published: 4 /
7 /
2019
Label:
Leaf Label
Format: CD
Magnificent percussion minimalism on second album from Australian experimental musician Laurence Pike
Review
In hindsight, sometime in the coming years, 'Holy Spring' could be regarded as the second part of Pike's now unfinished 'Four Seasons'. Pike's exquisite solo debut 'Distant Early Warning' - released almost exactly a year before - paves the way for Act Two, 'Holy Spring', which comes after the Winter in Australia and is far more foreboding. It doesn't feel like Spring to me to be honest. Louder than the almost introverted 'Distant Early Warning', the album probably stands closer to Pike's industrial music as a member of PVT, and formerly Pivot. The tension has developed from sounding intriguing on his solo debut to commanding and compelling on 'Holy Spring'. It is fascinating once again how a percussionist treats his instruments like lead instruments in composition and song structure. A combination of avant garde, freeform jazz and industrial music, 'Holy Spring' is best listened to in one go without a distraction of any kind, and much in the same way that Pike recorded it in just one day.
The mood often gets wild. 'Holy Spring' will be a different album when I'll listen to it again in Autumn and Winter. The neutral sound, so to speak, may then lead to new interpretations. The album is not easy on the ear. Neither a brainwash or a whitewash, it is by coincidence a great companion to my other favourite album of the moment, Juhani Silvola's 'Post-Biological Wildlife'. In the current terminology very much en vogue now, this is dystopian music from the Anthropocene. Enjoy Summer with moments of mind-blowing minimalism.
Track Listing:-
1
Mystic Circles
2
Daughter of Mars
3
Dance of the Earth
4
Transire
5
Drum Chant
6
Holy Spring
7
The Shock of Hope
8
Taught by Spirits
9
Rites
Band Links:-
https://www.laurencepike.net/
https://www.facebook.com/laurencepiked
https://www.instagram.com/laurenzpike/
Label Links:-
http://www.theleaflabel.com/en/index.p
https://www.facebook.com/theleaflabel
https://twitter.com/theleaflabel
https://www.youtube.com/user/theleafla
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