D.A. – I from OESB // FUTURE SOUND on Vimeo.
D.A. is a synth duo that formed in Texas (where they reportedly produced ambient music for isolation tanks), and recently relocated to Los Angeles. Their name stands for “Dallas Acid” on occasion, but is also the initials of the two bandmates, Michael Dials and Xian Aegon. Although not associated with or even really aware of the synth revival led by VR favorites like Emeralds and Infinity Window, they certainly fill an aesthetic gap within that like-minded group. Their sound is as much Southwestern as it is Sci-Fi and suggests landscapes and endless horizons, as opposed to the more introspective vision of Northeast operators or the stoned brain-fry of Midwestern basement rats.
In a genre where every knob twiddler gets his or her synth farts tagged with the overplayed descriptor “cinematic,” D.A. are the real deal. Their miniature electronic symphonies conjure vivid imagery, the result of an exacting sense of composition and an admirable helping of restraint. Now, D.A. have teamed with another collaborative duo, filmmakers Matt Anderson and David Black, to create a short film for a collection of unreleased tracks entitled “Time Travel Suite: BCE/1856/1112.”
The result is I: 22 minutes of gorgeous imagery that takes the viewer on a symbolic journey. Beginning with the simple but striking image of a man emerging from water grasping a flare, the film continues into the desert as the man traipses alone through a stark landscape that recalls the more meditative passages of Vincent Gallo’s deeply misunderstood The Brown Bunny. Although editing may not be the first thing that we notice in a piece with such a narcotic pace, the absence of interruptions in the flow of a film is as hard to achieve as it is imperceptible when done successfully. Black and Anderson have done a superb job of erasing any sense of disjoint as the film unfolds.
A nude woman is spotted making her way through the desert. Soon, she reunites with the man from the water. Their tender embrace, set against the harsh backdrop of a barren desert, and the camera’s focus on her thick eyeliner and new age jewelry recall the imagery of cult sensation Alejandro Jodorowsky. The film fades to black on an image of the lovers lying together, but the darkness is interrupted by the light of another flare. Soon the woman has thrown the flare and followed it into the darkness. The man is left alone until the final shot shows the man kneeling prostrate, presumably in front of the woman.
Black and Anderson’s film strikes the right balance between simplicity and sophistication. It’s just as inviting to unpack the deliberately ambiguous symbolism — the flare, the man, the woman, the gold cloak — as it is to sit back, relax, and let the images and D.A.’s recondite synth ruminations pull you into an alternate reality.
Words: Max Burke
I is an excerpt from a feature film that will be released on DVD in Japan later this year. Black and Anderson also just began work on a full-length documentary, Fall & Winter, concerning the nature of man’s response to catastrophe.
D.A. released their debut LP Odeon last July on Olde English Spelling Bee.
Tags: D.A., David Black, Fall & Winter, I, Matt Anderson, Michael Dials, Xian Aegon