EL Heath – Dusk Dappled Fall
Forrest Gump once famously said that “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get” and the same could be said of an EL Heath release. “Dusk Dappled Fall”, released on the fabulous free-for-all imprint Records on Ribs, is the latest chapter in Mr. Heath’s musical journey. It can be ridiculously difficult to keep up with this multi-talented musician as Heath flirts with several styles, twisting and turning as much as an episode of Lost.
Having recently delved into the world of glitch, albeit with a typical lo-fi slant, it is great to see EL Heath dust down the old ondes martenot for opener “The Brook at the Bottom of My Garden”, a technique used so successfully on the recent “Reflecting Ep”. The forlorn, ghostly sounds of this instrument always sound refreshing to these ears, as Heath adds muffled field recordings and sounds of running water into this curious composition.
“Cloud Sculptures” follows and continues Heath’s fascination with ambient kings Stars of the Lid. Thrusting warm, if slightly skewed, angelic synth waves upon the listener, there is a certain potency to this concoction of spectral sounds. The tapestry of hopeful drones dissolves into a moving cloud of celestial noise. “Sketches”, meanwhile, starts with some starlit tones that reminds of an Epic45 composition. However, a contrasting acoustic guitar arrangement and distant, glissando chimes soon takes this piece down an unexpected path as Heath up’s the tempo with some folk inspired percussion.
Both “Silhouettes” and “Gwlad y Tylwyth Teg” though return to the warm ambience of earlier tracks and it obvious EL Heath has a talent for such a genre. His resurgent, powerful collection of sounds rivals the golden, nostalgic ambience that one would find on a Low Point release. It leaves me thinking, that if this release cam with a Kranky stamp of approval, people would be falling over themselves to get their hands on this. Thankfully, those good chaps at Records on Ribs are dishing it out for free. If beautiful, sentimental ambient music is your forte, get yourself over to their website (click the learn icon below) and download it