Andrew Cauthen is not just a rebellious skateboarding youth. He has probably the most unorthodox philosophy I've ever seen. Though his allegiances are many, he seems to be 40% Communist, 5% Christian, 10% Scientiologist, 15% Bohemian, and 15% Buddhist, and 15% Jain. He believes in eating only trash, refusing to work on moral grounds, human evolution into a superior being, the honor in refusing to breathe air, /and/ a coming utopia where life will be perfect.The music he makes (he distributes it all for free on moral principle) varies.Most of it seems to be niche old-school-sounding techno, like from the midi files of some 1996 game or the soundtrack to some Nintendo game like Super Metroid. (Using less primitive instrumnents, but maintaining the midi style.) Cauthen's album "06.03.10 Chemo" is a good example of this.He also has some very steady drone-ish music, very similar to the group "Stars of the Lid". It is very pleasant, and great music for reading or going to sleep. An example is his album "07.04.16 Everyone Here is Me".But here, I'm going to try to bring to light what makes Andrew Cauthen different from any other musician I've heard. It's his album "05.12.25 Country"."05.12.25 Country" by Andrew CauthenTake Pills Die RecordsGood Points=====================Listening to "Country", you get the rare sensation of not so much 'listening to music' as 'being in a specific place.' "Country" takes you to another world. It's a vast, expansive and naturally beautiful landscape, with tracks symbolizing an icy tundra, a long lonely beach, a forest in the rain, a deep and mysterious oceanic trench, and the dark final track which sounds like a nightmare cityscape. The whole album tells a deep, expansive story without a single word, and with only the most minimal of melodies. It drifts between atmospheric sounds and slow, echoing melodies whose notes wash over the listener like waves.Drawbacks:===============There are a few tracks with really grating, even frightening sounds. Also, the listener should be warned: there is no drumwork in any track, and there are many long spaces of somewhat repetitive noise. If you know you don't like this, you've been warned.Bottom line:==================If 100 writers listened to this and were order to write a movie script with this as a soundtrack, they would come up with 100 different, awesome movies. They would probably all be sci-fi or fantasy though."Country" is a delight for any synaesthete, daydreamer, or person who just likes to imagine distant landscapes and epic stories.From a different point of view, the album could concievably be considered minimalist, dissonant, droning, long and boring.I've selected a track (I Will Give You Twenty) that combines pretty melody with mysterious and evocative noise. Try it out and see what you think. If you like it, head on over to www.archive.org/details/tpd0071 to download.