[03.04] From the first few whirs and clicks of Donato Wharton's new record, the listener is keenly aware of a unified sense of movement, spun from seemingly random sounds and textures that morph into an underlying theme. Trabanten plays like a soundtrack to the subconscious, creating meaning out of stray particles that are arranged in a specific and personal order.

Trained as a classical musician, Wharton soon became interested in combining traditional instrumentation with textural samples, revealing new and unexpected results. His dense, pastoral combinations of ambient and acoustic landscapes makes Trabanten perfect for the end of a long day, freeing the mind of extraneous detail.

Tracks descend delicately into dreamlike compositions, coasting effortlessly along synapses in one, cohesive flow. The album's opener begins with the strumming of guitar, fragmented and then filtered through waves of electronic pulses. "Silvester" flutters to life, percolating with the buzz of distant lullabies, suspended in space. "Debris D'Avril" utilizes surface hiss and radio static to create the spatial sensation of raindrops falling, blanketing the roof of slumber. Each track navigates the mind into recalling similar soothing equivalents.

And while the soundbytes dissolve and cascade, lulling the listener into a trance, the experience always remains interactive. Without the use of distinct recognizable patterns or obvious musical devices, Wharton creates an abstract language that speaks to the senses, allowing the listener to draw upon personal experiences to help translate the muted dialect. Like a light dreamsleep that projects many interpretable elements and tonalities, the music connects and continues to make connections throughout its duration. Headphones are highly recommended. —Baca