The Ancient Tapes- "Thinking About Thought"

One thing for sure is true about Drew Miller- he is getting better at composing and arranging his music. In his most mature release yet, Thinking About Thought, he channels Brian Eno and early Sigur Ros and brings a completely experimental yet accessible album. You could hear glimpses of this record with United States of a Virus - E.P., which came out earlier this year, but this album is a bit more cohesive and seems to have more direction than that record. How can any generative music have any direction, you may ask? Well, it's simple really. Each song tells a story. In my opinion, that's the only way this music works. Miller's earlier songs didn't tell stories as coherently as the songs on Thinking About Thought. It's open to interpretation, of course, but I believe every song on the album has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Every song builds up to a climax of some sort, and it's obvious that Miller just didn't throw a bunch a cool sounds together- he obviously put a lot of work into this one. Stand out tracks for me were "Snowbank," which definitely reminded me of Brian Eno's most recent stuff, and "Internal Youth," which certainly channels both Sigur Ros and mum. He lives in the Denver area, but maybe he should move to Iceland? In conclusion, this is The Ancient Tapes at its best- so far. Download the album for free right here.