starting to see a lot of use of quieter sounds used in work that I am sent. This often uses the slight disturbance of silence or minimal use of noise used to create bigger holes in between sounds. There are what I’d see as leaders where the subtle disruption of the quiet using sound is particularly strong, those are Small Cruel Party and Spoils and Relics, but I would add this project to that equation too.

To Favour the Occurrence has served as my introduction to Pholde and I am very impressed by the work that I have heard.

One and alone, 2023.