When I Live by the Garden and the Sea
Released last year, 'When I Live by the Garden and the Sea' was intended as a companion EP to the heartbreakingly beautiful 'Talk Amongst the Trees' and to make way for the imminent 'Copia' album, something which I think it does perfectly. I'm a huge fan of Matthew Cooper's work, and it's nice to see him here linking his piano work with his more textured guitar-based Eno-esque ambience. The EP begins with 'I will not Forget that I have Forgotten' which does exactly this, layering his emotive piano playing over layer upon layer of dense distorted ambience. It works too, leaving the listener by the end of the piece an emotional wreck, dragged through heartache and passion by Matthew Cooper's unique compositional sense. It surprises me actually that he hasn't been invited to score some kind of film or other yet, this is music I would have thought would be perfectly matched with independent cinema; blurry, individual, emotive, melancholic. By the time you reach the EPs final and title track, you will realise why Eluvium has such a strong presence in the ambient/experimental scene right now, as xylophone sounds breeze over synthesized pads and a fuzz which drifts like a midnight tide. Utterly gorgeous stuff, and a perfect introduction (or maybe even conclusion) to the man's patented sound - recommended.
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Released last year, 'When I Live by the Garden and the Sea' was intended as a companion EP to the heartbreakingly beautiful 'Talk Amongst the Trees' and to make way for the imminent 'Copia' album, something which I think it does perfectly. I'm a huge fan of Matthew Cooper's work, and it's nice to see him here linking his piano work with his more textured guitar-based Eno-esque ambience. The EP begins with 'I will not Forget that I have Forgotten' which does exactly this, layering his emotive piano playing over layer upon layer of dense distorted ambience. It works too, leaving the listener by the end of the piece an emotional wreck, dragged through heartache and passion by Matthew Cooper's unique compositional sense. It surprises me actually that he hasn't been invited to score some kind of film or other yet, this is music I would have thought would be perfectly matched with independent cinema; blurry, individual, emotive, melancholic. By the time you reach the EPs final and title track, you will realise why Eluvium has such a strong presence in the ambient/experimental scene right now, as xylophone sounds breeze over synthesized pads and a fuzz which drifts like a midnight tide. Utterly gorgeous stuff, and a perfect introduction (or maybe even conclusion) to the man's patented sound - recommended.
Released last year, 'When I Live by the Garden and the Sea' was intended as a companion EP to the heartbreakingly beautiful 'Talk Amongst the Trees' and to make way for the imminent 'Copia' album, something which I think it does perfectly. I'm a huge fan of Matthew Cooper's work, and it's nice to see him here linking his piano work with his more textured guitar-based Eno-esque ambience. The EP begins with 'I will not Forget that I have Forgotten' which does exactly this, layering his emotive piano playing over layer upon layer of dense distorted ambience. It works too, leaving the listener by the end of the piece an emotional wreck, dragged through heartache and passion by Matthew Cooper's unique compositional sense. It surprises me actually that he hasn't been invited to score some kind of film or other yet, this is music I would have thought would be perfectly matched with independent cinema; blurry, individual, emotive, melancholic. By the time you reach the EPs final and title track, you will realise why Eluvium has such a strong presence in the ambient/experimental scene right now, as xylophone sounds breeze over synthesized pads and a fuzz which drifts like a midnight tide. Utterly gorgeous stuff, and a perfect introduction (or maybe even conclusion) to the man's patented sound - recommended.