Sun Hammer: "Nighttime in Jefferson National Forest"

Dubstep DJ Guardian has a secret: every morning he’ll kiss his wife goodbye, slip into a cubicle, and emerge as Sun Hammer, ambient producer and nerdy software technician. It’s just one of Jay Bodley’s many disguises, the latest being a move to rural Michigan and switching labels from Moodgadget to Futuresequence. As Sun Hammer he’s appeared on his new label’s sampler, taking sine waves and forcing them through modified patches. With his full-length announced as A Dream in Blood, you’d expect a helping of the darkest ambient imaginable—darker than Brian Eno being given concrete boots.

But it isn’t. Mystified with the sight of the Great Lakes on his doorstep, Bodley seems to meditate through this five-track collection, and once you get past the immense title track “Nighttime in Jefferson National Park” describes Sun Hammer perfectly: cold nocturnal fog, nature going fuzzy. Like watching an avalanche come towards you in slow motion, it takes a full minute for “Jefferson” to move, or show any kind of discernible textures. When it does, it parades Bodley’s skill at sound manipulation – he drones with a mix of intrigue and evil; a torturer tuning in a radio. It’s not the grinding Hades of Svarte Greiner and chums (for that you need to be seriously Norwegian), but it should make you think twice about going rambling after dark, or assuming DJs are all lunks.