A set of eight incredibly stripped-down ambient pieces recorded exclusively with guitar and organ, Eight Thousander is the debut release from artists Brian Grainger (Milieu, Free Festival). An entirely improvised release with no overdubs, this sparse, droning recording is lo-fi all the way and flickers with the sort of slowly-evolving feel that one might expect given the out-of-focus dusky photos gracing the album artwork.

Although it's in a completely different genre musically, Grainger makes use of the same warm, fuzzy sonics that groups like Bibio and others have churned out. It's lo-fi all the way, with sparse melodies that roll under grainy washes of sometimes overdriven drones. The first three tracks act as a triptych of sorts, with "Drowned," "Whitecaps," and "Oceanic" all drifting through a combined eleven minutes of muted whale-call and distant lighthouse-style sweeps. "Above The Sky" follows, and some murky guitar chords shift the feel a bit, shattering the placid surface with dark ripples.

From there, it's back to a longer, more static piece in "A Soft White Chamber," before a track like "Wind Calmly Bands Our Hair" calls to mind the lovely work of Brian Eno with its reflective, but almost algorithmic progressions and warm tones. In addition to the eight listed tracks, there are a couple hidden bonus droners that push the total running length of the release up to nearly fifty five minutes in length. Although it has a somewhat unique aesthetic, there are only a couple places on Eight Thousander that really push outside the box.