a r t i s t : Rameses III
t i t l e : I Could Not Love You More
d a t e : 2009
l a b e l : Type Records
c a t : TYPE052LP
s o u r c e : Vinyl
g e n r e : Ambient
r l s. d a t e : Sep/2009
t r a c k s : 07
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 81,6 MB
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Following on from acclaimed releases for Type, Foxglove and
Important Records, London outfit Rameses III return with their
most accomplished, approachable and involving material yet.
From the spectral shimmer of those Robin Guthrie-style guitars
on 'We Shall Never Sing Of Sorrow' the band begin to chart a
serene and introverted brand of pastoral drone-folk. It's
harmonious and languid but bolstered with enough grit and
substance to give these ambient drifts a real sense of
purpose. Like a British answer to Mountains' expansive
soundscaping, the assembled cast of Daniel Freeman, Spencer
Grady and Stephen Lewis combine sultry, elongated tones with
documents of environments from the natural world, all the
while instilling a sense of tangible instrumental presence.
'Cloud Kings', for example, sounds every bit as nebulous and
majestic as its title intimates, conjoining flurried melodic
loops with swathes of lapsteel and watery field recordings
while weightless sustains fill the remaining space. There are
shades of James Blackshaw cast over 'No Water, No Moon'
setting fingerpicked passages of guitar and what sounds like a
4AD-ified ukulele in a broader, more cinematic context.
Although there are certainly elements of the record that hint
towards ambient music's more abstract properties, this never
sounds like a directionless gush of sound, and instead, the
pieces here tend to have a strange, time-lapsed feel to them,
as if the swelling chord shifts of 'All Shall Be Well' and the
filtered cascades of 'The Kindness In Letting Go' are a
blurred treatment of something altogether more song-shaped and
closer to the source of the folksy, rustic sounds this album
impressionistically evokes. Fans of the aforementioned
Mountains, Tape or even Helios should investigate without
delay.
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01-We Shall Never Sing Of Sorrow [08:50]
02-Across The Lake Is Where My Heart Shines [06:25]
03-Cloud Kings [06:46]
04-No Water, No Moon [06:47]
05-The Kindness In Letting Go [07:09]
06-I Could Not Love You More [10:16]
07-All Shall Be Well [11:14]
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57:27 min