Plume

Vancouver based Scott Morgan is a sound director within the video game industry. But that's his daytime job, and his contemporary ambient soundscapes constructed with looping oscillators (a similar function in Csound computer language is compounded to Loscil) don't have much in common with game music. In contrast, Morgan's fourth album Plume, on Chicago's Kranky Records, is a relaxing, atmospheric, and hypnotic trip unfolding layers of sound complimented by ethereal percussion, gentle xylophone taps, and strums of elbow guitar. For Morgan, the creation of music starts "with a harmonic root from which sounds [are] processed into a loose structure over which the live players could improvise". Each track within the album grows, transitions, and gradually develops into a piece bestowing a specific state of mind or a flashback to a concrete memory. A quote from Morgan's elaboration on a piece capturing the growth of family, if you will: " 'Charlie' was composed after seeing/hearing my daughter Sadie through ultrasound while she was still in the womb. The track was also partly composed as a womb-like sound experience for her to sleep to after she was born, hence the heart beats..." Recommended if you like his ambient label mates, Stars of the Lid, or other excellent artists in the modern classical genre, like Helios, Deaf Center, and Xela. Favorite track: Bellows.

Lovely album, full of gorgeous, ethereal ambient textures and soundscapes. The quiet clicks and clacks amidst the swirling drones is a really nice complement, never feeling intrusive or distracting. Instead, all the different elements swirl in perfect balance. There's an elusive mystery to this album, where instead of feeling surrounded by twilight and darkness, I feel wrapped in bright smoke and fog. Yet I never feel choked by any of it. The solitude found in these textures is some of the most calming and assuring that I've found in any ambient album for quite a while. What a treat.

Item as described and great service. Thank You.

MARK TEPPO's igloomag.com REVIEW :: (07.04.06) Scott Morgan doesn't stray too far from the niche he's created with Loscil as Plume continues where First Narrows left off. Loscil still inhabits the dream-space of drones and micro-expression, a phantasmal realm where the crackle of dust and static vie with the subtle movement of atmospheric heartbeats and the pulsating rhythm of sunspot activity. You don't so much listen to a Loscil record as you succumb to its gravity well and fall into the endless iterations of its rhythmic universe. A not entirely solo effort, Plume contains rhodes piano contributions from Jason Zumpano and ebow guitar from Krista Marshall -- contributions which form part of the organic evolution of "Rorschach" -- while Josh Lindstrom provides vibes and xylophone and Steve Wood bring ebow guitar to "Zephyr." These instruments give some form -- albeit still ghostly -- to Morgan's ethereal electronics. These tracks are wisps of smoke; strands of coalesced vapor that drift and evolve in circular motions but which still seem to never settle into a fully realized state. Morgan's ambience is the wind singing to you at the edge of your hearing. If you let it lull you, it fills your head with sonorous echoes; if you try to chase it and find its melodic core, it vanishes to the edge of your perception. "Steam" is awash with the exhalations of mist, a gritty undercurrent that isn't quite static from an old vinyl record and isn't quite radio noise. The fragile wisps of ambience drift like a flowing wave beneath Zumpano's piano and the delicate chatter of wooden percussion like the faint tapping of bird beaks against the hollow boles of old trees. Lindstrom's vibraphone on "Chinook" plays the part of the wind in this aural painting, swooping and darting like its warm winter namesake across a pristine and trackless winter landscape. Summoning a time out of time, filled with light and gentle breezes, "Halcyon" rings with light tones while organ-like drones undulate against a light patter of electronics and percussion. Morgan's charm lies in his creation of organic pastorals through improvisational electronics and carefully layered live instrumentation. Songs like "Halycon" are bucolic odes to beatific ambient pastures. The final rondo of "Mistral" is another capricious breeze, a whispering voice of gentle vibraphone and piano over click-track glitch and languorous drones. Plume is Morgan's ode to smoke, a collection of wandering ambience that is both fog and light. Venturing into more vaporous atmospheres than his previously aquatic-themed work, Plume is a record that unties you from gravity, frees you from the heavy weight of your ossifying bones. Loscil vibrates on a spiritual harmonic, his drones and static speak to your cellular structure while the layered instruments sing to your heart and brain. My whole body finds release with Plume. >> igloomag.com <<

This CD (along with Brand New Day by The Mavericks and Native by OneRepublic) are my 'finds" of the year thus far. I am MORE than pleased with it.

Interesting!!!

Loscil's albums have shown a consistent development over the years and with Plume he maintains that progression. Presently he is one of a handful of artists worldwide, including fellow Kranky acts Pan American and Stars of the Lid, British bands Marconi Union & Boards of Canada exploring a new vision of ambient music for this millenium. Anyone, with any interest at all in this kind of music, should buy this album immediately and then check out the other artists mentioned here, because, something is happenening here..

I am fortunate to have a friend that has consistantly introduced me to music that may fall off the beaten path. I had never heard of Loscil, but I have to say that this album is absolutely splendid and I look forward to listening to them more. I am a fan of The Album Leaf, Voodoo Child (Moby), and earlier Dntel and I have to admit that this falls right in line with all of them. Great music to play chess to!

Avec "Plume", Loscil approfondit son travail d'ambiance électronique initié avec l'excellent "first narrows". Les textures sonores sont toujours aussi rêveuses et les mélodies sous-jacentes plongent l'auditeur dans une méditation toujours aussi agréable. "Plume" est un disque rare, d'une grande cohérence, très homogène, qui ravira les amateurs d'ambient, les fans de Pan American et, plus largement, tous ceux et toutes celles qui ont envie d'être transporté(e)s en écoutant de la musique. Une authentique invitation au voyage !

Brilliant album

This album is nine tracks of minimal electronica, which whilst perfectly pleasant to the ear, tick along without ever really engaging in an emotional way. Any one of the pieces here would be very much at home on the soundtrack of a movie by Michael Mann, underscoring the preparation and execution of a methodical bank raid by men in suits and shades. It reminds me of another recording from about ten years ago, Magic Thread by Susumu Yokota which used clicks and scratches from vinyl run off grooves to construct even more minimal pieces than Plume showcases - clever, yes - but really quite cold. I prefer a little more warmth, Underworld at their most experimental (Mosaic, Peach Tree, Thing In A Book) or some of Ulrich Schnauss' early work. I found Plume to be lacking an emotional hook - but not a total loss by any means.