One of the many places I play fast'n'loose with time on that alternately wonderful and awful den of iniquity that is Facebook is a page going under the banner of Nice Enough To Eat, or NETE as it is known to the cognoscenti. Here, a bunch of creaking freaks, and a smattering of mere youngsters post links to progressive (rarely "prog", or I wouldn't be there) and psychedelic music of all hues.
A fellow member is one Jim Tetlow, who, if you know your Krautrock and have spent time in the orbit of Leicester, England, you will no doubt have heard of. One of his seemingly endless musical contributions to that repository for the obscure, aka Bandcamp is this lustrous construct, Radiance by Audible Light.
Jim had not long been a member of NETE when he posted a link to this fine album, and it is my pleasure to publicise it here. Of course, as is the way with these musical discoveries, Jim is uber-prolific and I dare not peek out over the parapet at his no doubt vast discography...there is no time, it has all been stolen.
Back to the task in hand; Audible Light create diaphanous hypnotic soundscapes using exotic instrumentation, looping, and all manner of electronic treatments and trickery. Flowering like a bloom in a Zen garden this is music to lose yourself in as it weaves gossamer-fine silk tendrils around your tired mind.
This is ambient music for folk who glaze over at the prospect, for it is full and busy at the same instance as it is quiet and reflective. Climbing the Penrose Stairs, Aquanaut will pass by in a blink of an eye, or it will suspend time, the choice is yours. Loose and lambent, the flickering sounds dazzle and are gone, all the while a quiet insistence keeps you hanging on in there.
The bass playing on Philtre reminds me of the experimental side of Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, while synth swooshes of Schulzian majesty glide across the sky. This is so much more than mere ambient noodling, and you'd have to be dead set in your ways not to appreciate it.
As is appropriate, Radiance shimmers and plays tricks as it moves in and out of shadow. It is at once a tangible thing and ephemeral as it shifts and shimmies around. All too soon, or after many hours, we arrive Down To A Sunless Sea, where intropsection is illuminated by tinkling piano and reflective bass, and it has been a restful journey through a prism of distilled high quality ambience of a thoughtful and symapthetic kind.
Tracklist:
1. Magic Box (12:35)
2. Behind The Mirror (8:10)
3. Aquanaut (18:19)
4. Philtre (17:04)
5. Loft In Space (8:26)
6. Down To A Sunless Sea (7:16)
Total running time - 71:51
Line up:
Andy Atyeo - electric guitar, synthesizer, laptop
Chris Conway – keyboards, theremin, electric 9 string guitar, voice, Irish whistles, kalimba, effects
Les Hayden - bass, ebow, tenori-on
Jim Tetlow – laptop with keyboard, cajon
Bandcamp
chrisconway.org
jimtetlow.net
Zorpin Music
Memory Wire
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