Purl & Yamaoka :: Sculpture (Shimmering Moods)

Slow motion, unobtrusive, then electronically percolating ambient music which invites the listener to an intimate and personal meditation about the divine, the sovereign nature. Somewhere at a cross between Ashra, Iasos, Budd’s proto-ambient minimalism, Marconi Union, Will Bolton, Dalot’s micro waving, and reflective ambient sounds.

One leading key actor and fine purveyor of indie craft based textured electronic ambient and semi-classical releases with cinematic quality Shimmering Moods is back this year with a batch of new albums. Let’s examine closely the new collaborative work by Purl (digital sound artist Ludvig Cimbrelius) & Yamaoka (formed by electronic sound explorers Japanese Kenichi Oka and Yoshinori Yamazakwhich) instantaneously attracted my listening attention. To the menu soaked dreamscapes, evaporating drones and shifting moods, the whole thing is punctuated by a conventional acoustic instrumentation which comes here to emphasize a state of inner tranquility and encourage to float among abstract worlds.

At first listen it seems that this album gives a major place to background textures, monolithic if not amorphous ambient miniatures, however, if you’re immersed by this musical sea of peacefulness you’ll approach interesting micro-details which enrich the mix. The addition of long, sinuous, and unearthly vocal parts are greatly welcomed and sensually interact with the softly moving course provided by the diaphanous electronic patterns. Sculpture provides many canonical elements to make a pleasant soothing ambient release: toned textures, minimal hypnotic impulses, granular motives, enveloping sound waves and a taste for acoustic ecology. Slow motion, unobtrusive, then electronically percolating ambient music which invites the listener to an intimate and personal meditation about the divine, the sovereign nature. Somewhere at a cross between Ashra, Iasos, Budd’s proto-ambient minimalism, Marconi Union, Will Bolton, Dalot’s micro waving, and reflective ambient sounds.

Sculpture is available on Shimmering Moods.