Marsen Jules - Nostalgia

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4...according to our Clinton on Fri 03 Jun, 2011.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that nostalgia makes the world go round. Whether it's Pulp, Kingmaker or whoever reforming or Washed Out et al sounding like a Hall and Oates B side from '85 we can't stop revelling in the past. Thankfully, this title is something of a misnomer and if it's retro for anything it's harking back to the sound accompanying be-robed monks as they drift down dimly lit hallways circa 1897. On this, only his second album, Jules provides the listener with a series of beautiful blissed out drones shot through with the kind of late light melancholy that is perfect for whiling away the hours by candlelight on a chilly, windy night. If that description is a load of old cobblers try this: its like Gas with the beats removed and minus the feeling you are sitting in the far reaches of a dance festival while dub techno blasts out of a faraway tent. Comparisons could be made to Deaf Centre, Stars of the Lid and Rafael Anton Isarri. Chilling, heartbreaking ambient, neo-classical bliss. Recommended.

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In 2005, Marsen Jules won over the hearts of many Ambient enthusiasts with his CD début "Herbstlaub", released on the prestigious Berlin electronica imprint City Centre Offices. By that time, it was mainly Wolfang Voigt and his famous Gas project who was associated with elegic variations of orchestral sound fragments. Soon after its release, "Herbstlaub" helped to shape the sound of many aspiring artists such as Rafael Anton Irisarri and Deaf Centre and was considered to be a kind of blueprint for the now popular Neo Classics- genre. With "Nostalgia", Marsen Jules now delivers the eagerly awaited follow up to "Herbstlaub", six years after its initial release.

The eight tracks on the CD all have a strong taste of yearning and melancholia that picks things up where Jules left them on his last album in 2005. Ever more than before, orchestral elements are now the centre of the elegiac sound tableaus. These fragments allow the willing listener to get a small, but nevertheless intense glimpse into the unique sonic array that Marsen Jules is capable of creating. Desire, rebellion and mortality are the three central motifs that get explored over the curse of the 43 minutes running time.

The opener "A Moment of Grace" transports the listener deeply into the musical universe of Marsen Jules by marrying fragile strings with sparse electronic elements. With its dramatic strings, the name giving track "Nostalgia" oscillates between stasis and motion, between rebellion and resignation. With "Shadow/ Waltz" and "Endless Whisper Of The Old Brigade", Marsen Jules explores the darker side of his sonic continuum by painting ethereal, droning ambient soundscapes. After two dark and distortive tracks, the album finds back to its dreamier side with "Sweet Sweet Longing" and "Kunderas Dream". Finally, Marsen Jules releases the listener into a better, more peaceful world with the hauntingly beautiful "Sleep My Brother, Sleep".

With his spherical compositions, "Nostalgia" offers the perfect soundtrack for windy spring nights for everybody only remotely interested in Ambient, Electronica and Modern Classical music.

Tracklisting:

01 A Moment Of Grace
02 Nostalgia
03 Through Blood And Fire
04 Endless Whisper Of The Old Brigade
05 Shadows/Waltz
06 Sweet Sweet Longing
07 Kunderas Dream
08 Sleep My Brother, Sleep

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