| Artist: Blow Up Hollywood Album: Take Flight Released: 2 August 2010 |  |
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With its ever changing cast of musicians and constantly roving musical direction, Blow Up Hollywood both impresses and confounds with a surprising range of moods and styles over the span of several recordings and live performances. On the CD Take Flight (52'07"), Blow Up Hollywood takes a break from their unconventional Art-Rock to produce an album of wordless Ambient works. While their previous instrumental release Stars End (2005) was a sprawling improvisation recorded during their live to air radio concert, Take Flight features 11 separate tracks of shorter, fully formed synthetic atmospheres. Although each piece exists only briefly, in the span of just a few moments the composer manages to create a distinctive musical moment. The overall feel of Take Flight is electronic. Its warm and consonant synth-strings, reverberant rolling waves of sound and swirling ethereal atmosphere provide a beautiful digital contemplative space. One track even includes some vintage Mellotron, rounded off and in a dreamy recurring form. The music on Take Flight is deceptively simple, accessible and at the same time elegant and smart. It seems luxurious even when it is spare - made to co-exist in peace with the life around it.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 22 September 2010 | |
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