James Brewster - As A Hovering Insect Mass Breaks Your Fall

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4...according to our Clinton on Fri 11 Mar, 2011.

Here we have the latest release on Make Mine Music from an ex-Bristolian now living in Malmo, Sweden. Its probably also the only release on that label that features contributions from an Iranian puppet artist. I may be wrong. The album is a grab bag of ideas and styles from the red herring of opener 'Vel Kvonen' where Men Daimlers vocals alarm on first listen (reminiscent of Rhenallt H Rowlands you'll either love them or hate them) over a beautiful funeral organ fugue. The same melody crops up on the following track 'Vraikan Sundan' looping vocals over Gareth S Brown style music box melodies into infinity. 'Crumbling Spires' has chopped up drums and Neil Tennant echoing spoken word vocals whilst reversed ethnic female vocals take over before the whole thing develops into a layered acoustic lament. The standout track is the sprawling 'Wingbeat Fission' featuring Gravenhurst man Nick Talbot. It sounds quite identical to Epic 45 with pretty guitars and Talbot's fey, layered vocals but just when you think you've got it figured there's an abrupt left turn into some kind of low end acid house. Again its relying on reversed vocals as Talbot gets twisted and turned. The concluding 'Your Life Was But a Trick of the Light' is probably the most straightforward thing on here and very pretty but way too short to make a full impact. Still, this is a brave, unconventional album that will appeal to fans of early 4AD, Dead Can Dance, Piano Magic and the Make Mine Music roster. Only available from us at the moment.

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James Brewster is an English musician, producer and sound explorer currently living in Malmö, Sweden. 'As a hovering insect mass breaks your fall' is his fourth solo album, though it is the first to be released under his given name. It is also the first full album he has recorded since moving to Sweden in mid-2006. Brewster's aim with this record was to incorporate as many of his influences, ideas and interests as possible into a single coherent whole. As a result, the album moves seamlessly between ultra-melodic song-structures, atmospheric sound-design, dense digital processing, spoken word, field recordings, evolving minimalist themes, intricate drum machine rhythms, chiming interlocking guitars and cascades of bells. The minimalist leanings of the first half of the album gradually build towards a more pop-oriented second half. The range of vocal contributors to the album neatly reflects both stages of Brewster's musical development thus far. Firstly, his roots in the Bristol DIY scene of the early 2000s - which both inspired him to start making music and nurtured his early sound – and, secondly, the the broadening of influences which resulted from his relocation to Malmö. From the Bristol side we have Nick Talbot of Gravenhurst (Warp Records), Men Diamler (one of the West Country's most astonishing live performers) and Suzi Gage (of acclaimed Bristol band You and the Atom Bomb).As well as drawing influence from his involvement in Malmö's own experimental, improvisation and noise scenes, Brewster's move to Sweden has also led to other more unexpected sources of inspiration. This is reflected in the remaining three vocal contributors to the album: Albanian opera singer Egzona Gervalla and Iranian puppet-artist Soodabeh Haaji were both met studying Swedish, as was fellow Englishman Daniel Goody (of Malmö electro-indie-pop band Steel Island).

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