le blog pastallconcerns

Tracklisting:

- The Faking Accents E.P.: 1. It Would Be Alright 2. A Semi Ancient Wind 3. The Early Bird 4. ParkDay 5. Sapience 6. Lawnchair in Suburbia 7. Some Days 8. Contrapositive 9. Sky Turns Grey

- Summer's Over and Winter is Yet to Begin: 1. A Funeral for the Leaves 2. And So the Birds Will Migrate 3. Morning Sun the Leaves Frost

It's funny how musicians who learnt classical music turn their minds to electronic. For several years, music has found new roots and energy in samples, loops, synthesized noises and drums, and, in a way, a rebirth of intelligence, except for stupid techno-dance-hardcore-trance stuff. English bands like Massive Attack, Portishead, Third Eye Foundation or Alpha and, closer to classical music, artists like Craig Armstrong, reinvented electronic music by giving it human feelings and shapes, and using it as an organic and real instrument. Rhythms became more than a single basis for each song; now, it is a part of it, letting musicians explore and create new sounds and moods.

Feiber, aka. John Sosoka, studied piano before discovering all the possibilities given by computers and drum machines, and it is something that each listener can easily notice while hearing both his EPs. Under simple sounds and noises hides a real sense of structure and creation, and intelligence in composing new moods and atmospheres. As for latest Radiohead's songs, beats get their own musical language and place, unrepetitive then surprising (It Would Be Alright, The Early Bird), and become a kind of musical improvisation; no one knows which kind of drums are going to appear from a song to another. Feiber creates each beat and noise as a piece of jewelry, with intelligence and professionalism.Having this kind of approach, he also stands close to other geniuses as Boards of Canada (Some Days), Matt Elliott (Sapience), earlier Moby's albums (Lawnchair in Suburbia) or Why? (voice in It Would Be Alright and A Semi-Ancient Wind).

His songs also are short and plain, at least for The Faking Accents EP (we'll talk about Summer's Over and Winter is Yet to Begin later in this review...); each song is like a playground where Feiber experiments new sounds and creates songs as samples, or examples of his ability to compose and arrange music, and shows that there's no need to repeat rhythms and samples during ten minutes to find each song's essence. Then, while hearing The Faking Accents EP, the listener could think that it is only a demo album, because of its simplicity and straightness; but it's much more than that. While playing short tunes, Feiber condenses lots of musical informations, so that each time he hears it, the listener discovers new ideas and sounds, and it will take him more and more hearings to get every part of each song out.

But more than only being a kind of musical surgeon, Feiber also is a tune musician, and Summer's Over and Winter is Yet to Begin stands for it. Melodies and arrangements are well-thought, sweet and efficient, and each tune takes its particular place in the whole music. While playing his songs, Feiber mixes both complex rhythms and impressive tunes (A Funeral for the Leaves, Morning Sun, The Leaves Frost). And this is where Feiber's sensitivity appears: due to an unexpected melancholy, his songs are more human than they seem to be. Under its compact structure, music is ready to be given to an open-minded audience, spreading its sadness and emotions into people's hearts. Feiber succeeds in such an amazing tour de force: complexity and feelings are playing together on the same ground.

Both Feiber's EPs are a complete revelation of his particular style: intelligence, sensitivity, and respect for the listener. And nowadays, such a brilliant electronic music is really hard to find, and share. Then, wothout hesitation, let's go for it!...

Slug

Tracklisting: 1. A Song From The Bridge 2. Cascade 3. For Night 4. In The Furthest 5. Paper Flowers 6. Rimmer 7. The Poison Dwarf 8. The Tinderbox 9. Typewriter's Monologue 10. White Glass

Post-rock is considered by a few people (including me) as the future of rock music, because it's perhaps the only lusical style where experimentation and atmospheres take their real place, and let musicians keep the freedom they need to have. But nowadays, it can also be considered as a style in which lots of musicians try to experiment good and, sometimes, bad things. It becomes more and more difficult to find a real place and originality in this kind of music, and keep a limit between powerful music and raw experimentation. In the case of Our Sleepless Forest, there's no need to ask which side they've chosen, and, for our listening pleasure, they made the right choice.

This amazing trio from United Kingdom plays a very inspired and moving post-rock music, and they really know how to create atmospheres and long moments of peace and calm. While listening to their first album, the listener travels through musical countries unherited from geniuses of aerial and ethereal tunes: Brian Eno (Cascade), Mogwaï (In The Furthest) Godspeed (Typewriter's Monologue) or Boards of Canada (For Night). They've learnt a lot from these artists and play a kind of testimony for them, making us feel in well-known countries and spaces. And they play so well: one of the main talents of these three musicians is creating a very original and sweet music, and not a pale imitation of the pre-cited bands. Their own music get a personal touch, a feeling which is close to their abilities and style.

And it is when the listener goes deeper into this particular universe that he cand find the real particularity if these pieces of music; each details is important, and each song would be, well, naked if any of the instruments or noises were missing. From this wonderful organ and whale-like sound in Paper Flowers to the amazing echoing piano in Typewriter's Monologue, lots of original and powerful arrangements take their own place and make each song live, minute after minute. They also create a red thread between each song, making the listener want to know more and more about this universe; then, Our Sleepless Forest  is not far from the idea of a concept album. The theme of the forest finds its signification in noises and musical waves ( birds in The Tinderbox playing altogether with a reverbed guitar and an hypnotic synthesizer, rain in Typewriter's Monologue), as musicians create a peaceful but dark place where everybody wants to come and rest. Even acoustic guitars are here to play a reassuring and comforting melody.

About guitars, they're used to give a slow basis to each song; sometimes acoustic (  A Song From The Bridge, Rimmer), sometimes distorted and almost howling ( The Tinderbox), but always bringing emotion and melody to atmospherical songs. In the same way, organs and synths create a dreamy mood, as a link to the mysterious and fascinating universe of the band. Combined altogether, these instruments lay perfectly ethereal tunes, and prove that the trio only wants to let people come into this special place where they are kings. And, thanks to this respectful way of composing, Our Sleepless Forest can only but have a concentrated and captivated audience.

Then, more than only post-rock, Our Sleepless Forest is a perfect combination of atmosperical and aerial styles of music: new age (but not in its more common way), ambient, and rock. No drums here, only instruments played and giving a personal heartbeat to each tune. There's no need for drums anyway, as aerial soundscapes are efficient enough.

The forest has never been so alive and attractive; Our Sleepless Forest is a perfect album for people loving travels through dense and darkened woods, as much as vast lands and cities at night. It is a music for lonely people wanting to have a companion in such particular moments, while walking and trying to find a comfortable and restful peace; and, with such a talent in creating sounds and relaxing moods, I really think that this wonderful trio is full of promises, and can't wait until next time I'll give them a part of my nocturnal life...

Slug