Read More Antonymes is Ian M. Hazeldine, a designer, photographer, conceptualist, and musician hailing from North Wales, UK. The music of "The Licence to Interpret Dreams" incorporates...
|
If you’ve been reading my articles consistently for a while, maybe you’ll notice I tend to say at least one thing a number of times, when it’s about instrumental music. Things like “this music should be listened to with headphones on” or “it’s something you have to listen to for yourself.” I’ll admit I was tempted to say this when I listened to Under A Name That Hides Her by Wil Bolton.
Incidentally, I did say similar things when I reviewed another album on the Hibernate label, The Licence To Interpret Dreams, by Antonymes: “I give my usual recommendations in that I suggest active listening with headphones.” I’ll add that Under A Name That Hides Her is also very ambient, too. It’s music I could imagine playing at a very low level and falling asleep to. (Perhaps you’ll find it humorous that I am writing and listening to it now because it’s 02:18 and I can’t sleep. It’s very calming.)
The press release I received for this album was actually helpful. I assure you that’s saying a lot, because I’ve read many information summaries on other albums that use flowery language to try to describe the music, more so if it quotes other reviewers. But this was indeed informative.
It goes on to say that Wil was specifically inspired by guitar bands he listened to in his teenage years, like The Cure, The Smiths, The Velvet Underground, and My Bloody Valentine. That brought a smile to my face as the first two were bands I was introduced to in college (although I’d heard a Cure tune earlier than that, I found) and the others I knew at least by name from other friends.
And then there was an explanation of how the album was created: electric guitar samples passed through effects pedals and loopers. You’ll recall that I wrote about Loop 2.4.3 again recently, who created their percussion-driven music in much the same way. And maybe you’ll remember the conversation I had with Greg Cole (of Octopus Empire), in the Squids and Octopus: Yet More Music Blogs article. We were talking about the superior sound of hardware, analog synths. By comparison, taking an acoustic sound, even an electric guitar-- it makes a difference. Although the backgrounds on Under A Name That Hides Her are fairly digital, it makes the analog foregrounds stand out.
Finally, there’s a fitting explanation of the choice of the album’s title, and how it relates to the theme of nostalgia:
The implication is that although Wil dabbled with digital textures, there was a longing to return to beloved acoustic and analog sounds like that of Robert Smith, Morrissey, and others he listened to in years past.
I leave you with the video that was created for the last track on the album, called “Passing”:
Incidentally, I did say similar things when I reviewed another album on the Hibernate label, The Licence To Interpret Dreams, by Antonymes: “I give my usual recommendations in that I suggest active listening with headphones.” I’ll add that Under A Name That Hides Her is also very ambient, too. It’s music I could imagine playing at a very low level and falling asleep to. (Perhaps you’ll find it humorous that I am writing and listening to it now because it’s 02:18 and I can’t sleep. It’s very calming.)
The press release I received for this album was actually helpful. I assure you that’s saying a lot, because I’ve read many information summaries on other albums that use flowery language to try to describe the music, more so if it quotes other reviewers. But this was indeed informative.
Despite being a difficult subject to put into words, nostalgia nevertheless attracts a great deal of fascination and is something that every individual can relate to..
..we are pleased to present an album that places nostalgia at the heart of its overriding theme.
It goes on to say that Wil was specifically inspired by guitar bands he listened to in his teenage years, like The Cure, The Smiths, The Velvet Underground, and My Bloody Valentine. That brought a smile to my face as the first two were bands I was introduced to in college (although I’d heard a Cure tune earlier than that, I found) and the others I knew at least by name from other friends.
And then there was an explanation of how the album was created: electric guitar samples passed through effects pedals and loopers. You’ll recall that I wrote about Loop 2.4.3 again recently, who created their percussion-driven music in much the same way. And maybe you’ll remember the conversation I had with Greg Cole (of Octopus Empire), in the Squids and Octopus: Yet More Music Blogs article. We were talking about the superior sound of hardware, analog synths. By comparison, taking an acoustic sound, even an electric guitar-- it makes a difference. Although the backgrounds on Under A Name That Hides Her are fairly digital, it makes the analog foregrounds stand out.
Finally, there’s a fitting explanation of the choice of the album’s title, and how it relates to the theme of nostalgia:
The album title ‘Under A Name That Hides Her’ is a quote from ‘The Space of Literature’ by Maurice Blanchot and is a reference to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It’s a book that Wil read around 15 years ago and this quote in particular has always stayed with him. When working on this album, it somehow seemed to reflect that nostalgic, romantic yearning for something lost that inspired these tracks.
The implication is that although Wil dabbled with digital textures, there was a longing to return to beloved acoustic and analog sounds like that of Robert Smith, Morrissey, and others he listened to in years past.
I leave you with the video that was created for the last track on the album, called “Passing”:
)