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Minamo + Lawrence English, "A Path Less Travelled"
Both of these artists have discographies that consistently combine the worlds of laptop based electronica and the purest, most natural possible human instrumentation into strong, cohesive works, and this collaboration is no exception. With Minamo's blending of folk and experimental electronics and English's penchant for dulcet tones and field recordings, the results are an even more perfect synthesis of the varying styles.
English is a prolific solo artist who has released a large body of work on his own label, as well as a recent 7" on Touch that was uncharacteristically abrasive.After hearing that single, I wasn’t sure what to expect on this collaboration, but he has mostly returned to the sparse, inviting tones and field recordings that I am familiar with.While Minamo's albums on 12k were already rather subdued recordings, here that becomes even more pronounced, leaning more on acoustic guitar and gentle electronics rather than the more kraut inspired leanings on their other albums.
The opener, "The Path," encapsulates the album in a single piece:a foghorn like melody bellows off in the distance as birdsongs appear like gulls by the sea.Then, a soaring harmonium drone and delicate acoustic guitar arrives, complicating the sound but never becoming too dense.The piece builds in complexity, with a relatively thick mix by the end, which somehow manages to be dense, yet spacious at the same time. Many of these elements appear throughout the remainder of the album, but never in a repetitive manner.The field recorded crickets and distant sounds that open "Headlights" suggest the unknown, but in a mysterious, rather than sinister manner.While the opening half is more spacious and ambient, the closing portions focus more on the electronics.
The long "Springhead," which stretches over 17 minutes, is a consistently evolving and mutating piece, first focusing on chimes and long, sustained tones droning on and on, but then later there are buried melodies and complex sound structures to be found, shifting the mood from pensive melancholy to dramatic flourish and back again throughout. The closing "Fireworks," however, is the most bizarre track when placed in context.Compared to the previous song’s careful mixing of subtle electronic sounds with natural, organic guitar notes, this one replaces the cautious notes with fast, raw guitar strums, getting as close to "rocking out" as one could while still retaining a folk context.The track is by no means going into Slayer territory, but is definitely more raucous than the tracks that preceded it, going out with a bang for sure.
While both of the artists are known for blending the worlds of pure, synthetic digital tones and natural, human warmth and instrumentation, the collaboration between them simply serves to magnify these strengths.With Minamo's delicate laptop folk and English's field recordings and careful sense use of droning sounds, the final result is a hazy but welcoming album that never loses its sense of mystery.
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