Artist : Wreaths
Album : Like Sparks From Throats Falling
Year : 2010
Genre : Ambient
Quality : 173kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo
Source : CD
Playtime : 0h 53m
Size : 68.24mb
Label : Under The Spire
Catalognr : spire021
Tracklist:
01. Nautical Almanac 6:30
02. O Like Falling Snow 5:04
03. "This Has Become Trouble...'' 10:38
04. Fallen Buildings Falling 3:58
05. Lying Lonely In A Field With One Thousand Radio Beacons 5:44
06. Through Winter On Foot 4:36
07. Seemed To Operate Like Loss Of Blood 4:52
08. He Skulked Behind A Curtain, Yet 3:12
09. I Mean, I'm Not Complaining, I'm Just, You Know... 3:12
10. Ribbons, Like At The Nape Of The Neck 2:43
11. Cervine 3:14
Releasenotes:
In terms of the particular strand of pastoral, ambient electroacoustic music
doing the rounds on labels like Home Normal, Hibernate and of course, Under The
Spire, this album might be viewed as some sort of miniature watershed moment, or
a tipping point if you will. That's not only because it excels in the various
departments such an album is required to excel in, but also because it's
possible that this might be the very record that finishes off any interest the
more sceptical/cynical listeners out there ever had in this movement. It's not
so much the music itself that's likely to do that, but more the text surrounding
it. Expect track titles inherited from the cluttered and convoluted nomenclature
rulebook of post-rock (e.g. 'This Has Become A Trouble.../Fallen Buildings
Falling' or 'Lying Lonely In A Field With One Thousand Radio Beacons') and
others that drop the customary references to wintertime and snow. Most
irritating of all, however, is that those responsible for the album felt the
urge to impart the following information on the inlay credits: "Everything
played & recorded to tape on decaying equipment". It's the "decaying equipment"
part which proves so irksome. It smacks of trying to load the music with
extraneous Basinski-esque emotional baggage so as to colour your listening
experience with certain associations. Surely this is cheating? Besides which,
laying the hyperbole on thick is clearly my job, not the artist's. Like Sparks
From Throats Falling is an undeniably strong release within its field, but at
the moment there are a great many records being released that adopt similar
idiomatic traits (and most - like this - are mastered by the very able and very
much ubiquitous Ian Hawgood). In order to more succinctly signpost releases of
this ilk in the future I'm going to stoop to that most unforgivable of measures:
contriving a new genre name, which I hereby christen "ambivience". It's a cross
between "ambience" - a genre we're all familiar with, popularised by a certain
Mr Eno - and "ambivalence" - the increasingly likely reaction any such
ornamentally inclined music is going to elicit from the listener. So there you
have it. Ambivience. Expect to see that devastatingly ugly non-word used as
shorthand regularly across the pages of this site from now onwards. Now, as for
the specifics of the musical content, you'll immediately encounter exceedingly
ear-pleasing results from Wreaths, nowhere more so than on second track, 'O Like
Falling Snow' (see what I mean about those titles?). Drone auteur Michael R.
Donaldson sets about his craft using the most organic of materials, scraping
away at violins so as to coax out the coarsest and most beaten-down of tones,
while (as promised) a general atmosphere of decrepitude seeps in from the
production style. Like a collision between Stars Of The Lid, The Gentleman
Losers and perhaps even Thuja, this record sounds splendidly morose and basks in
a deeply evocative sense of atmosphere. Clearly, Under The Spire know full-well
this is a key release; as far as I recall it's the first album they've packaged
in a neat little digipak, emblazoned with complete artwork as opposed to their
signature, hand-stamped raw cardboard arigato paks - Like Sparks From Throats
Falling is presented in a manner befitting a major work for the label. If you're
a follower of Under The Spire, this disc is certifiably an essential
acquisition.
http://underthespire.co.uk/album/wreaths-like-sparks-from-throats-falling