In case you're unclear on what exactly influenced the latest LP from Sebastian Gainsborough (aka Vessel), the first 20 seconds of Queen of Golden Dogs makes it abundantly clear. Opening with a dramatic chamber suite, track "Fantasma (For Jasmine)" moves into verbose techno that soon forgets everything that begat it.
In fact, Vessel's third LP has so many inspirations — writers, artists, people in his life — that it's a feat the album ended up so uniform and focused. Tracks like the haunted "Good Animal (For Hanna)" and the primp "Arcanum (For Christalla)" are straight-up 19th century, while a track like the icy "Glory Glory (For Tippi)" resembles classic British IDM, and closer "Sand Tar Man Star (For Aurellia)" comes off as a straightforward drone meditation.
But Queen of Golden Dogs is more than a collection of novel (or classical) ideas, as much as it's a assembly of gorgeously written and expertly arranged musical concepts, showing Vessel making some of the most clear-eyed art of his career.
(Tri-angle Records)In fact, Vessel's third LP has so many inspirations — writers, artists, people in his life — that it's a feat the album ended up so uniform and focused. Tracks like the haunted "Good Animal (For Hanna)" and the primp "Arcanum (For Christalla)" are straight-up 19th century, while a track like the icy "Glory Glory (For Tippi)" resembles classic British IDM, and closer "Sand Tar Man Star (For Aurellia)" comes off as a straightforward drone meditation.
But Queen of Golden Dogs is more than a collection of novel (or classical) ideas, as much as it's a assembly of gorgeously written and expertly arranged musical concepts, showing Vessel making some of the most clear-eyed art of his career.
