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"HiGH ▀ iNTELLiGeNCE tRoLLS"
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a r t i s t : Scott Taylor
t i t l e : Leaving Eden
d a t e : 2004
l a b e l : Sijis_Records (SIJI07CD)
g e n r e : Ambient
r l s. d a t e : February/2005
t r a c k s : 03
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 70,3 MB
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cd-r
Flowing streams, waterfalls, birds, a female incantation
echoing in the distance, then close up.....a rumble, an
almighty chord swelling up to meet her, to engulf her.....does
she sink or does she swim? The 18 minute, opening, title track
of this album by Scott Taylor follows on from his æPostcardÆEP
(sijiep03). Where that release evoked a nostalgic, melancholic
feeling for a bygone, romantic age of travel, æLeaving
EdenÆoutlines a journey, both inner and outer, from a world of
innocence and purity to a world of knowing and hard edged
experience. Over the course of 40 minutes, through the use and
manipulation of field recordings, particularly those made
during a Sunday afternoon mass in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris
and in and around the old Cathedral of Barcelona, a divide is
established between country and city, darkness and light,
daydream and nightmare, the pure and the defiled. Despite the
religious connotations in this description, Scott Taylor
insists the work should be considered secular in its basis and
intent. The second piece, æPlumes of Static and SmokeÆ, opens
with footsteps, a creaking metal door, the sound of gases being
expelled. From here it moves through a variety of spaces , as
if walking around a dilapidated, moonlit, country mansion,
turning the handle of one door in the hope of finding an exit,
only to find yet another strange, darkened room behind it. Was
that something stirring in the shadows or was it imagined? And
outside, the primordial feeding of heard yet unseen creatures.
Finally, a short piece, æComing HomeÆ(Coda), closes the album,
a resolution of sorts of the dualities of the first two pieces,
an air of benign resignation and acceptance brought into being
by the careful layering of old 78s, radio broadcasts and the
processing of the organ from Notre Dame, Paris.
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REVIEWS
Listening to many new discs that incorporate field recordings I
notice some very frequent repeating elements, birds, water and
wood taken by fire or trodden upon. In 43 minutes Scott
Taylor's Leaving Eden examines these and other found around
sounds very copiously. He samples the sounds of the goings-on
in Notre Dame Cathedral (choirs, organs) and through his
capture of divisions of light in many European cities. The
title track is provocatively delicate as he manipulates and
layers these varied sounds to create something akin to the
solitude of his very own peaceful Japanese rock garden. Echoing
baby voices, the sails of a small boat at sea, the tender
whistle of the wind all meld in accord. This is surround-sound
filled with the keys in the pocket of a passerby, heeled feet
in the rain, and a continuous re-emergence of a grandiose
fountain pouring reflective H2O. Leaving Eden is meditational.
On the nearly 20-minute 'Plumes of Static and Smoke' Taylor
opens with the pacing of a manÆs feet on a wooden floor,
shuffling somewhat anxiously. Once his feet become still a
static storm rolls in to the curve of a barely audible
pixie-like wooden whistle, drown in and out by the overlapping
sounds that dangerously cross water and electricity, the clap
of thunder turns to an ocean wave and then into a few piddly
raindrops all within less than 30 seconds, edited perfectly
together to sound like a stream of consciousness. The sounds of
a hacksaw, industry, the imaginary sweat from the workersÆ
faces, take you through large outdoor spaces to internal
fumbling with your desktop mouse. Taylor has truly captured the
live sounds in such a way that the brain follows its point of
view, playing frequently with the aural depth of field.
(TJ Norris)
http://igloomag.com/document.php?task=view&id=688&category=revi
ews
...Scott Taylor presents the follow up to his 'Postcards'
release, see also Vital Weekly 387. More so than on 'Postcards'
he is working in the areas of field recordings, taking
recordings on a 'sunday afternoon mass in Notre Dame Cathedral,
Paris and in and around the old Cathedral of Barcelona'.
Certainly in the opening piece 'Leaving Eden', this leads to a
somewhat sacred sound, of treated voices, whispering their
psalms. The second piece, 'Plumes Of Static And Smoke' has a
more collage like approach, but at the same time it's a more
open piece, employing various sounds, like doors opening and
abrupt changes... [A] big step forward from the previous
release. (FdW)
http://www.staalplaat.com/vital_archive/412.txt
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01-Leaving Eden [18:50]
02-Plumes Of Static and Smoke [19:54]
03-Coming Home (Coda) [03:23]
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42:07 min
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