Olan Mill - Pine-(SERE002-WEB)-2010-DD

D i G i: D R U M: 2006

is proud to present you another fine release

Olan Mill - Pine

Tracks: 10
Label: Serein
Genre... Ambient
Source: http://www.serein.co.uk/releases/sere002/olan-mill-pine
Encoder:
Quality: mp3 320kbps 44,1kHz Full Stereo
RipDate: Jan-03-2011

#. ..Trackname. ..Length

01 Spare Smoke Template 02:58
02 Country 05:05
03 Disempowered 04:19
04 A Heavy Leg Cycle 02:01
05 Pine 02:45
06 Postponed Mindfulness 01:54
07 An Obedient Ear 04:04
08 The Prescribed Individual 02:55
09 Cotton Access 03:05
10 Flume 05:39
Total.. 34:45 min

group notes:

filling the gaps in the silent ballet 2010 top100 charts
this is place 007. enjoy
included as extra is the video track 'A Heavy Leg Cycle'
as bought (without any conversion)

the label:

Olan Mill is Alex Smalley and Svitlana Samoylenko and
'Pine' marks the first release for the two as
collaborators. The album comprises ten instrumental
pieces and between Smalley and Samoylenko we are treated
to the sound of the piano, violin, pipe organ and guitar
Other sound sources may reveal themselves to the astute
listener, but for the most part, 'Pine' is concerned with
big, stirring sound palettes which belie the duo's modest
array of instruments

'Pine' was recorded over several sessions on location
inside a small church which lends a very human, almost
tangible sound to the album. Unlike many of their
contemporaries, Olan Mill are not obsessed with the
notion of minimalism, neither is there any sense of the
pieces having been planned or preconceived. As a result
the listening experience can be said to be natural in the
truest sense of the word

This first offering by Olan Mill is an unashamedly
emotional and romantic body of work which, thanks to a
certain restraint on the part of its creators, never
becomes too self-conscious or introverted. This may be
due in part to the short duration of many of the
compositions, Olan Mill open windows into their world
but we're never allowed to look too closely or for too
long

the silent ballet (Nayt Keane):

Storytelling is a dying art. Not many of us have friends
or family members who weave thoughtful tales to seek
counsel in. Our search for meaning is no longer married
to faeries or the world of myth, but saturated in a dead
sea of endless statistics and explanations. We've
forfeited a lot to feel so comfortable. The modern world
would have us give up intimacy, quiet, and free reign of
the imaginative soul completely, if we didn't fight for
these ourselves. Music has a transmutational power that
can whitewash the noisy errata of civilization. The
ambient movement is clearly a backlash against the busy
bovine nature of society, and artists like Stars of the
Lid, Loscil, and Tim Hecker have paved the way for a
wealth of incredible, contemplative soundscapes to help
us clear space and remember our own divinity

Olan Mill might sound like a giant photography
corporation, but it is in fact the duo of Alex Smalley
and Svitlana Samoylenko who have collaborated to weave
some amazingly potent ambient stories. We don't often
think of drone or ambient artists incorporating much
dynamism in the narrative aspect. Everything is slowed
down and spread out, creating a space for the listener to
perhaps imagine her own story. (If one listens to Stars
of the Lid on high speed, she can hear the melodies
clearly, but it's a bit of a travesty) Olan Mill does
the ambient thing with a sparse number of source
instruments, such as pipe organ and guitar, but often a
violin or a piano will rise to the surface to speak for
the world being created, like a trickling rain or a
thread through a maze

"Country" is a lovely instance of this balance in setting
and story. The lyrical quality of the piano and violin
are emphasized by their lack of overuse, and they blend
over top one another, in and out of frame, as if a pair
of mating predatory birds in outer space. It feels as if
Pine takes the forces of the entire earth and honors them
with a divine blurring of time. The title track breathes
and shimmers, and at other times the melancholic layers
tremble and blossom with full color, making one weak in
the knees. 'Divine' might be too perfect a word to
describe the work, as the recording sessions took place
inside a small church, and were likely aided by the close
walls and wood surfaces likely therein. Despite the
small palette of instruments, the pieces never strike
minimalist territory. This is lush and romantic music
aided by the fact that the ten songs don't reach the
thirty five minute mark

When I first put this on, I thought I was hearing Nest's
Retold again, broadcast from another source. Retold
retold, as it were. Imagine my lack of surprise to find
out that these two groups are on the same label. In
fact, they share such a similar and specialized sonic
approach that they are currently the only two bands on
the label, period. Highly selective, or carefully
conceived, the bottom line is that Serein knows how to
show restraint and feature amazing artists. Olan Mill's
level of restraint is pretty amazing for a debut album
It makes for an entirely natural feel to the music, as if
it exists beyond its creators, here to meet the listenr
at this unexpected hour to steady her trembling hands

Good music is capable of frolicking in the unconscious
mind. The Rihannas and the Timbalands can cook up a
catchy batch of popcorn, but once the body excretes the
sugars and salts, the satisfaction is lost. Pine speaks
like a great story, in that, as the critic Walter
Benjamin described, "It does not expend itself. It
preserves and concentrates its strength and is capable of
releasing it even after a long time." This album is
surprisingly grand for being so short, and once the
closer "Flume" has ever so slowly faded away, it
resonates in the negative space of perception. Pine has
great power within it. Benjamin might compare it, like a
story, to seeds of grain that "have lain for centuries in
the chambers of the pyramids shut up air-tight and have
retained their germinative power to this day." Pick up
this album for the chalice of perpetual self
rejuvenation

Not much to say here:

DiGiDRUM the digital side-group of DRUM

Welcome the new digital era!

Last but not least a few greets fly

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THE END !

K!ND

Drum 2006