Description:	CD on Temporary Residence
	Format:	CD
	Genre(s):	Ambient
	Label:	Temporary Residence
	Price:	£12.09
	Availability:	Dispatched within 2-5 days (on average).

4
...according to our Brian on 11 March 2010.

Think we struggle here to fully appreciate some of our wares whilst the chaos of daily human traffic & general Norman Records mayhem shifts our consciences elsewhere, away from the subtleties & nuances of the gentler sounds emitting from the stereo. I couldn't even remember the new Eluvium CD yesterday. Had my head in boxes all day, my mind on the job, firmly on the prize. Which turned out to be a small ball of sticky tape & a papercut or two. Now I have this 'Similies' CD piping its way through the twin hot-wires of our posh studio headphones that don't appear to have fallen, broken, from a particularly dire episode of Quantum Leap at all. And it is fucking glorious. He's started singing a bit now too. He sounds like Interpol's Paul Banks, a little, or Wes from Cold Cave. The music is still formed around the ominous nucleus of his piano but now includes (variably) some delicious whirring electronics, understated percussion, drone and reverb. It's a fuller sound, a brave move & it truly fleshes out his vision. Grand melancholia that occasionally reminds me of Her Space Holiday loafing around in a dusty attic with Brian Eno. For those obsessed with just his fondling of ivories, this may take some time, but believe me, this is a recording rich in detail, focus & ideas. Usual sumptuous packaging too!

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Sound clips for Similes by Eluvium: on CD at Norman Records UK. CD, Temporary Residence, TRR163CD , £12.09.

What their label says...

Introduced in 2003, Matthew Cooper’s Eluvium moniker was an unexpected breath of fresh air to an ambient electronic scene that was quickly losing steam. Influenced by neoclassical icons like Erik Satie and Philip Glass, Eluvium snuck emotionally stirring melodies into a blizzard of haze and fuzz, and incidentally became a celebrated composer oft-mentioned in the same breath as his heroes. After the release of Copia in 2007, Eluvium toured for over a year, often supporting labelmates and close friends Explosions In The Sky. By the middle of 2008, Cooper was craving a new direction. After five albums in as many years, he was perhaps feeling a little complacent. For the first time since its inception, a year would pass without a new Eluvium album. In fact, three years would pass. During that time, Cooper released a stirring solo album (Miniatures), scored a major motion picture (Some Days Are Better Than Others) and released a jaw-dropping deluxe vinyl box set. After completing and subsequently scrapping what was to be the follow-up to Copia, Cooper took a courageous creative leap with Similes, an 8-song album featuring three key musical elements previously uncharted by Eluvium: percussion, a verse-chorus song structure, and singing. For a celebrated experimental musician, it was just about the bravest and scariest direction to go. In this way, Similes is the most truly experimental Eluvium album yet, and also the most accessible. Written, performed and recorded as always by Cooper in his home studio, Similes marries Eluvium’s trademark dream-like aura with Cooper’s unique, laconic vocals, akin to an especially contemplative Ian Curtis with trace reflections of Magnetic Fields and Brian Eno. It is the most daring – and ultimately most rewarding – work of Eluvium’s impressive and prolific career. Previous Eluvium album has scanned nearly 10K. Toured the world w/ Explosions in the sky, Mono, Isis. RIYL Brian Eno, Magnetic fields, Animal collective, My bloody valentine, Jesu, Stars of the lid.

Tracks : 1. Leaves Eclipse The Light (5:42) 2. The Motion Makes Me Last (5:26) 3. In Culmination (2:57) 4. Weird Creatures (4:35) 5. Nightmare 5 (3:30) 6. Making Up Minds (6:31) 7. Bending Dream (2:42) 8. Cease To Know (11:17)