Oceansize - Frames (2007)

Style: Progressive Rock/Indie

It took me a while to get into this album, but I am now really pleased that I persevered with it. Whilst I have not had the chance to listen to any of their earlier material to compare, Oceansize have certainly produced once of the most professional and well produced albums I have heard this year so far.

The first track, 'Commemorative______T-Shirt,' pulls you in gradually, but effectively. It starts off with a lone piano ostinato and introduces other instruments as the song progresses. What first stuck me was the quality of the production and recording and how creatively the other instruments were introduced round one central theme.

The overall flavour that follows features lots of shimmering guitar melodies and melodic vocals, with 'Sleeping Dogs and Dead Lions' being a heaver, almost Meshuggah or Nine-Inch-Nails like exception to this rule.

Whilst I believe there are a couple of weaker tracks on the album, the other songs are very catchy and well-written. I found that after the hooks caught in my head, I started listening to this album a lot more. The tracks 'Unfamiliar,' 'Trail of Life' and 'Savant,' as well as the first track, is a perfect example of how remarkable this album can be in terms of its aforementioned guitar melodies, textures and melodic vocals.

This is certainly a rewarding album to those willing to listen intently to its subtitles and excellent production.

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Richard Barbieri - Stranger Inside (2008)

Style: Art Rock/Dark Ambient

This is the latest solo album from Porcupine Tree's keyboardist Richard Barbieri, mastered by Steven Wilson.

It is a largely instrumental album with the overall mood being dreamy and textural. It features some cleverly produced voice samples - from Tim Bowness and Susan Barbieri – which adds even more depth to this dark and atmospheric work.

The first song, 'Cave', stands on its own as a more industrial sounding track, and makes way for the slower, calmer tracks that are to follow. It is clear that the sound of Porcupine Tree has influenced the sound on this album, more so than his previous works; tracks like 'All Fall Down' and 'Morphia' are good examples of this. These tracks feature a gorgeous double bass that pushes the music along, which is reminiscent of the kind of sound used on Porcupine Tree's 'Recordings' album.

This is the sort of album which gets better every time you listen to it. The textures, and the clever use of sampling, creates a rich soundscape that listeners will no doubt hear something new each time.

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Lunatic Soul - Lunatic Soul (2008)

Style: Progressive, atmospheric rock.

A recently discovered gem. This is an album by Mariusz Duda, the vocalist from the Polish Prog band Riverside. This dark, conceptual album explores the philosophy and reflection on death and the possibility of life after death.

As you can guess from the brief synopsis above, this is not shaping up to be a very uplifting album, however, don't let this put you off. The songs contained within this album are elegant and atmospheric and exults Mariusz's talent as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Musically, this album is very simple, and focuses on the incredible vocals and the complex production. The vocal harmonies are rich and sorrowful and the bass and drums deserve special attention in terms of their production and role within the album. The drum sounds are partically effective on the tracks 'Near Life Experience' and 'The Final Truth' in terms of conveying a more atmospheric mood.

The choice of instrumentation is interesting too. It is a lot softer and slower than the work of Riverside that Mariusz has previously become associated with. There is a wide range of timbre, including a flute on one of the first tracks 'The New Beginning,' setting the theme of a transient, out-of-body experience, hinting at the overall mood of what's to come.

This certainly stands on its own as a well-written, conceptual album, with a solid performance all round. Ideally, you would want to be listening to this on a decent Hi-fi system that really shows off the subtleties in this work.

Mariusz has announced that he is working on a second Lunatic Soul album which I will be most looking forward too. In conclusion, a highly recommended album in terms of the quality of the song writing, musicianship and production.

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Bass Communion - Ghosts on Magnetic Tape (2004)

Style: Dark Ambient/Minimalist/Experimental


As this is my first post, I thought it appropriate to showcase a slightly obscure record from Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree - who has been one of my greatest and most loved artists of all time.

This album comes from one of Steven's more ambitious projects, Bass Communion, an experimental ambient drone project, specialising in dark and textural sounds.

The theme for this album explores the phenomenon known as EVP - or Electronic Voice Phenomenon - which is the name given to random electronically generated sounds or noises, normally heard when playing back a recording on reel-to-reel tape, that the human mind mistakes for voices. It is a real phenomenon that some people have suggested that these sounds or voices are a connection to some sort of spirit world.

The sounds on this album are incredibly haunting and consist of long ambient drones that has been beautifully produced resulting in one of his best works. It is highly recommended to listen to this with headphones at night to really give it the attention it deserves.

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