Aquarelle - Slow Circles

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4...according to our Ant on Thu 24 Jun, 2010.

This really is lovely, presented in a wax sealed vellum envelope with artist notes and containing three of a possible seven photographs. This was written, recorded and mixed entirely by Ryan Potts. I'm really enjoying this exercise in minimalism very much, particularly the static/ crackle sounds of 'Brill'. Then 'Everything Changes Into Itself' really takes me by surprise with its huge glorious swirling drones like the sound of the gates of heaven opening. Here' it is possible to pick out some of the acoustic instruments that have been put into the mix: acoustic guitar, bells and some percussion. A magical ride of a tune! 'A Good Egg' continues with the mellow and peaceful tranquility and I could be more than happy just laying on the floor right now.... must.... type... words........ 'Clementine' is a sugar sweet tune with the sparkling bell sounds all prettily twinkling among the enveloping ambient goodness. The final piece is the fifteen minute epic 'In Days Of Rust' which over its duration is quite a dynamic journey with its ever evolving electronic/ acoustic soundscape. Recommended.

After three years of multiple revisions and complete deletions, 'Slow Circles' was engendered as much by the music that adheres to it than by what does not. Meaning at this point in the history of recorded music – where any- and everything can be and is available – what you leave out and avoid is just as critical as what few things remain. Still, there is much to be heard by Aquarelle (the aural moniker of Ryan Potts) on 'Slow Circles.' Tempered with static and distortion, the five extended tracks hold an illusion of stasis sourced from dozens of layers of acoustic, electric, and electronic instruments. Filtered loops overlap and repeat, erecting a pattern that links pure minimalism to an oblique and layered pop approach that unfurls with acoustic guitar, bells, and bits of percussion.

Aquarelle's influences are teeming – and include various forms of photography, films by Terrence Malick, and the presence of family – but perhaps nothing inspires more than the ardor for sound itself, from hissing electronic abstraction to four-part vocal harmonies. 'Slow Circles' is his first widely available album after a handful of limited run CDR releases.

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