Pan American Albums (6)
What The Critics Say
Mark Nelson, who is Pan American, cannot find a way to leave well-enough alone -- thank goodness. The first two albums under this moniker were organic, strange and beautiful outings with standard instrumentations and various keyboards added for effect. His last, The River Made No Sound got jiggy with a barrage of computer generated effects and sounds almost exclusively. On Quiet City, Nelson brings back the layered electronics, shimmering muffled beats, and striated time and space stretches, and juxtaposes them against upright bass, drums, trumpet, and fugelhorn. As he has done on the early Labradford records, Nelson even sings, making poetic song-like structures of his compositions. The result is a deeply nocturnal, hushed recording that moves in several directions at once. The textures come in waves rather than layers, but they lap at the unconscious rather than in your backbone. They don't swirl so much as undulate, and the various pieces become one dark rainbow body of restrained, humid, sonic inquiry that goes nowhere and everywhere at once. Brilliant. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'The River Made No Sound'
Release Date 3/26/2002
Tracks 9
Label Kranky
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What The Critics Say
Mark Nelson strips it down even more for The River Made No Sound, his third record as Pan American. Nelson strips it down so much that a few of the tracks here are leavened as little as possible, thus erasing the ability to be as conducive to intense listening as Pan American and 360 Business/360 Bypass. Despite this, there's no mistaking that it's fine for the background throughout, as long as the background has something to do with a crusty-eyed morning after a sleepless night, or perhaps a stroll through a lifeless airport terminal. The rhythms vacillate between an unintrusive, occasionally four-four pitter-patter and a subtle variation on Nelson's dub-influenced thrums. Atop these rhythms, mite-like rustlings, mechanical hums, and other subtle forms of noise damage crawl and hover. The liveliest of the bunch is "Redline," the track with the most forceful forward progress and the most tension, however subtle it might remain. The rhythm makes incidental, pronounced throbs, and at least four other deceptively disparate sources weave and tangle so effortlessly that they slip by without much notice. Whether viewed as tedium or hypnotism, Nelson's third solo effort should appeal to Eno heads and those who can't get enough of micro-sound miners like Jan Jelinek. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
'360 Business/360 Bypass'
Release Date 1/31/2000
Tracks 6
Label Kranky
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Mark Nelson's second album as Pan American has a similar sound to his debut, and a similar charm as well. Recorded with Casey Rice, 360 Business/360 Bypass is a work of atmospheric, melancholy dub minimalism whose closest stylistic companions are experimental-techno producers (Pole, Basic Channel, Senking), though with analogue elements instead of digital. Thanks to his large body of work with Labradford, Nelson knows how to structure long freeform tracks for maximum effect, and the result is a collection of tracks that are uniformly beatiful despite (or perhaps because of) their sparse feel. True, "Code" would have been much more beautiful without the added vocals of Mimi Sparhawk and Al Sparhawk from Low, and Rob Mazurek's trumpet doesn't contribute to "Double Rail" as much as it takes away from it, but 360 Business/360 Bypass is nevertheless an excellent piece of ambient minimalism. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Mark Nelson of Labradford fame has gone solo under the name Pan American. Splinters of whispers, chilly organs, faint hints of guitars, space-dub bass, and ratcheting electronic pings and blips recall early Aphex Twin, but the spacewalking sound is warmer, richer and more bewitching. Unlike Labradford, which at times can be a bit arch, Nelson brings things down to the point at which the music is an enveloping primordial ooze which lulls and pacifies. That's not to say it's boring; far from it. In fact, Nelson's adeptly structured sonic landscapes are lush, dense and intricate. Many of the tracks play on a similar theme, which makes them flow into one another with a calming seamlessness. In a further effort at sublime tranquillity, "Lake Supplies" utilizes a soothingly hypnotic hammer dulcimer for an additional mystic quality. Pan American is not something to put on when in search of a pick-me-up, but it makes for some of the best unwinding music around. ~ Matthew Hilburn, All Music Guide
