Artist : Last Days
Album : Satellite
Year : 2013
Genre : Ambient
Quality : 228kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo
Source : CD
Playtime : 1h 02m
Size : 106.4mb
Label : n5MD
Catalognr : CATMD215
Tracklist:
01. Theme 3:48
02. If 2:54
03. Envelope 2:17
04. Glow 3:10
05. Satellite 6:24
06. Escape Velocity 5:56
07. Nepenthe 3:04
08. After The Flood 2:42
09. Inheritance 2:30
10. Expecting Miracles 4:10
11. Fidra 5:36
12. New Transmissions 4:40
13. To The Sky 10:52
14. Ghosts Of Winter 4:31
Releasenotes:
Graham RichardsonÆs last album, The Safety of the North, was about a family
tragedy and a move to colder climes. The theme of his latest work is open to a
wider interpretation. Expressing ôan affinity for satellites and starsö, the
work calls to mind the hopes and dreams of the sixties generation. The title
track includes a quaint broadcast sample involving good manners; the preview
video displays images of the Apollo missions, along with footage of an boy
preparing a bottle rocket. Walter Cronkite, the comfort of a generation, makes
a brief appearance. Upon seeing these images, some may yearn for simpler times,
while others may be thankful for the innovations of space: satellite
transmissions, television, the internet. Of course, the yearning for simpler
times is often just a yearning for a time when we were simpler: young, innocent,
unjaded. All of the Last Days albums share a similar nostalgia: muted wishes
tempered by bittersweet gratitude. Even the titles strike a balance. On the
optimistic side, ôExpecting Miraclesö, ôTo the Skyö and ôEscape Velocityö; on
the melancholic side, ôAfter the Floodö (which takes place during a downpour),
ôIfö and ôGhosts of Winterö.
While Satellite may seem at first to be a simple album, it sneaks up on the
listener. The mood matters more than the method. Chimes, keys and distant
drones combine to weave an atmosphere akin to the clear night sky. With only
occasional sound samples to mark oneÆs path, the listener is free to wander and
to wonder. Have our lives turned out as we imagined? Is progress still
achievable? Waves form a sonic connection to Sea, while traffic and transit
form an emotional connection to These Places Are Now Ruins and The Safety of the
North. Richardson is clearly working his way through an intensely personal
climate, but his music makes his journey relatable. A rare vocal incursion
(Beth Arzy on ôNew Transmissionö) provides the album with a time (mid-autumn) a
setting (indoors) and a source of dramatic tension (withdrawal versus re-entry),
which has as much to do with people as it does with the heavens. Can people be
comforted by the sun, moon and stars if they avoid them? Do blessings remain
blessings even when unclaimed? The percussion of the 11-minute ôTo the Skyö
takes half the track to emerge, but eventually sounds like a heartbeat: the
first opening of the blinds, the first step outdoors, the first fresh breath.
Recovery is available, if we steel ourselves and look to the sky; whatever may
be happening below, the heavenly lights are still intact.
Richard Allen - acloserlisten.com
http://www.n5md.com/artist/Last-Days