Lunatic Soul - II

Artist: Lunatic Soul

Album: II

Release: 2010

“… Banished to everlasting wanderings ”

Ever get the feeling you’re being watched? Like, you are walking down the sidewalk and you feel eyes on you but when you look around there’s no one to be seen? Being the superstitious person that I am, two options run through my head. One: the fairies are here to get their revenge on me for taking a stone from Newgrange over the summer. Two: Some kindly spirit is passing through the area revisiting important places in his or her life before moving on. Lunatic Souls second release amply titled II is a grand representation of the latter. II is the musical continuation of the themes Lunatic Souls mastermind and Riverside front man Mariusz Duda started back in 2008 with the first release under this name. The idea of Lunatic Soul is one of life and death. The first record centered around a man’s passing and his spirit coming to terms with this fact. So in II, the spirit is wandering and searching for a purpose. If you haven’t guessed already, this is quite the haunting little record. It’s a soft and moody listen that takes awhile to settle in your mind. For how simple the melodies and how melancholic the mood is, it’s surprising how calming this record can be. It’s like Peter Gabriel met Steven Wilson in the early 90’s and decided to record something together. Hidden in all the songs are homage’s to Porcupine Tree when they were still exploring the depths of space and Mr. Gabriel’s straight-to-the-point style lyrics of his solo works. One song specifically, Transition, is one of the best pieces of music I’ve ever heard. But even with a statement like that, it doesn’t overshadow the other songs on II. What we have here is a rare kind of inward thinking album that doesn’t get caught up in the over ambitiousness other concept albums do. It’s simple and that’s what astounds me. There’s no electric guitar here – only acoustic. This stylistic approach to the music adds so much to the albums overall mood that I can’t imagine this project with electric instruments. It may sound strange, but electric instruments would take away the pureness of the record. This motif of simplicity is also present the albums cover. Both Lunatic Soul records have the same image for their covers but one is the polar negative of the other. Death and life – black and white – yin and yang. II transports us to a world of mist and memories so vivid and inspiring that it’s a sort of tragedy when the album ends. I can only hope there will be more Lunatic Soul releases in the future. One of these days I’ll have to listen to I and II back to back and see what happens. I have a feeling whatever occurs will be magical. Here’s hoping Mr. Duda continues producing high quality work like this because Lunatic Soul is truly brilliance realized in musical form.

Porcupine Tree - Recordings

Artist: Porcupine Tree

Album: Recordings

Release: 2000

“Here’s a hymn to those that disappear”

Kscope have been on a roll this year. With the recent reissues of Nosound’s Sol29 and No-Man’s Wild Opera back in May – not to mention the upcoming Lunatic Soul’s second record and a new album from Engineers – the young label has become somewhat of a musical mecca for me. I don’t think any label has held as many artists that interest me except maybe Century Media circa 2004. And as if to place the cherry on top of this musical sundae, they have been reissuing Porcupine Tree’s back catalogue. So when I heard the long-out-of-print Recordings was being rereleased, I was positively giddy with glee. This is the one release from the band that I don’t know a whole lot about just because how obscure the songs are. It’s near impossible to find good quality samples of the songs online, (in my earlier years, I was what you may call a “pirate”), and it was sent out in a very limited quantity, and honestly I’m not paying two hundred dollars American just to complete my collection. I had given up obtaining this record. So was finally able to fulfill that dream when this lost gem arrived at my doorstep. Recordings is a collection of b-sides from the bands second, more radio-friendly phase. But you wouldn’t know it from listening to this record. Those songs that fall into the three-to-five-minute of most singles sound far too abstract for radio-play and everything else is vast and would be quite overwhelming to hear on the radio. Most of the songs featured here sound like they belong in film scores – something I would never thought I would say about the bands music. We have songs that range from simple piano melodies to long atmospheric stretches of sound reminiscent of Porcupine Tree’s earlier works. What surprises me is how well those two styles blend and flow into one another here. Returning to my film score reference earlier, I could see these songs playing in some kind of modern space documentary. Like one that you would find at a science museum of some sort. The spacey, ephemeral, style also translates to the albums cover. While it may seem like an ordinary grounded cover, there is something otherworldly about it. It’s almost as if the man is trying so hard to seem normal that it comes off as abnormal. I think this is a fitting choice that accurately reflects this phase of Porcupine Tree’s music. This is band that continues to redefine what it means to play thought provoking and complex music – even when they chose not to. Recordings might be their most interesting release and is a thoroughly enjoyable listen. Now if I can only find a copy of Transmission IV, I’ll be set!

Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago

Artist: Shearwater

Album: The Golden Archipelago

Release: 2010

“Gone from the house to the snow like a wandering light”

Rain is a very interesting phenomena. It can stir up a myriad of emotions including but not limited to sadness, tranquility, and peace. And for an Oregonian such as myself – it’s a welcome change from the dull and predictable sun. For me, rain is nature attempting to clean up all the filth we dump on our earth. But emotionally, it’s an opportunity to wander around in the recesses of my mind. I find rain storms to be a calming experience. These kind of mixed feelings are what Austin’s own Shearwater deliver to us on their latest release The Golden Archipelago. Just like the cover suggests, the listener is drifting aimlessly along in the ocean through a warm rainstorm. We are taken on a sonic journey through a chain of islands with only the wind as our guide. Sounding like if Nick Drake decided to record a post-rock album, The Golden Archipelago is quite the unique little record. Its captivating mix of 70’s folk rock and modern progressive influences make for quite an amazing listening experience. I can confidently say that I’ve never heard anything like it. The magic captured here with little more than keys, drums, and guitars is nothing short of inspiring. Add in vocalist Jonathan Meiburg’s sullen and relaxing croon to the mix and we are left with something that sounds like it doesn’t belong in this world. Yet with all the subtle and soft music featured here, Shearwater isn’t afraid to throw in the mild tempest or two just to keep the listener on their toes. Its during these sections that drummer Thor, (yep, his name is freaking Thor), Harris shines. His ability to keep me interested in a simple beat is astounding. There’s just so much heart put into his instrument. I’m reminded a bit of Neil Peart’s solo work and that’s never a bad thing. Another comparison I could make is with Eluvium’s latest album Similes. Both works are so steeped in atmosphere that it becomes almost impossible not to be taken somewhere. If one were to listen to both these records back to back, I have no doubt they would transcend this life into something far better. This album being my first experience with Shearwater, I had no idea what to expect. But by the time The Golden Archipelago ended I was lost in this world. I didn’t want it to end. In a rarity for me, I listened to the record again immediately after my first listen just to stay lost in this world Shearwater have created. And it is truly a beautiful world.

Nosound - Sol29

Artist: Nosound

Album: Sol29

Release 2005

“I remember you, watching through the window”

We’ve all had at one point in our lives where emotions have gotten the better of us. A time where we threw caution to the wind and raced blindly after our desires. Sometimes that gamble pays off and we gain what we so desperately wanted. And sometimes, we don’t. I think of the latter when I listen Nosound’s debut record, Sol29. It’s a somber, the-morning-after affair that speaks right to the emotional core of us all. Playing like if Pink Floyd collaborated with Brain Eno, Sol29 is a rather low-key record. Spacey guitars intermixed with mellow keys create an atmosphere that allows the listener to forget the troubles of their lives. Add in mainman Giancarlo Erra’s sobering, straight-from-the-diary style lyrics about lost loves and forlorn relationships and we have a record that is liable to make its listener cry. There seems to be an overarching theme lyrically relation to the idea of loss. It’s as if a person wakes up to find the person they thought would be beside them isn’t. It’s this kind of crushing brutality is portrayed in each song on this record. An empty bed. A missed encounter. A lost love. What image can better represent this kind of record then an abandoned bench. The cover(s) of both the original 2005 out of print release and the recent reissue both show an empty bench surrounded by a stark and lonely looking environment. These images could almost be the core of what we regard as being human. We sit at out park bench waiting for that much fabled chance encounter that may never come. Nosound manages to capture this sad fact of life on Sol29. And while the original cover has a much happier looking image, it still shows an empty place waiting to be filled. Personally, I prefer the reissue’s cover to the originals. In a way, it’s a bit more honest than the original and I for one appreciate that. This was a very hard record for me to listen to. It brought up a lot of memories from my younger, more ignorant years. Some of these memories I’ve never really gotten over. But with this album I was able to revisit these memories with a more mature perspective and accept the fact that everyone has done foolhardy things in the name of passion. Sol29 is easily the most honest album I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. And its not one I’ll soon forget.