Our album of the week (14th August 2009)
...according to our Ant on Fri 14 Aug, 2009.
BEHOLD! An offering from the ambient gods of Infraction. Dust off thine finest goblet, pour from your favorite bottle, remove thy clothes and be pure. Get back to nature and absorb the wonder of pure ambient beauty and message from the heavens that is Loren Dent's 'Anthropology Vol.1'. From the moment I hit play and shiver at the beauty of the intro I realize I'm destined to experience a journey into myself and the wonder of life. The tones here are profoundly uplifting (although there are some darker moments of uncertainty) and moving in a way I am simply unable to articulate. Sadly I'm no "Ambient Shakespeare" but I will say that this is like a soundtrack to life itself, one of joy, love, fear, pain, loss, grieving, euphoria and one which transcends time. Emotions that are integral to the human spirit, despite the age/time in which it exists, be it a modern or an ancient world. This stuff is deep, DEEP material. At one point I was almost reduced to tears, as I felt like I was the only living thing on the planet and felt very lonely... Man the power of music, the sound of those strings. Loren Dent is an extremely gifted artist to the point where it almost feels like there has been a divine hand in the creation of his sound world. His wondrous layers of sound are rich and constantly evolving, always emotional and hypnotic. His tools are both analogue and digital and his use of both is a joy to behold. For any ambient music lover that may have been disillusioned lately and possibly feels that the genre has been reduced to mere simple drones, then I'm fairly sure this will restore their faith in the genre. This deserves a prestigious place in the hearts and minds of all music lovers. To reference particular tracks, for me would be a pointless exercise as this really serves as a complete work... However... To accompany the CD is a USB stick of out-takes from the album which contains 36 tracks of which I've merely scratched the surface. It's a super stylish object in screen printed tin and only 100 of these were created. Flooring stuff all round and if you want to avoid disappointment on the USB stick I would urge you to act quickly. AMAZING STUFF!...according to Mal.
A truly amazing album. This is an experience not just sounds. I love this genre anyway, but this guy is at the top of the tree. Stunning.
Rating: 5 out of 5So, what do you think? Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!