Review: Manja Ristić – The Nightfall (Naviar, Apr 26)

Anything involving the passage of time through the four seasons inevitably reminds me of one of my favorite movies: Kim Ki-Duk’s masterful Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring. While The Nightfall and Naviar Records in general are more concerned with the connection between Japanese haiku and music, and the aforementioned movie is about Buddhist monks in Korea, I view their portrayals of the seasons to be quite similar. Ristić, a Serbo-Croatian sound artist whose previous release Fairy & the River Teeth was reviewed here last February, weaves together a variety of sound elements to create immersive, poetic interpretations of each season. Like nature itself, these pieces are beautiful and detailed, yet unwavering; they pass without concern for anything else present, a passive backdrop. Sure, I can sit and listen; thunder rumbles in the distance, birds chirp and children play, the faint rustle of leaves in the wind touches my ears… but The Nightfall gives the unique sensation that it would all still be happening even if I wasn’t around to experience it. This approach bears similarity to that of Kim’s film, where nature is a rewarding but impartial force, sometimes comforting and others terrifying, the only consistency being the steady, unyielding passage of time.