Loscil has crafted a multilayered, hauntingly beautiful and addictive piece of music that flows smoothly through the veins like a powerful drug (minus the side effects) and percolates deep into the heart.
Eccentric sound architect Scott Morgan returns as Loscil via Kranky to deliver his latest idiosyncratic ambient creation, Monument Builders. You never know what to expect from Loscil, as the man does not recycle himself. While his previous album, Sea Island (Kranky, 2014), was ethereal and mysterious, Monument Builders is darkly seductive and soul stirring, “composed during a period in which the life-and-death battles of close friends and family forced Morgan to examine his own feelings on mortality.”
Space, so much space…it’s always a key element in Loscil’s music. The man knows how to generate space and use it as an instrument for emotional and atmospheric intensification. Loscil’s clever use of space and mastery in the art of repetition give Monument Builders an extra special depth many artists in the field can only dream of. These abilities plus a dexterous use of magic generated from diverse musical equipment and artifacts allow him to convey emotion and a sense of a story through the most abstract and individual sounding sound designs filled with embracing melancholy and inspired also by the score of Philip Glass for the American experimental film Koyaanisqatsi and the works of philosopher John Gray and photographer Edward Burtynsky.
With each listening session Monument Builders reveals more nuance and charm. Each composition unfolds suspensefully and dynamically. The motion is absolutely spellbinding, each maneuver is graceful and precise and the textures and colors are so rich and vibrant. Loscil has crafted a multilayered, hauntingly beautiful and addictive piece of music that flows smoothly through the veins like a powerful drug (minus the side effects) and percolates deep into the heart. Monument Builders proves ambient electronica can still be creative, inventive and deeply effective in this day and age. Will it pass the test of time? Something tells me it will.
Monument Builders is available on Kranky.
