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Recommended by us on 10th February 2012
...according to our Mike on Wed 08 Feb, 2012.
This is the debut offering from Steve Gribbin, under his pseudonym theapplesofenergy. The title apparently refers to the fact that the album was recorded half in Gribbin's tiny flat and half in the open wilds of the Campsie Hills in Scotland. I'm totally enjoying how this has been constructed. There are concretey elements, but it's always glacially paced so there's no frantic fluttering cuts to deal with or anything like that, and there's a variety of richly layered, swelling drones and rumbles which are often offset by field recordings of birdsong or rainfall. In an early section there's some fingerpicked guitar as the focal point, but elsewhere it's more about the drones and found sounds. The pacing and composition kind of reminds me of that recent bit of loveliness from Scissors And Sellotape (except without all the piano), actually; relaxing and therapeutic whilst still being mysterious and hard to get a clear grasp on. There's bits with echoey squeaks and drips alongside the drones that sounds quite Constellation-esque - in places this record really comes across like a more droney, less melodically focused Polmo Polpo - and it's no surprise to learn that this guy has spent time in Toronto in the not-too-distant past. That city's coldness and diversity and get-on-with-it mentality seems to brush off on anyone that touches it, I think. An absorbing LP from a promising new talent in minimal. Celestial loveliness that will appeal to fans of Polmo Polpo, Stars Of The Lid, Machinefabriek...you know the score by now.
Recorded in a flat in Croy, Scotland and a little way up the Campsie hills, "mirror/echo" is an organic album both in its construct and the sound-world it creates, it is a study of how sound works / reacts in two very specific yet very different spaces, the first being a small flatmirror / echo is a study of how sounds works / reacts in two very specific but very different spaces. the first a small flat and the second a wide open landscapemirror / echo is a study of how sounds works / reacts in two very specific but very different spaces. the first a small flat and the second a wide open landscape and the second a wide open landscape. The debut offering from theapplesofenergy- aka Steven Gribbin - whose Musique-Concrete-infused compositions are uniquely atmospheric; his album is the successful product of Steven's desire to marry the minimalism of his live, improvised performances with the intricacy of his multi-faceted recordings.
Steven hails from Croy, Scotland, but it was during a yearlong stay in Toronto, Canada that theapplesofenergy was born. Mark Anthony Burgoyne -a friend of Steven's from Croy- was meanwhile formingfrom a stolen sea, a recording company intent on promoting Scottish talent across a broad spectrum of the arts. As they had previously collaborated musically in an improvised performance in Glasgow's Nice n Sleazy, it was a natural progression for Mark to record Steven's album.
No material was written down or conceived of prior to the recording of "mirror/echo" in the spring of 2008; experimentation and improvisation were to lie at the music's core, in the hope of discovering innovative recording techniques and sound effects.This creative decision led to the spontaneous capture of many interesting background sounds whilst recording the first part of the album in Marks' flat: birds chirping, the hum of traffic, pouring rain and the children playing next door. The second part of the album was recorded in the Campsie hills, Scotland, where all sounds were played acoustically and recorded onto small tape machines spaced around a stream that cut through the hill.
Without using any overdubs in "mirror/echo", theapplesofenergy has succeeded in creating an ethereal, textured sound. From haunting to hopeful, the music carries the listener on an otherworldly journey which transcends time. The album is, in essence, a series of interludes that when combined make a whole, and should thus be listened to uninterrupted from start to finish.
"mirror/echo" will be on available on limited edition 180gsm Vinyl and as a studio master quality download {24Bit / 48KHz. The vinyl was pressed on the classic EMI 1400 at The Vinyl Factory and the cover is printed on 100% recycled paper of the highest quality by Generation Press; a Carbon Neutral company.
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Norman Records,
Unit 20, Croydon House,
Croydon Street,
Leeds,
LS11 9RT, UK.
Tel/fax: (+44) 0113 245 4399
Email: phil@normanrecords.com
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