Okayyy then, guess it'll just be me. Not a problem.
David Helpling and John Jenkins --- Found --- Recommended by Anteater
I really liked this album. I mean, a lot. It's got a whole lot going for it, though as ever the problem with purely instrumental albums is they often fail to keep the interest. My problem is that generally music like this is laidback and relaxing, so I tend to, well, lay back and relax. This often means I fall asleep, which is no bad reflection on the music, but does make it hard to review!
I've listened to this several times now (fell asleep once) and as I say I really like it. However I don't really feel the same love for it that Anteater does. He put this at number four on his albums of 2013, but it would not be so high on mine, had I made one: I'm not even sure it would be on it.
It's not that it's not a good album; it certainly is. But is it any better than, say, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Dreamfire, or even Caves of Glass's debut which I reviewed last year? Hell, even solo instrumentalist Illusive Mind's "Alternating scenes" can claim to be as good as this. And again, I'm not putting the album down, but I just don't see where the one who munches small insects is getting all this enthusiasm for it. But of course, taste is relative and personal. I like it, but I don't love it. Well maybe I do love it. But I don't think it's any better than a dozen instrumental albums I've heard this year.
There's some great percussion on it, which really gets the attention, and the musicianship is flawless throughout. There are big cinematic epics like “Edge of tomorrow” , a Floydian opening circa “Dark side” but the larger percentage of the album is made up of quieter, gentler tracks such as “Through and through” and the lovely “Only ashes”. Still, there's nothing to me really stands out head and shoulders here. This is, I think, the fifth time I've played it though and while I really do like it, I don't see myself constantly returning to it. I had hoped, on the basis of Ant's writeup, to have “found” (sorry!) something totally amazing, and while it is a great album and I like it a lot, it's not amazing. It's just really good.
But so are a lot of albums I've listened to this year.
Rec Rating: a solid
7, but I had expected more. Nevertheless, I trust Ant so I will be returning to some of his recs later, with hopefully more success.