Back on track.
Plenty of new music to be had this week from Laetitia Sadier and Storefront Church, Six Organs of Admittance, Able Noise, Yui Onodera, SML, Clinic Stars, Austyn Wohlers, Build Buildings, Zelienople, and Lea Thomas, plus some older tunes by Farah, Guy Blakeslee, Jessica Bailiff, and Richard H. Kirk.
Lake in Girdwood, Alaska by Johnny.
Get involved: subscribe, review, rate, share with your friends, send images!
Ambre and Spybeycollaborated via mail late last year, the latter sending the formertapes which they then used in the 2 week recording sessions. Sfumato isa painting technique of blurring or softening sharp outlines by subtleand gradual blending of one tone into another to create a vague senseof movement. A perfect title for this album. The bulk of the 14 Frenchtitled tracks are composed of deep drones, found sound samples andambient atmospheres. The music is primarily minimal, but not tediouslyso, melodic with gradual introductions and shifting of sounds. A fewtracks add subtle bass programming while a few others are simply brief,bizarre sample collages meant to break up the flow. Spybey's patentedreverb drenched environments are clearly evident on at least half thetracks. Although the album is best listened to start to finish, the 2lengthiest tracks are standouts. "L'horloge de Calcutta" ("The Clock ofCalcutta") is a mesmerizing pulsation that slowly builds up an intensetension for what seems like an eternity but is really only 9 minutes."Le Printemps des Abîmes" ("The Spring of the Abysses") is amasterpiece of deep drone that dissolves into a beautiful melody cloudin the final few of it's 8 and 1/2 minutes, bringing the album to agentle finale. Altogether, "Sfumato" is a very pleasant surprise sinceI had no idea what to expect from Ambre. They did a fantastic job ofusing Spybey's sounds with their own. Next up is Spybey & Harris"Bad Roads, Young Drivers" in July then Ambre & Harris in latesummer. As of May 31st there were 15 of the 100 subscriptions stillavailable, so if you're interested go to hushush.com immediately beforethey're gone ...samples:
samples:
And in every waypossible, it was well worth the wait.samples:
samples:
samples:
samples:
samples:
samples:
They have a beautiful balance: happy upbeat pop music with verytouching lyrics and emotional vocals. The new single is available inthree formats, 7", 12", and CD -- all of which have different querksabout them (which is slightly annoying since this material will not beon the upcoming album). Regardless, "Legal Man," shows a new directionfor the group. It features The Maisonettes, whom I assume providecongos and vocals on the title track. The song is extremely short, onlytwo-and-a-half minutes, but worth the $4. It's predictable Brit-pop,but has a hint of old beach music splashed in - just in time for thesummer. The cutesy female vocals sing, "get out of the city and intothe sunshine - get out of the office and into the springtime!" On the7" this track is backed by "Winter Wooskie," a sad, but upbeat lovesong with very quaint piano work. The 12" doesn't feature this track,but instead features "Judy is a Slap Dick (extended mix)," and the CDsfeatures all three normal versions. A very nice taste of what to lookforward to in their new fourth album, "Fold Your Hands Child, You WalkLike a Peasant," which I can't wait to get my hands on June 6th.samples:
