It would seem that L’Esprit… has, by virtue of discovering perfect inspiration, become one of the more satisfying coherent and rangy of Toro’s records. His travels by the waterways have certainly inspired this gorgeous work.
Leigh Toro’s been producing music for around twenty years, under the two monikers of Flotel and Bamboo Stilts, both bands carrying his signature sound in abundance.
L’Esprit De L’Escalier—the English translation Staircase Wit—is his latest project, based on his travels by sea with his partner and cat to boot. Staircase Wit is a French term used in English, telling the predicament of thinking of the perfect retort too late. It’s a familiar feeling knowing what better to say after the battle of an argument. One wonders, was the record partly inspired by the bickering between the couple during their travels? Without questioning Toro himself, we’ll probably never know.
This record certainly does not sound so shallow. It’s a conceptual record, going in many directions with enough warmth in places to stimulate the senses. And it’s oh so well put together, as you can imagine, for someone who’s been in the business for twenty years.
First, it’s worth mentioning the diversity of the record. It’s an incredibly diverse album, ranging from ambient pieces, to structured percussive tracks and a guitar driven tune. The level of detail, at times, would be grueling for most producers to undertake, but Toro puts this together with aplomb.
L’Esprit… also takes a degree of patience to get into. Toro throws down three ambient numbers before getting percussive. That’s not to detract from the quality of the ambient tunes by any means; the modulating noises heard in opener “Billowing” and second track “Cuckoo Wharf” are dazzling and cute. Third track “Stones & Stream” is grainy, with added tape saturation, yet it’s molded enough to be beautifully imperfect. There’s similarities to a Porn Sword Tobacco tune, however, the extent of the records gentle opening is surprising after listening to the promo streams.
But it’s difficult to imagine how fourth track “The Grand Union” would have such an impact without the gentle numbers that came before it. It’s a rhythmical piece, with padded percussive noises beating their way through the track and a melodic drone heard rising in the background. It could fit the bill on a Cliff Martinez OST, percussively focused, tense and captivating.
Perhaps it’s Toro’s tendency to fleet from tempestuousness to something more focused and aggressive which makes this eclectic record reasonably accessible—it’s too experimental to be on the lips of bigger labels, yet despite its diversity, is not too jarring an experience that could work as a film score. That is not a suggestion as to how L’Esprit… should be best listened to, it’s a reflection of how easy it is to get into, notwithstanding the records variance.
Sixth track “Temporary People Passing Through” introduces piano. It’s jaunty and manipulated by Toro, his experiment similar to American chamber quartet Rachel’s. “Pavilions” is another fascinating number. An acoustic guitar holds the rhythm, while another reversed guitar is layered on top, panning on different sides of the stereo field. The result is quite like an energetic and brighter sounding Leafcutter John.
It would seem that L’Esprit… has, by virtue of discovering perfect inspiration, become one of the more satisfying coherent and rangy of Toro’s records. His travels by the waterways have certainly inspired this gorgeous work.
L’Esprit De L’Escalier is available on Eilean Rec..
