Seaworthy is a Sydney group based around Cameron Webb with a selection of releases on local and overseas labels, as well as the self-published imprint Steady Cam. Codes Adrift, a small run CD-R edition on Sound and Fury, features two extended treatments of feedback tone, atmospheric texture and restrained melody for guitar.
As the title suggests, the sound swells and settles as if we are anchored in an estuary as the tide comes in. Elsewhere Seaworthy employs environmental sound to construct work, with Webb’s occupation as an ecologist suggesting a concern with the representation of natural audio phenomena. The guitar pieces on Codes Adrift share similarities with the sounds that travel across the landscape and in amplified atmospheric interference.
The two pieces here resemble each other. Within the pillows of feedback tone emerges a subtle melody, which is interrupted in the second piece by tiny splashes of clipped silence and distressed textures that disrupt the otherwise politeness of the piece. A gentle control is asserted on the melody, resolving comfortably with fragile blues shapes.
Codes Adrift recalls Seaworthy’s influences, notably Oren Ambarchi’s guitar method. This is relaxed and well mannered work that gently floats past leaving a slight wash.
Adam Bell
*
