loscil
Sea Island
18 November 2014
Kranky
4 stars out of 5
Vancouver’s Scott Morgan has
been recording ambient music under the name of loscil since the late ‘90s, and Sea Island
represents his seventh studio LP with legendary experimental label Kranky, and
his tenth overall. Two of the tracks, “Sea Island Murders” and “Iona,” directly
reference two islands within the city of Richmond,
British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. (If you’ve ever flown in or out of
Vancouver International
Airport, you’ve been to Sea Island.)
Other titles are less obvious: does “Catalina 1943” refer to the Consolidated PBY
Catalina flying boat of the WWII American armed forces? “Angle of Loll” and “Angle
of List” are references to unstable ships. The cover features logs washed up on
a beach. Perhaps Morgan had a maritime theme in mind? Insert snarky
sticking-out-tongue smiley here.
In a word, this is some beautiful music. While there are
plenty of drones, there are also repeating patterns and almost-beats. The songs
are structured and composed, rather
than improvised like much of Morgan’s early work. Through careful restraint and
minimalist gestures Morgan creates expansive and breathtaking universes within
each track; however, the album feels free and organic rather than constrained
and mechanical. One can smell the sea, watch the shapes of the logs and birds
appear from and disappear into the fog, and hear the gentle breaking of the
waves and reverberations of the engines of the distant fishing boats.
reviewed by Richard Krueger
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