Mar
08
2010
When The Clouds is featured on the latest Silent Ballet compilation, The Silent Ballet: Volume XIV:

Tracklist
- The Sight Below: Fervent
- The Boats: The Astronaut
- Glittering Blackness, Fall: III
- ef: Sons of Ghosts
- Nice Wings, Icarus!: Eagle
- Nervous Doll Dancing: Les Pommes
- Nils Frahm: Because This Must Be
- Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson: Our Door Handles Stopped Moving Years Ago
- Charlieshero: Oh, Good Morning
- Radiant City: Key Control
- When the Clouds: The Dawn and the Embrace
- Arrive Alive: It’s Not What You Say It’s How You Say It
Nov
17
2009
Jonathan Leonard puts pen to paper, or is it finger to keyboard about the new Matt Bartram album Left to Memory
As one half of The Static Silence, Matt Bartram represents the lighter side of shoegazing with the emphasis on songs rather than effects. As a solo artist, though, Bartram reveals a very different side to the story with his music knee deep in layers of noise.
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Nov
11
2009
Everything Is Chemical takes a look at Left to Memory by Matt Bartram.
“Left To Memory” is the sound of one man baring his soul underneath a train station. Where lush meets loud, noise becomes soothing, and sublime becomes uplifting. More than exceptional, “Left To Memory” is resplendent, imaginative, & refreshing. For fans of Air Formation, Auburn Lull, Spacemen 3, The British Expeditionary Force, Bowery Electric, July Skies, Soul Whirling Somewhere, etc. Rec-omm-ended.
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Oct
29
2009
Kind words from Caleidoscoop, so far as we can tell. Can anyone provide a accurate translation? Hit us up in the comments.
Het label met de perfect uitgekozen naam Drifting Falling is er één om in de smiezen te houden met hun grote hoeveelheid droommuziek. Dat geldt ook zeker voor de Britse muzikant Matt Bartram, die de afgelopen 9 jaar vooral met Air Formation en daarnaast The Static Silence op uitstekende en veelal shoegazende wijze van zich heeft laten horen. Hij is van de tweede generatie schoenen starende artiesten, maar blinkt daar dan ook echt al jaren in uit. Dat blijkt maar eens te meer met zijn tweede solo cd Left To Memory, waarop hij overigens alles zelf speelt en zingt. Alleen in één nummer krijgt hij hulp op de 12-snarige gitaar van zijn makker Christian Savill (Slowdive, Monster Movie). Hij zet van die heerlijk warme met softnoise gevulde gitaarmuren op, die me naast Air Formation doen denken aan die van Slowdive met de gruizige inbreng van een Flying Saucer Attack. In de meer percussie gerichte stukken waarbij de noise iets meer overheerst koerst hij ook richting The Jesus And Mary Chain. Denk daarbij nog aan dat melancholisch lieflijke van de House Of Love, de desolate uitwaaierende gitaarpartijen van Roy Montgomery en het ijle van Sigur Rós, gelardeerd met een vleugje dampende seksmuziek van de Cocteau Twins en je hebt het plaatje aardig compleet. Maar dat plaatje klinkt toch ook als steengoede muziek in je oren zou ik zo zeggen. Mooier hoef ik ook het niet te maken.
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[EDIT: There's a translation from Emiel in the comments.]
Oct
28
2009
There is the great review of the new Matt Bartram album, “Left to Memory” in the latest Textura.
In the liner notes to his second solo release (Arundel, the first, was released in March 2008), Air Formation’s Matt Bartram offers the gentlemanly suggestion: “This album will sound best when played loud so please turn it up.” Subjecting oneself to the album’s forty minutes of shoegaze songcraft, one doesn’t only undergo a thorough excavation of one’s ear canals but also experiences a heady and enveloping rush of guitars, programmed drums, and echo-drenched vocals (the gear listed at Bartram’s MySpace page includes Fender Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Telecaster & Thinline, Fender Jaguar Bass VI Custom, Guild Starfire III, synths, Farfisa).
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Oct
28
2009
Textura has selected Drifting Falling as one of its Ten Favourite Labels of 2009.
Every November, just as we’ve done since 2005, we pay tribute to ten labels that have stood out from the crowd and brought us multiple hours of listening pleasure throughout the year. This installment’s selections are a typically wide-ranging group, with the labels collectively representing an encompassing stylistic range. Many are based in the US, while others call Singapore, Berlin, London, and Nottingham home.
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Oct
21
2009
There’s a great interview with Gareth Dickson in Textura. Below is an excerpt:
Gareth Dickson’s Collected Recordings caught our ear in a major way upon its release earlier this year, so much so that it’s remained pretty much a listening fixture ever since. The disc deftly merges Dickson’s varied musical interests—ambient electronic treatments (by way of Eno and Aphex Twin) and classic acousic folk (of the Nick Drake kind)—into an oft-beautiful set of entrancing songs and instrumentals. Having worked with Vashti Bunyan and Max Richter, Dickson’s got many a story to tell, and we were lucky to be apprised of a generous number of them during a recent interview with the Glasgow-based musician. Based on his comments regarding his most recent musical output, it should be fascinating to monitor the paths his future music follows.
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Jul
02
2009
Slowcoustic share thoughts on the new Gareth Dickson album.
There has been fewer perfect moments than a tranquil back yard on a Sunday Morning…the yard half immersed in sunlight and the other half (where you find yourself on the precipice of) still in the shade. The shaded side still with the dew beneath your feet from the cool, yet crisp grass…slowly warming up due to the ever approaching sunlight. For those moments in the dewy shade…with that first cup of coffee and Gareth’s delicate vocals drifting over what can only be described as Slowcoustic.
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Jun
02
2009
Textura review Kiku by Oppressed by the Line.
In addition to its electronic and shoegaze pop dimensions, there’s also a synth-heavy “robot music” quality to Thompson’s music but such a label can err in underacknowledging the personality and warmth that humanizes the Oppressed By The Line sound.
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Jun
02
2009
Textura review Collected Recordings by Gareth Dickson.
Throughout the fifty-minute recording, the finger-picking of his glistening steel-stringed acoustic guitar merges wonderfully with his fragile vocalizing, and the peaceful ambiance created by the slow-motion tracks is seductive too; if anything, the oasis of calm established by Collected Recordings is so soothing one would prefer to never leave.
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