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The internal temperature of Simon Lomax may measure a few degrees lower than that of the average person. Plotted, realized and delivered over the course of two late-night on-air sessions for STAR'S END his An Ember Glows/We Echo Endlessly is a real chiller for the mechanics of the mind. Halfway to a dream, these cool transmissions wandered the radio frequencies until reaching interested ears. Playing only to the night this double CD documents an exploration of textures, moods and memories. Sent touring through the airwaves the music is invariably subtle. Its sense of restless and ever-changing moods (rather than a single line of progression) projects isolated states. The two common features of both sets on An Ember Glows/We Echo Endlessly are openness and clarity. As there are no conventional narrative patterns or cues it may be hard for the listener to establish a direction. But this is exactly what Lomax is striving for - there-ness that then becomes here-ness, as a scenic background might emerge to the foreground of center-stage. Utilizing the Ambient Music aesthetic, these two concert broadcasts contrast one another in subtle ways. An Ember Glows (60'00") from 11.22.15 was built around us in muted opulence, never overwhelming the essential fragility of the atmosphere. In a slow-motion shimmer of synthetic sounds Lomax elicited eerily beautiful sonorities from his electric guitar and software. On We Echo Endlessly (59'58") 11.03.19 he produces recurring phrases like drowsy thought loops. Engaging a nocturnal tone, projecting sophistication, this effort offers a sound space full of ambiguities. Suggesting and sustaining a few sonic shades it stays inside the moment, leaving us in our own solitude. In radioing his efforts to listeners Lomax may be searching for an alternative form of consciousness, one closer to the sleep state than to full-on wakefulness. If you need your "now" to be something else, then spin one (or both) of these works. The expanse of this music will go as deep as the listener it is being poured into.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 28 September 2020 |
