Picking up where Rock Action left off, the title track sounds like it could have been an outtake from those sessions, were it not for Craig Christo's less cocksure voice. "Gamma Rays" follows, sounding just like "2 Rights Make 1 Wrong", and there's nothing wrong with that. Everyone loves a good homage. The acoustic guitar at the end of the track -- the one that sounds like it's coming from inside of a tin can -- is a particularly nice touch.
Christo layers understated vocals and ethereal wails into Sans Arc's dense, hypnotic guitar melodies. Walls of fuzzed-out guitar are interspersed as needed, completing the post rock shoegazer formula. In "Ocean Grey" and "Building A Desert", Christo creates soundscapes akin to Sigur Rós's best moments, but without the irritating high-pitched harpy wail and the glossolalic lyrics. While Christo improves upon Iceland's second favorite artist's vocal performance, he cannot approach his muse's instrumental sound -- but considering his recording budget, and compared to the acts he is sure to remind you of, he gets a lot of bang for his buck.
"Space Theme", the album's only instrumental (and its closing track), is also the most distinctively Sans Arc-ian composition (as opposed to sounding like the other bands I've been blathering about). Here, a hypnotic guitar scale repeats until it builds enough momentum to justify a wall of fuzz -- basically, it follows the loud/soft/loud formula with some interesting samples and loops layered on top. It's as if Christo has taken the knowledge he's acquired aping his idols for seven songs and applied it to the creation of a distinct new sound. The result is the most immediate and energetic song on the album.
Sans Arc's music adds weight to your eyelids, pulling them down as you listen; repetitive arrangements and ethereal vocals will drag you deeper into the abyss. A few of the songs on A Remote View continue long beyond the time it takes for them to make their point, but isn't that what this type of music is all about? Christo aims for Mogwai and Sigur Rós heights, and while he doesn't always reach them -- more for budgetary reasons than his ambition or the scope of his creativity -- the music regularly approaches the respectable heights of a Slowdive or Suntan. If another introspective platter is what you're after, take a chance on Sans Arc.
reviewed by Steve Nelson of Splendid