On the face of it, Mountains' new LP Air Museum sounds a good deal more electronic than 2009's expansive drone-folk cycle Choral, though in fact the duo have deployed a hefty array of acoustic instruments (guitars, cello, piano, etc) this time around, and eschewed computer processing altogether. That said, it's their first predominantly studio-recorded (as opposed to live-recorded) album to date, and they've made extensive use of pedals, analogue synthesis and painstaking post-production techniques to more fully realise their brand of lush, levitating psychedelia. 'Thousand Square' sounds like a lost Tangerine Dream side or maybe something more contemporary from Oneohtrix or Roll The Dice, a centered, cycling synth motif rolling endlessly towards some post-nuclear horizon, while the gently pulsating 'Sequel' and 'Blue Lanterns on East Oxford' are up there with the best of recent Emeralds, and epic closer 'Live At The Triple Door' (which originates from a performance at Seattle's 2009 Decibel Festival) admits a thin crust of noise and shows just how rewarding Mountains patiently unfolding kosmische excursions can be, with or without studio intervention. A formidable return for a consistently classy outfit, and a must for all the synth-drift junkies among you.
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On the face of it, Mountains' new LP Air Museum sounds a good deal more electronic than 2009's expansive drone-folk cycle Choral, though in fact the duo have deployed a hefty array of acoustic instruments (guitars, cello, piano, etc) this time around, and eschewed computer processing altogether. That said, it's their first predominantly studio-recorded (as opposed to live-recorded) album to date, and they've made extensive use of pedals, analogue synthesis and painstaking post-production techniques to more fully realise their brand of lush, levitating psychedelia. 'Thousand Square' sounds like a lost Tangerine Dream side or maybe something more contemporary from Oneohtrix or Roll The Dice, a centered, cycling synth motif rolling endlessly towards some post-nuclear horizon, while the gently pulsating 'Sequel' and 'Blue Lanterns on East Oxford' are up there with the best of recent Emeralds, and epic closer 'Live At The Triple Door' (which originates from a performance at Seattle's 2009 Decibel Festival) admits a thin crust of noise and shows just how rewarding Mountains patiently unfolding kosmische excursions can be, with or without studio intervention. A formidable return for a consistently classy outfit, and a must for all the synth-drift junkies among you.
On the face of it, Mountains' new LP Air Museum sounds a good deal more electronic than 2009's expansive drone-folk cycle Choral, though in fact the duo have deployed a hefty array of acoustic instruments (guitars, cello, piano, etc) this time around, and eschewed computer processing altogether. That said, it's their first predominantly studio-recorded (as opposed to live-recorded) album to date, and they've made extensive use of pedals, analogue synthesis and painstaking post-production techniques to more fully realise their brand of lush, levitating psychedelia. 'Thousand Square' sounds like a lost Tangerine Dream side or maybe something more contemporary from Oneohtrix or Roll The Dice, a centered, cycling synth motif rolling endlessly towards some post-nuclear horizon, while the gently pulsating 'Sequel' and 'Blue Lanterns on East Oxford' are up there with the best of recent Emeralds, and epic closer 'Live At The Triple Door' (which originates from a performance at Seattle's 2009 Decibel Festival) admits a thin crust of noise and shows just how rewarding Mountains patiently unfolding kosmische excursions can be, with or without studio intervention. A formidable return for a consistently classy outfit, and a must for all the synth-drift junkies among you.