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Trollheart · 12-30-2015, 12:31 PM

Avulsion --- Daydream Society --- 2016 (YorkeDaddy)

Officially not released until Friday, I've used my contacts to get an advance copy (yeah) and review the new album from Daydream Society. I had to check out the weird title --- did not know the word “avulsion” was real, but apparently it is --- to find out that it means to remove something by tearing it away, and also, in reference to rivers, creating a new channel for the river to run through. I'm not sure which, if either, YorkeDaddy intends the title to refer to, but it's certainly interesting, although it sort of uncomfortably sounds like revulsion. Anyway, let's have a listen and see what he's come up with for his fourth album under the DS name.

“Metanoia” gets us going, and immediately I'm reminded of Holst's “Mars: the Bringer of War” in the low runup and fadein, but then of course it's nothing like that classical masterpiece, and comes in very slowly on organ and synth, somewhat droney, much ambient. A minute and a half in and it really has yet to attain any real shape, if it's going to: the piece runs for just under four and a half. Sort of flashes of the opening to “Shine on” also in the rising but low synth. Halfway through now and it's sort of building, but I fear that by the time it reaches anything that I would call an actual melody it will be over. And so it is. Pleasant little sort of abstract opener, I guess it sets us up for the rest of the album, a kind of overture of sorts. Fades out as slowly as it faded in. “Forget the future” has a nice oriental feel to it, with little bells and a sort of a ticking melody playing out behind while that rising synth from the opener slides through the track again. It's nice, it's easy, it's ambient but so far it's not really created any sort of a tune I could pick out. Pretty expressionist I suppose. And this one too is over before anything can really be said to happen.

Of course, Daydream Society's music is different to that of cloudcover, Yorke's other project, and this is basically ambient to the max, as I found out when reviewing For Now, so perhaps melodies and song structures, as such, should not be expected all that much. Still, makes it a little hard to review. I hear basically the same sort of thing in “Take what you want”, although now I hear more bouncy synth jumping in and again, with my very limited experience of electronic, never mind ambient music, I can only compare this to Jean-Michel Jarre. It has that kind of almost organic mixed with mechanical sound that the French composer does so well. There's a little more heart in this, but it's still leaving me with a feeling of missing something, wanting something. It quickens up near the end and the beginnings of a tune manifests itself, but again it's almost over. And now it is, taking us into “Only temporary”, where what sounds like cello or violin opens the piece, very slow and stately. But now there's something that sounds like a really cheap Casio or maybe a mouthorgan? Not sure. Some nice breathing effects add to the atmosphere, and a kind of repeated note that seems slightly out of phase with the rest of the melody works quite well.

Mind you, when that kind of takes over the track it ceases to be engaging. Now it's like one of those annoying car alarms that sound the horn when someone brushes against the car. No, I can't say this is doing it for me at all. Thought we were on to something there. Violin or cello, whatever it is, ushers the tune out, but I feel it's been underused. “Dendrites” has a nice busy synth melody line as soon as it opens, lovely little bit of bass coming in now with some ticking percussion and then a squibbly keyboard flowing all over the place. Again, quite a Vangelis feel to this, circa Spiral and Pulstar era. Like how the percussion drops out and leaves the organ-ish synth to carry the line to the end. Weird, sort of warped feel to “Time will pass”, reminds me of the opening scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home where the strange alien probe is trying to communicate with the whales in Earth's oceans, unaware they are all extinct.

There's a much darker, more ominous mood to “Pretend it never happened”, with another deep, rising synth taking charge, and I think I hear vocoder, do I? Do I? Think I do. Yeah I'm sure I do. Again though it's a little too ethereal, too abstract for me to write anything about. Very relaxing. I knew it reminded me of something (here I go again), and now I remember: it's Peter Gabriel's “The nest that sailed the sky” from Ovo. The bassy synth in “Vacancy” is nice, has a vaguely church organ sound with then a kind of scattered drum pattern, almost like falling rain or tribal shakers or something. Nice melody rising on another keyboard at a higher register. Builds up nicely but then stops too abruptly. Lovely opening to “Desperation days”, like a harp or some sort of chimes then a hammered piano(?) bringing in guitar (maybe) and a rising squeal from a synth, or maybe it's an effect.

