marsen jules - Nostalgia
Marsen Jules returns with an astonishing suite that combines a stirring orchestral grandeur with chilly, cinematic ambience. An obvious reference point is the stately creations of Wolfgang Voigt's GAS, but Jules' compositions have a crystal-clear quality that Voigt's tracks lack, and are also completely beatless - they feel more exposed, more vulnerable. His sixth full-length to date, following releases on Autoplate, City Centre Offices and Genesungswerk, and appearances on no less than four Kompakt Pop Ambient compilations, Nostalgia is billed as a continuation of his 2005 classic Herbstlaub, and as a meditation on "desire, rebellion and immortality", and sure enough it's a similarly oriented work of sober minimalism that privileges unflinching emotional enquiry over touchy-feely reassurance, splendidly evoking both the pleasure and the pain of dwelling on the past. The first half of the album is beautiful but a little bit harrowing, like having a bird's eye view down on yourself as you trudge hopelessly across the loneliest Arctic tundra, but the later tracks let some light in: 'Sweet Sweet Longing' stretches out low piano notes and bowed cello into widescreen drones, and 'Kundera's Dream - a reference to the august Czech writer? - flecks finger-picked guitar notes over the most sweepingly romantic string overture imaginable. Jules is that rare thing, an ambient composer whose command of atmosphere is equalled by a strong sense of narrative and melodic progression. Fans of Biosphere, William Basinski, Klimek, GAS, Lawrence English, Thomas Koner and other isolationist maestros will instantly grasp how special this record is.










































CD // £13.99









MP3 Download // £6.99
FLAC Download // £8.99
FLAC Download // £8.99














MP3 Download // £5.99
FLAC Download // £7.99
MP3 Download // £5.99
FLAC Download // £6.99