-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *
ARTIST..: Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd
ALBUM...: Bordeaux
GENRE...: Electronic
STYLE...: Ambient
YEAR....: 2011
LABEL...: Darla
ENCODER.: FLAC 1.3.1 -8 -V
BITRATE.: 383 kbps avg
QUALITY.: 44.1kHz / 2 channels
SOURCE..: CD
TRACKS..: 9
SIZE....: 133.42 MB
URL..: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Guthrie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Budd
- TRACKLIST
1 Gaze 3:42
2 Deva C 3:51
3 The Names Of Those Never Here 4:25
4 So Many Short Years Ago 3:43
5 The Belles Of Saint Andrew 3:42
6 Radiant City 4:53
7 L'Aventure 7:05
8 Smiling Apart 6:59
9 Southern Shore 10:00
Total Playtime: 48:20
Darla Records is proud to offer Bordeaux, a new album by Robin Guthrie and
Harold Budd; unquestionably the two masters of sonic beauty, minimalism and
modern ambient. We feel there is nothing better than an artist with a sound
so completely original and unique unto himself that it is instantly
recognizable. This gift is widely acknowledged to be one bestowed on both Mr.
Guthrie and Mr. Budd. What's even more significant, however, is how the
signature style of each combine to create a complimentary union so rare and
sublime.
Since meeting in 1986 when they recorded The Moon And The Melodies they have
joined occasionally for albums, soundtracks and live performances. Each has
forged a very independent music career and become firmly established in his
own right. Mr. BuddÆs 1984 album The Pearl, a collaboration with Brian Eno,
remains an ambient minimalist milestone that set the scene for a whole
generation of copyists. Likewise Mr. GuthrieÆs guitar and production work,
from his roots in Cocteau Twins, has broken entirely new ground and has had a
significant impact on alternative music for over 30 years.
With the twin albums After The Night Falls and Before The Day Breaks released
in 2006, Mr. Guthrie and Mr. Budd received acclaim without parallel. However,
Bordeaux, recorded in the hazy Summer of 2010 in a studio near Bordeaux,
France, has a further degree of elegance, poise and sheer breathtaking
romance, which shows these two fine gentlemen at their best.
Evident, as one would expect, is a maturity, intensity and depth of
character, magnificently understated, which no others in the field can even
come close to matching. Its dense richness makes Bordeaux a striking work of
ambient impressionism. Quite clearly, Mr. Budd and Mr. Guthrie have created
one of the most atmospheric and captivating instrumental performances of our
time.
*
o my ears Harold BuddÆs signature piano sound and Robin GuthrieÆs patented
Cocteau Twins shimmer have always been two elements made for each other. On
the Cocteau Twins classic (and largely instrumental) æThe Moon And The
MelodiesÆ I discovered BuddÆs music for the first time, and since then the
two have collaborated on a number of occasions, always ending up with music
that is as soulful and emotional as it is utterly captivating. This latest
full-length, recorded in Bordeaux, France is possibly their most perfect
selection to date and the two musicians sound totally comfortable with each
otherÆs distinctive role in the project. BuddÆs piano sounds better than
ever, echoing as if trapped in a waterlogged cave, and GuthrieÆs guitar
playing has lost none of its token emotion and beauty since his days in the
Cocteau Twins. IÆm sure there are plenty of Cocteaus fans who have avoided
their work since æHeaven or Last VegasÆ (I know a fewà) but do yourselves a
favour and at least take a listen to æBordeauxÆ, beneath the echo and dense
haze is the heart and soul we all fell in love with all those years ago.
Unmissable stuff.
*
Ambient keyboardist/composer Harold Budd's collaborations with guitarist
Robin Guthrie go all the way back to 1986, when Guthrie's former band, the
Cocteau Twins, joined forces with Budd for The Moon and the Melodies. But
Guthrie and Budd have pooled their powers more frequently in recent years --
Bordeaux marks the fourth project the pair has released together since 2005.
It's pretty much in keeping with the tradition they've established, offering
up a cornucopia of shimmering, gently shifting ambient soundscapes that make
the most of both Budd's lambent piano work and Guthrie's ethereal,
effects-laden tones. Over the course of Bordeaux's nine tracks, Budd and
Guthrie create a sonic spell whose hypnotic powers of enchantment prove
cumulative. One of the most immediately striking aspects of the sound the two
men make together is that Guthrie's six-string work sounds like anything but
the product of a guitar; he's so adept at transforming the tones emitted from
his axe that he practically creates another instrument in the process -- some
hybrid/paradigm blending texture and technology. For his part, Budd keeps
things on the minimal side -- after working so extensively with Guthrie in
the past, he seems to know just where to place his warm, watery piano notes
within the gentle swirl of sound his partner produces. Budd takes the primary
melodic role here, providing much of the motion while Guthrie takes care of
the atmosphere and mood-setting, but these are relatively static pieces, and
rightly so, as their main function is, after all, to create a mood. Standing
within both the tradition of ambient music and the context of previous
Budd/Guthrie outings, Bordeaux -- named for the French town in which it was
recorded -- offers a batch of bewitching pieces best experienced in an
intimate setting.
-=- SHGZ -=-
-=-=-==-=-=-
Dream Pop
is a subgenre of
alternative rock and neo-psychedelia
that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop
melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions,
and effects such as reverb, echo, tremolo, and chorus. It often
overlaps with the related genre of shoegaze, and the
two genre terms have at times been
used interchangeably.
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