One thing I will definitely praise YD for here and that's not overstretching the tracks. So far, everything has been in the three to four-minute range, and honestly, if any of these were longer I think they might be in danger of becoming boring. As it is, they seldom outstay their welcome, though I could wish for more actual melody ideas in many of them. But there's certainly nothing I hate, not yet. Not much I can honestly say I love, but nothing I hate. “Lonely, afraid” opens with a bubbling synth, which I have to admit is not what I expected: I thought this would be a piano ballad, but he's kicking it up now with some fast percussion and pads maybe, with something going there in the background that sounds a little like a klaxon. Quite catchy and boppy, again as I say a total surprise. Keeping the tempo high and the music bright and breezy is “Sensations”, where I think I hear a guitar riff flying around. A lot happening in this track and it's quite frenetic really, and now it's slowing down into a very sedate and calm oriental style, approaching the midway point. That takes us to the title track.

With a kind of industrial opening, sounds like a factory or a steam engine, something like that, there's a dark bassy synth slowly coming through the mix with a sense of purpose, perhaps even dark purpose. Feedback guitar now, I think, as the tune crosses the one-minute line, and there's still the feeling of building towards something. A long drawn-out synth chord which manages to kind of sound like a voice takes us into the last minute, and that violin or cello is back before everything fades out on an ambient wave and into “Chapter two” with another rising synth with spacey sounds around it and that kind of “voice” again, but it's over very quickly, being a little over two minutes in length, and the closer then, “Remember me fondly”, with the unmistakable sound of an acoustic guitar joined by soft, lush synth in an almost angelic chorus, some darker piano I think kind of muddying the sound in the background, falling in and out before softer piano takes over.

TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS

Metanoia
Forget the future
Take what you want
Only temporary
Dendrites
Time will pass
Pretend it never happened
Vacancy
Desperation days
Lonely, afraid
Sensations
Avulsion
Chapter two
Remember me fondly

I think this kind of music appeals to two different sets of people in two different ways. The musician, composer, or aficionado of this sort of playing and composition will hear all the subtle little nuances, marvel at the way the instruments are used, nod approvingly or shake his or her head at drum patterns, melodies and effects, and see much more in it than the likes of me would. The casual listener will consider it nice to listen to, but ultimately perhaps a little empty, a little simple. That's of course not to say that it is either of those things, but when reviewing I like to be able to point to certain areas in music, and with Avulsion I really can't. If I was a musician I could speak more about the technical aspects of the album, but as I'm not I have to rely on what I hear and how I interpret it.

Personally, I think For Now was a much better album, but if you enjoy this kind of ambient, dreamy, almost sensual and abstract music, you'll find much to please you in YorkeDaddy's latest effort. As for me, I'm still waiting for the new cloudcover...

Rating:

(Link will be added once the album is officially released...)

