Loscil - Endless Falls

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release
Soundclips

5...according to our Ant on Fri 19 Feb, 2010.

I wandered into the office yesterday, late and a little hungover and was greeted by some arresting and deeply comforting audio. Scott Morgan's Loscil project was responsible for gently easing my brain back into reality. 'Endless Falls' begins with the sound of rainfall, I just love the chaotic nature of the rhythms of raindrops so it's a winning opening for me… Then Robert Spark's violin playing just utterly melts me. It's total goose pimple stuff. As the album progresses we're in more familiar Loscil territory i.e super high quality, lush ambient harmonics and enveloping textures and drones. At moments it feels a little dubby, and I get the mellow end of Basic Channel kinda vibes… I guess that's the effects rattling around my skull (see 'Dub For Cascadia'). Halfway into the album and I'm really in sonic heaven and beginning to think to myself that this is one the most enjoyable "ambient" listens I've had recently. As the tones and textures develop, they just seem to sing human emotion at me. What I love is how it feels quite intense yet very mellow. The album finishes with the dramatic spoken word performance from Daniel Bejar which fits the sound like a glove. I'd probably usually avoid this type of track but this is absolutely superb and really works a treat. I'm actually reminded of Coil at this point. A fantastic and thoroughly absorbing listen from beginning to end. Highly recommended.

To play these clips you need to either update your browser (Norman Records recommends Google Chrome) or update your Flash plugin.

* Endless Falls is the fifth full length release by Scott Morgan under the Loscil moniker.

* The album begins and ends with the sound of rain recorded by Scott in his back yard, precipitation being a constant presence in his home city of Vancouver. Many of the other sounds on the album are derived from these same recordings, processed and combined with other harmonic sounds to create the textures and drones.

* Something completely new to this release would be vocals, of a sort, a first for any loscil composition, contributed by Daniel Bejar on the final track. Scott states "The collaboration with Dan made us both incredibly nervous. Dan felt out of his element doing 'spoken word' but rose to the challenge. I felt self-conscious about changing the listening perspective from abstract, ambient music into foreground, conscious listening. The first time I heard Dan's voice recording I was terrified and was tempted to call the whole thing off. I listened to it a few more times and it completely grew on me. Now I can't imagine that piece without his performance. I love Dan's use of words, his vocal rhythms and the intimate intensity
of his voice."

* Jason Zumpano is the only returning performer from past collaborations, he is responsible for the piano parts. Kim Koch and Robert Sparks make appearances on violin and bass recorder. The cover photos for the album were taken from the backseat of the family car by Scott's newest collaborator, his 4 year old daughter Sadie.

* File Under: Pop, Electronic, Ambient

* For Fans Of: Stars of The Lid, Pan American, Tim Hecker, Aix Em Klemm

* TRACKLIST: 1.Endless Falls 2.Estuarine 3.Shallow Water Blackout 4.Dub for Cascadia 5.Fern and Robin 6.Lake Orchard 7.Showers of Ink 8.Graupel (vinyl only) 9.Kinematics (vinyl only) 10.The Making of Grief Point

Be the first to review this record. Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!