Phantom Drummer sounds a great deal like Godspeed You Black Emperor -- which is a good thing, specially since I was scared to review this CD. There's a picture of the Phantom Drummer (Pat Spurgeon), I assume, on the back of the CD case. In the picture, he's got some truly horrific make-up on, and he just looks very scary. So the music is a most pleasant surprise, and you can consider this a glowing review, which you are advised to read in its entirety.

"Stru Tural" is a pretty, rolling song, which does pick up pace a la Godspeed, reaching some pretty heights. While the heights are never as high as Godspeed, the valleys are never as low. The payoff is never held back for ten or fifteen minutes, forsaking the delayed gratification that has so many indie-types chilling to GYBE. Some of the songs here are instrumentals; others get by with help from hushed, creepy vocals. "Mister Lowery" sounds like a b-side from Death in Vegas' Contino Sessions. There is an unfortunate tendency for Pink Floyd-like excursions on songs like "A Crash Course in Aviation". It's 2001 now, the year we make contact, or some shit like that... so it's time to put Pink Floyd to rest, no? But why find fault in one or two songs, when there's a bunch of decidedly good ones here?

If you want to dork out on Godspeed You Black Emperor, in that goofy Star Trek way, do it if you must. Those who like the orchestrated grandeur of release without sitting through ten minutes of noodling might want to look to similar-minded bands like Phantom Drummer or Sigur Ros who understand what the word "arrangement" means. Please note that I'm comparing Phantom Drummer to Sigur Ros only in that both deal in atmospherics. Where Sigur Ros pulls heavenly stardust from some hidden, magical place, Phantom Drummer goes the drugged, minimal sleigh-bell-and-all route.

A Crash Course in Aviation is a damn good listen. Actually, since there's so much Godspeedishness going on, go ahead and call it a "God"-Damn good listen.