12-30-2015, 12:31 PM	#133 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Avulsion --- Daydream Society --- 2016 (YorkeDaddy) Officially not released until Friday, I've used my contacts to get an advance copy (yeah) and review the new album from Daydream Society. I had to check out the weird title --- did not know the word “avulsion” was real, but apparently it is --- to find out that it means to remove something by tearing it away, and also, in reference to rivers, creating a new channel for the river to run through. I'm not sure which, if either, YorkeDaddy intends the title to refer to, but it's certainly interesting, although it sort of uncomfortably sounds like revulsion. Anyway, let's have a listen and see what he's come up with for his fourth album under the DS name. “Metanoia” gets us going, and immediately I'm reminded of Holst's “Mars: the Bringer of War” in the low runup and fadein, but then of course it's nothing like that classical masterpiece, and comes in very slowly on organ and synth, somewhat droney, much ambient. A minute and a half in and it really has yet to attain any real shape, if it's going to: the piece runs for just under four and a half. Sort of flashes of the opening to “Shine on” also in the rising but low synth. Halfway through now and it's sort of building, but I fear that by the time it reaches anything that I would call an actual melody it will be over. And so it is. Pleasant little sort of abstract opener, I guess it sets us up for the rest of the album, a kind of overture of sorts. Fades out as slowly as it faded in. “Forget the future” has a nice oriental feel to it, with little bells and a sort of a ticking melody playing out behind while that rising synth from the opener slides through the track again. It's nice, it's easy, it's ambient but so far it's not really created any sort of a tune I could pick out. Pretty expressionist I suppose. And this one too is over before anything can really be said to happen. Of course, Daydream Society's music is different to that of cloudcover, Yorke's other project, and this is basically ambient to the max, as I found out when reviewing For Now, so perhaps melodies and song structures, as such, should not be expected all that much. Still, makes it a little hard to review. I hear basically the same sort of thing in “Take what you want”, although now I hear more bouncy synth jumping in and again, with my very limited experience of electronic, never mind ambient music, I can only compare this to Jean-Michel Jarre. It has that kind of almost organic mixed with mechanical sound that the French composer does so well. There's a little more heart in this, but it's still leaving me with a feeling of missing something, wanting something. It quickens up near the end and the beginnings of a tune manifests itself, but again it's almost over. And now it is, taking us into “Only temporary”, where what sounds like cello or violin opens the piece, very slow and stately. But now there's something that sounds like a really cheap Casio or maybe a mouthorgan? Not sure. Some nice breathing effects add to the atmosphere, and a kind of repeated note that seems slightly out of phase with the rest of the melody works quite well. Mind you, when that kind of takes over the track it ceases to be engaging. Now it's like one of those annoying car alarms that sound the horn when someone brushes against the car. No, I can't say this is doing it for me at all. Thought we were on to something there. Violin or cello, whatever it is, ushers the tune out, but I feel it's been underused. “Dendrites” has a nice busy synth melody line as soon as it opens, lovely little bit of bass coming in now with some ticking percussion and then a squibbly keyboard flowing all over the place. Again, quite a Vangelis feel to this, circa Spiral and Pulstar era. Like how the percussion drops out and leaves the organ-ish synth to carry the line to the end. Weird, sort of warped feel to “Time will pass”, reminds me of the opening scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home where the strange alien probe is trying to communicate with the whales in Earth's oceans, unaware they are all extinct. There's a much darker, more ominous mood to “Pretend it never happened”, with another deep, rising synth taking charge, and I think I hear vocoder, do I? Do I? Think I do. Yeah I'm sure I do. Again though it's a little too ethereal, too abstract for me to write anything about. Very relaxing. I knew it reminded me of something (here I go again), and now I remember: it's Peter Gabriel's “The nest that sailed the sky” from Ovo. The bassy synth in “Vacancy” is nice, has a vaguely church organ sound with then a kind of scattered drum pattern, almost like falling rain or tribal shakers or something. Nice melody rising on another keyboard at a higher register. Builds up nicely but then stops too abruptly. Lovely opening to “Desperation days”, like a harp or some sort of chimes then a hammered piano(?) bringing in guitar (maybe) and a rising squeal from a synth, or maybe it's an effect. One thing I will definitely praise YD for here and that's not overstretching the tracks. So far, everything has been in the three to four-minute range, and honestly, if any of these were longer I think they might be in danger of becoming boring. As it is, they seldom outstay their welcome, though I could wish for more actual melody ideas in many of them. But there's certainly nothing I hate, not yet. Not much I can honestly say I love, but nothing I hate. “Lonely, afraid” opens with a bubbling synth, which I have to admit is not what I expected: I thought this would be a piano ballad, but he's kicking it up now with some fast percussion and pads maybe, with something going there in the background that sounds a little like a klaxon. Quite catchy and boppy, again as I say a total surprise. Keeping the tempo high and the music bright and breezy is “Sensations”, where I think I hear a guitar riff flying around. A lot happening in this track and it's quite frenetic really, and now it's slowing down into a very sedate and calm oriental style, approaching the midway point. That takes us to the title track. With a kind of industrial opening, sounds like a factory or a steam engine, something like that, there's a dark bassy synth slowly coming through the mix with a sense of purpose, perhaps even dark purpose. Feedback guitar now, I think, as the tune crosses the one-minute line, and there's still the feeling of building towards something. A long drawn-out synth chord which manages to kind of sound like a voice takes us into the last minute, and that violin or cello is back before everything fades out on an ambient wave and into “Chapter two” with another rising synth with spacey sounds around it and that kind of “voice” again, but it's over very quickly, being a little over two minutes in length, and the closer then, “Remember me fondly”, with the unmistakable sound of an acoustic guitar joined by soft, lush synth in an almost angelic chorus, some darker piano I think kind of muddying the sound in the background, falling in and out before softer piano takes over. TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS Metanoia Forget the future Take what you want Only temporary Dendrites Time will pass Pretend it never happened Vacancy Desperation days Lonely, afraid Sensations Avulsion Chapter two Remember me fondly I think this kind of music appeals to two different sets of people in two different ways. The musician, composer, or aficionado of this sort of playing and composition will hear all the subtle little nuances, marvel at the way the instruments are used, nod approvingly or shake his or her head at drum patterns, melodies and effects, and see much more in it than the likes of me would. The casual listener will consider it nice to listen to, but ultimately perhaps a little empty, a little simple. That's of course not to say that it is either of those things, but when reviewing I like to be able to point to certain areas in music, and with Avulsion I really can't. If I was a musician I could speak more about the technical aspects of the album, but as I'm not I have to rely on what I hear and how I interpret it. Personally, I think For Now was a much better album, but if you enjoy this kind of ambient, dreamy, almost sensual and abstract music, you'll find much to please you in YorkeDaddy's latest effort. As for me, I'm still waiting for the new cloudcover... Rating: *(Link will be added once the album is officially released...)* __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 12-30-2015 at 01:22 PM.