It's just turned September, which means that in my part of the world the sun is getting strip-searched on its way out through Customs, and Celts are coming out of hiding from that hot thing in the sky. Therefore, it's time for something autumnal. Nest by Nest should do the trick.
When it came out last year, a great deal of the netlabel community thought Nest was wonderful; it now falls to Catching The Waves to make up an excuse for this recommendation play tail-end charlie for those who are new to the concept of Creative Commons music and so might have missed this the first time around. If you know anyone who has open ears but is a bit sceptical about free music, doubting both its provenance and quality, please tell them about this six-track EP, released by Serein netlabel, and how its ambient scrapes and drones blend with gorgeous piano tones to create a work that is full of atmosphere.
How to describe it as you bash people over the head with it? Think of glacial piano compositions warmed by Welsh harp, woodwind, violins, field recordings and clever techy stuff, and think of Debussy, Satie and cinema soundtracks. This is perfect soundtrack material, if that's not doing Nest, the album, and Nest, the piano-playing duo responsible for Nest, the album, a disservice.
That was a close one - nearly created a temporal loop with that last sentence. Back to the music:
The opening thirty seconds of lodge, with its lilting piano and aural flecks and tics, will tip you off that this is going to be good; kyoto (which should be played to Earth's last politicians as the water laps around their necks) features oriental cadences and plucked strings and will confirm your suspicions; and marefjellet makes good use of that Welsh harp, finally convincing you that this is a terrific album. I shan't go on too much because charlotte, cad godeau, and trans siberian are all equally, hypnotically good. (Cad godeau starts off like late Tchaikovsky or Sibelius in his little-known Ambient period. Heh.) Trans siberian is the most blatantly ambient track, if anything ambient can be blatant, and features steam trains, various chimes and wheezes and the inevitable piano ushering listeners to the end of life winter the album.
I could go on at length about the subtleties, discipline and structure inherent in each track but I'd probably make a fool of myself.
[Insert your own joke here]
But I do think this album deserves the plaudits it has received; in Nest, the songwriting, the studio production and, to get far too pretentious, the sheer awareness of sound, rhythm and melody have come together to make a lovely and uplifting collection of music. It's like listening to a crisp winter's day. In fact, it should come with complimentary candles, a warm bath, and a view out over a snow-flecked forest. Just don't let the neighbours see you.
And while you're in the bath, please think about purchasing the CDr.
Nest - Nest (link to free individual files at archive.org)
Serein netlabel (remastered, extended album on sale from 31/01/10)
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