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:: Release Info:
::
:: Artist......> Lorna
:: Title.......> Static Patterns and Souvenirs
:: Label.......> Words On Music
:: Genre.......> Indie
:: Rip.Date....> 04.11.2005
:: Street.Date.> 00.00.0000
:: Source......> CDDA
:: Quality.....> VBRkbps - Full Stereo
:: Play Time...> 52:56 min
::
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:: Track Listing:
::
:: 01. Understanding Heavy Metal Parts I and II
:: 02. Homerun
:: 03. The Last Mosquito Fight of Summer
:: 04. Remarkable Things
:: 05. Swans
:: 06. The Swimmer
:: 07. Be Forever
:: 08. Snow Song
:: 09. Will You Still Love Me Yesterday
:: 10. He Dreams of Spaceships
:: 11. Illuminations
::
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:: Release Notes:
::
:: tatic Patterns and Souvenirs is the second album of
:: remarkably orchestrated songwriting by the Nottingham,
:: England quartet. Lorna uses Scottish pop, postrock,
:: Americana, and dream pop as signposts, but invigorates each
:: of these genres by injecting a complex, yet seamless array of
:: instrumentation, both traditional (pedal steel, classical
:: guitar, flute, vibraphone, viola, banjo, French horn,
:: flugelhorn, harmonica, mandola) and experimental (theremin,
:: found noises, electronics). This orchestration serves as an
:: innovative anchor to the compelling melodies sung, often in
:: tandum, by Mark Rolfe, Sharon Cohen, and James Allen.
::
:: The album is inaugurated with "Understanding Heavy Metal
:: Parts I and II." Part I is a beautifully mild-mannered pop
:: song in the vein of Mazzy Star, with flourishes of banjo,
:: harmonica, and trumpet. The song eventually segues into Part
:: II ù a two-minute instrumental coda with an electronic-fused
:: rhythmic underbelly punctuated by vibraphone and trumpet
:: melodies.
::
:: "Homerun" is a leisurely-paced piece with the vocals of
:: Cohen, Allen, and Rolfe presiding over a more sparing
:: instrumental mix that brings to mind the music and vocal
:: coupling of Jason and Luisa Gough of Words On Music
:: labelmates Coastal.
::
:: Lorna accelerates the pace with "The Last Mosquito Fight of
:: Summer" ù propelled by briskly syncopated brushed snare
:: strokes and Allen's "Pictures of You"-esque bass line. The
:: song contains a rousing instrumental chorus, highlighted by a
:: Morricone-tinged theremin melody, and closes with fading
:: trails of electronics, radio noise, and a melancholic
:: assembly of violas.
::
:: "Remarkable Things" is inspired by the John McGregor novel
:: about a day in the life of small British town with children
:: left to their own devices and imaginations. Rolfe and Cohen
:: sing over a naked bed of classic country instrumentation of
:: banjo, acoustic guitars, and pedal steel. The orchestration
:: eventually builds to a climax with alternating melodic
:: passages by Matthew Harrison's flute and Dave Machell's
:: flugelhorn.
::
:: "Swans" is one of the most gorgeously crafted compositions on
:: the album, with the first two verses bridged first by a
:: harmonica solo and then a surge of flutes, trumpets, and
:: synthesizers. "The Swimmer" is an achingly moving ballad sung
:: by Allen with Marc Ransley's languorous pedal steel paving
:: the way for Rolfe's banjo plucks and bubbling keyboard
:: noises. "Memories betray me / And now I'm lost / No place
:: stays the same," ends the song's memorable refrain about the
:: travails of a long-distance relationship.
::
:: The chords progressions and Cohen's beatific voice on "Be
:: Forever" revive the wondrous music of David Lynch's Twin
:: Peaks. "Snow Song" was penned by Coastal producer Aaron
:: Jasinski and is interpreted on this recording by Lorna
:: through the lens of American Analog Set.
::
:: "Will You Still Love Me Yesterday?" exposes the gorgeous, raw
:: unaffectedness of Allen's voice ù with his verses encasing an
:: extended episode of rumbling timpanis, theremin, and viola.
:: "He Dreams of Spaceships," is the first song written for the
:: band by long-time member Matthew Harrison. On it Cohen sings
:: about the sad, forgotten story of Laika the Soviet space dog
:: against a deceivingly warm backdrop of Scottish pop
:: suggesting Camera Obscura or Sarah Martin of Belle and
:: Sebastian.
::
:: The measured postrock composition "Illuminations" closes the
:: album, building from its bare opening verses with passages of
:: flute, trumpet, banjo, and experimental noises, only to
:: conclude with pulsating electronics, a Twin Peaks "Red Room"
:: muted trumpet, and ringing vibraphone melodies.
::
:: http://www.words-on-music.com
:: http://www.lornamusic.co.uk/
::
:: Buy it if you like it.
::
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::
:: RiP iN PeACe!
::
::
::
::....................................................................