Vancouver resident Loscil's 11th album, Sea Island finds him grappling with subtlety. The densely layered elements on Sea Island don't weave in and out of each other so much as they merge together like rain drops on a car's hood. A pulse here, a blip there, a bubble from the depths, all trickle together towards the collective puddle for a short while before the whole brew begins to evaporate into the ether. "In Threes," "Bleeding Ink" and "Holding Pattern" all follow this slow-zenith, gentle-disintegration method to great affect, but it's where the structure deviates that the album gets really interesting. "Ahull," for example, employs a lovely technique where simple patterns collide into a polyrhythm, morphing the track into something entirely different.
Sea Island reinforces what's already been established — that Loscil is Canada's frontrunner for in-depth ambient music. While there's no wrong way to digest this album, it's headphone music for sure, optimally experienced on a slow train with a glass roof so the record's atmospheric elements can aptly complement the passing stars.
(Kranky)Sea Island reinforces what's already been established — that Loscil is Canada's frontrunner for in-depth ambient music. While there's no wrong way to digest this album, it's headphone music for sure, optimally experienced on a slow train with a glass roof so the record's atmospheric elements can aptly complement the passing stars.