loscil - Sea Island

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