Remember Remember – Forgetting The Present
The distinction between prog and parts of contemporary psyche isn’t always clear, but some of Forgetting The Present’s richly arranged electro-symphonic instrumentals are definitely candidate for the former. What the album lacks in track quantity it compensates for in length too. Eight tracks in 55 minutes, including two 9+ minuters, multi-instrumentalist Graeme Ronald has, with Forgetting The Present, another LP on his hands that is never less than tasteful (long gone are the wind-up toys of the debut), but one that equally can be a little dull from time to time.
The six-piece are undoubtedly at their best for “The Old Ways”. A piano lover’s delight, it combines with measured percussion and delicate glockenspiel patterns for a gorgeous and transportative bout of atmospherica. On the more representative and patient opener, however, twinkling arpeggios repeat ad infinitum, smoky sax elevating its immediate follow-on “La Mayo” and adding weight too to “Pterodactyl”, skittering incidental music for some retro-futurist rom-com as scored by James Ferraro.
Ronald remains nevertheless on Mogwai’s Rock Action label and, as with his previous two LPs, it ultimately shows. “Why You Got A Blue Face”, for example, swells with kraut-like post-rock at its suffocating middle and “Magnets” ramps up its second half in telling micro detail after opening with a mysterious Eastern synth line and haunting glockenspiel refrain. For all its avenues and possibilities though you get the feeling Forgetting The Present is music for musicians, its textures ripe for sonic geek outs, but a little standoffish for the rest of us.
Best track: “The Old Ways”
~Forgetting The Present is released 30th June 2014 on Rock Action Records.~