Artist : Ormonde
Album : Cartographer / Explorer
Year : 2014
Genre : Indie
Quality : 230kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo
Source : CD
Playtime : 0h 43m
Size : 76.26mb
Label : Gizeh
Catalognr : GZH57CD
Tracklist:
01. Beach 3:41
02. A Grand Design 6:13
03. Paintings 3:17
04. Collapse 4:21
05. Explorer/Cartographer 5:40
06. Threshold 3:02
07. Strange Wind 3:57
08. Fast Forward 4:43
09. Snake 5:10
10. Bled Out 3:46
Releasenotes:
Ormonde are Anna-Lynne Williams (Trespassers William/Lotte Kestner) and Robert
Gomez, and Cartographer/Explorer is the Seattle band's second album, following
on from 2012's Machine which garnered keen praise on both sides of the Atlantic
for its delicate acoustic songwriting. Individually, the two members of Ormonde
have impressive CVs: Williams toured with Damien Rice, Feist, Broken Social
Scene and Explosions in the Sky during her time in Trespassers William (Nettwerk
Records) and also co-wrote and sang Hold Tight London on Chemical Brothers' Push
the Button album. Gomez is a respected producer/multi-instrumentalist who has
worked with John Grant, Centro-matic and Sarah Jaffe and was previously signed
to Bella Union. Ormonde, however, is where the two locate their shared vision,
and it's a spellbinding place to spend some time.
In contrast to the debut album, Cartographer/Explorer is a much more ambitious
affair. Primarily written and recorded in an immersive two week period, the
songs have a late-night, narcotic quality. They frequently centre themselves
around repeating guitar or organ/synth phrases and passages, slowly spinning out
captivating webs of sound. Williams concentrates on her words and singing,
whereas Gomez provides the lion's share of the instrumentation, incorporating
beats and processed drums into the mix, submerging them under liberal reverb and
effects. Gomez himself takes lead vocals on four of the album's ten songs - with
the purity of Williams' voice winding around his slurred, somewhat sinister
tones - with A Grand Design being a perfect example of how the combination of
their voices, together and separate, is one of the album's strongest features.
It perhaps comes as little surprise that Ormonde spent time watching the second
series of Twin Peaks during recording. There's a similar fascination with the
undercurrents of love, death, and trust, and the anxiety of whether our
interactions with others are harmonious or destructive. The small moments that
come to define us over time, a story unravelling: "After you go, I rest my eyes,
it's like they've been walking out in storms" as Williams sings in Paintings,
against a backdrop of Gomez's Morricone-style twanging guitar and reverberant
percussion. An entire world barely hinted at in just a few words.
Ultimately,Cartographer/Explorer is a wonderful album, compelling in its subtle
moves, finding its own sweet way as only the best records do.
http://ormonde.bandcamp.com/album/cartographer-explorer