 |
|
Simon Scott, "Insomni"
Although probably doomed to be primarily known forever as "the drummer from Slowdive," Simon Scott has had quite an impressive, varied, and somewhat inscrutable solo career, releasing some fine albums on labels like Miasmah and 12k and dipping his toes into a whole host of underground subgenres.  With his latest release, he continues to alternately dazzle and perplex me–even more so than usual, actually.  Curiously (and misguidedly?) presented as a single 42-minute track, Insomni feels more like multi-artist mixtape than a coherent longform composition.  Naturally, some of the passages are quite beautiful, but the overall presentation left me scratching my head quite a bit.
Despite the many mystifying sequencing and stylistic quirks that ultimately derail it, Insomni at least begins in very strong fashion, as the opening "An Angel From The Sea Kissed Me" gradually blossoms from gentle, looping drone into sizzling, fuzzed-out rapture that would not sound at all out of place on one of Tim Hecker's better albums.  Then the brief piece that follows ("Holme Posts") provides a pleasant interlude of lazily strummed acoustic amidst some nature sounds before making way for yet another gentle drone piece ("Confusion in Her Eyes").  Well, gentle at first anyway, as it gradually snowballs into an impressive earthquake of roiling and rumbling catharsis.  Then it is time for yet another fleeting interlude in the welcome form of a warm swell of fuzzy shoegaze guitar noise ("Relapse").  So far, so good!  Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy "Relapse," it marks the turning point where I started wondering what Simon was thinking, as it appears and disappears in the span of roughly a minute.  It does not make sense to toss aside a promising motif so quickly and casually.
Nor does it make sense to linger on less promising ideas, as Scott does with "Oaks Grow Strong," a pastoral acoustic guitar loop that gradually transforms into a menacing, spacey throb.  I kind of enjoyed the menacing bit, mind you, but it was still over far too quickly and did not seem bear much relation to the much longer and less interesting opening theme.  Then, after quickly presenting and discarding yet another promising motif (the crackling radio transmissions of "Ternal"), Insomni bewildered me yet again with the melancholy steel-string guitar reverie of "Nettle Bed."  Like all of Insomni's flaws, it is not necessarily a weak piece–it just does not make much contextual sense.  Also, it proved to be the harbinger of a radical change in the album’s course: following the beautifully quivering and throbbing (and far too short) "Fen Drove," Scott essentially transforms Insomni into a James Blackshaw album.  Sort of, anyway.  The last three pieces are all acoustic guitar-based.
The first, "Nember," is a gently strummed minor key chord progression embellished with some subtle production flourishes and beautifully played arpeggios, but is otherwise dragged down by its goth-lite mood.  The lengthier "Far From the Tree" is a vastly superior 12-string arpeggio work-out, evoking a very pleasant strain of melancholy, but sounds much more like Blackshaw (a past collaborator) than it does Simon Scott.  The closing "Swanbark" offers still more of the same.  Again, it is not bad (rather enjoyable, actually).  Also, James Blackshaw does not have a monopoly on playing intricate acoustic guitar passages.  However, it is definitely both puzzling and disorienting to see an artist of Scott’s caliber behaving so in such chameleonic fashion.  I would much rather experience a distinctive and coherent vision than a kaleidoscopic showcase of everything that Scott can do well.
Actually, a kaleidoscopic showcase could probably be great too, but it would need to be sequenced and assembled a lot more effectively than Insomni’s current incarnation.  I truly cannot fathom why this album is presented as a single track, as each piece is isolated by brief periods of silence, which precludes any sort of seamless flow or artful segue between pieces.  There also does not seem to be any sort of coherent overall arc that threads everything together.  This definitely feels like a career-spanning "incidental music" collection rather than a single long-form work.  Also, the "single track" format makes it annoying to enjoy the handful of songs that I genuinely like.  For example, if "Fen Drove" were a separate song, I would listen to it regularly.  I am considerably less likely to listen to it when I need to know that it starts at the 25:40 mark and ends at 27:53.  I could also go on and on about the bizarre pacing, but I will not.  It just all adds up to a needlessly exasperating listen. I almost wonder if Scott deliberately created this album as a prank to drive me nuts.  If so, it very nearly worked.  I sincerely hope this type of sequencing does not become a trend.  While there is definitely a lot of fine material to be found here, my enjoyment was largely (and hopelessly) torpedoed by the presentation. More patient and indulgent fans than me will probably be able to enjoy Insomni a lot more than I did, but I do not see myself revisiting this album again anytime soon unless I find the time and motivation to liberate the better pieces from their surroundings.
Samples:
 
 
