Originally Posted by CanwllCorfe

Richard Skelton - Landings
Label : Sustain-Release
Release : December 2009
Songs : Noon Hill Wood, Scar Tissue, Threads Across The River, Green Withins Brook, Of The Last Generation, Undertow, Voice Of The Book, Rapture, Pariah, River Song, Remaindered, & The Shape Leaves



As is the case with most of my favorite Ambient, pure expression takes the forefront and accessibility isn't really considered. That's for pop music! Luckily, Landings is full of it. Skelton has his own style and creates a mixture of Ambient and "Modern Classical". It opens with the gorgeous Noon Hill Wood. It evokes imagery of a rain soaked mountainside with somber shades of green. It reminds me of a dark and foggy day in Delaware Water Gap. Those were good times.. okay well that's enough of the reminiscing. Scar Tissue is much darker and maybe even a bit discordant. It's not a very long song.. only 1:44 in length. A pretty short story, but well written. Threads Across the River begins with a fair amount of tension. The tension is drowned and subsides into an aching sea of hollowed strings. The tension he created in the beginning of the song is fantastic because it makes the rest of the song so welcomed. Green Withins Brook is the smoothest song off the release yet. Free of tension and pain.. just pure euphoria. Weightless and uplifting gorgeousness. The sort of song you would listen to when you want to think everything will be O.K.. and in return a silent nod of reassurance. Of the Last Generation is another masterpiece that is similar in tone to the first song.. but darker. Could it just be Skelton's style or may he be expressing some kind of disdain? Who knows? :o Undertow is almost like the antithesis of Greens Within Brook. The strings almost seem to create that "lump in my throat" feeling. Not like an unhealthy or debilitating sadness.. but more of a feeling of important insight. Like the realization of something you overlooked so often and took for granted.. but there's an underlying sense of hope because you still have plenty of time to fix things. Voice of the Book is definitely a different animal than the other stuff so far. Skelton is either using the same instruments and merely using a new technique or he's being a trickster and is using a different one.. but there's something that's creating a sort of "air" sound. It's damn near impossible to explain.. but it sounds fascinating. This fades and then is replaced by a horrosonant cacophony of Skelton greatness; the darkest passage off the album yet! Rapture seems to be an homage to Skelton's love of nature. Subtle string work is paired with bird's singing and the recognizable sound of a woodpecker; a snapshot in the day of some innocent well meaning forest animals. Pariah introduces us to something we haven't heard yet.. a guitar! Although it has strings as well so it doesn't sound too out of place. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be as successful at creating an atmosphere as the other instruments.. but it's enjoyable nonetheless. River Song is back to the sound that that was prevalent in the other songs. It's dark, wailing and hypnotic. When I had went back to check the title it seemed it only had just started but in fact was half over. Remaindered begins with a beautiful sound that is much like that of wind chimes. Like the formula of the other songs, this subsides and is replaced by strings singing in sepulchral tones. The last song, The Shape Leaves, finishes off the album and has the same dark feel that the rest of Landings so successfully creates. Piano work is also in the mix and gives the song some differentiation from the other tracks.

Overall: 9/10