Even though the concept and imagery of frigid weather has been done time and time again within drone and ambient music, Kevin Spence's take on it is able to transcended the expectations I had and present a haunting, glacial suite of songs that radiate a frozen stillness.

Recorded during the winter months between 2005 and 2009, the coldness of the surroundings clearly seeped into the tapes, such as on the expansive ambience and thick, icy synth pulses that make up the title track.  During its eight minutes, the piece varies and evolves, but it definitely isn’t via quick edits or jumpy composition.

The snow metaphors are especially apt on "A Blizzard," which begins as shimmering waves of sound that slowly become heavier and more demanding, much like a snowstorm would produce.  "Cold Winds" is enshrouded by a layer of crackling snowflakes, as delicate, crystalline melodies intertwine in the distance.  Again, a sense of cold stillness, but not fully frozen, with some good melodic evolution and development forming the focus of the track.

After the aptly titled "Melt," with its echoing percussive hints and slowly running water sounds, the overarching mood and feeling of the album changes to something a little less consistent, but still fitting.  "Drifting-Decent" feels warmer, with lighter sounds and distant echoes pushing the piece in a different direction.  "Losing Sleep" also goes in its own direction, pulling in a bassier sound and field recording loops, giving a quiet, but disorienting intensity.

The two closing pieces, "Space Station J" and "Cygnus," as expected, take a more astronomical/science fiction vibe in comparison to the rest of the album.  Both have a more distant quality, feeling less organic and disconnected in comparison.  Each have an odd intrusion:  a tiny bit of guitar on the former and sampled voices on the latter.  The guitar works, but the voices were more distracting overall (and the same with their use on the title track).

Living up to the album title and imagery, this debut physical release is an expansive world of icy beauty.  While not a perfect record, as a compilation of material recorded over a five-year span, it feels rather cohesive.  The thick, chilling tones make for a great accompaniment to the winter season

Describing the CD Snowbound (53'43") with terms such as "tinkling chimes" and "silver bells" or "white noise wind" would be an injustice to this work. The artistry of Stormloop, the musical persona of ambient philosopher Kev Spence, possesses an intelligence extending beyond the cold logic of these obvious phrases. With an emphasis on mood and aesthetics Spence avoids melody and rhythm (and any sense of a narrative) for harmony and texture - in an effort to deliberately disorient the listener. He cannot describe this magical frozen region in words, so he uses music. Spare in style, Snowbound spins into one lengthy, captivating hallucination - all things arctic as envisioned by the powers of the mind. The ten vivid tracks combine acoustic approximations of melting ice, crackling campfire flames, cold blasts of air and intercepted radio transmissions with howling electronic whirlwinds, an ethereal choir and minimal synthesized utterances. Beset upon the listener in a most imaginative manner the atmosphere moves between the intensity of a charged vortex to intimate discoveries somewhere among the closing track's plucked guitar notes and poignant spoken words. Those prepared to give Snowbound a close listen will be rewarded with a moody, layered and involving work of distinctive ambient music. Throughout this release Spence as Stormloop is thinking great thoughts while cherishing small treasures - in this world of sound minute details matter. - Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END   22 December 2011

Stormloop's Snowbound* would appear to be the quintessential Glacial Movements release in a number of respects. At a surface level, track titles such as “Cold Winds” and “A Blizzard” obviously perpetuate the frozen persona associated with the label, while “A Calm Reflection” and “Space Station J” namecheck the respective introspective and sci-fi dimensions of the recording and label, too. More significantly, the music itself, in this case by Leeds, England-based Kevin Spence, is also consistent with the cold-as-ice style presented on previous Glacial Movements releases. Even that's a rather oversimplified assessment, however, as the recording also features ample servings of warmth and humanity. Though Spence has been creating electronic and ambient recordings since 1999, Snowbound* is, in fact, his first recording on a record label.

Spence recorded the material in December 2009 during a time when snow had fallen for over two weeks, and the composer found himself creating the material while watching heavy snowfall accumulate and imagining himself lost in a remote cabin and hoping to survive the winter. “Snowbound” does, in fact, make the listener feel as if he/she has taken temporary refuge within a remote research facility in the hope of surviving the deep freeze outside the building's walls. Dangerously cold though they may be, “Cold Winds” nevertheless sparkle prettily in a way that masks their potentially lethal impact were one to foolishly expose oneself to them for any length of time. Amidst crystalline tinklings, said winds emit unearthly whistling sounds throughout “A Calm Reflection,” while ethereal choirs do much the same during “Dense Fog.” In a track such as “Drifting-Decent,” a rather New Age-like ambient quality emerges that's reminiscent stylistically of someone like Steve Roach, with the soothing character of Spence's material reinforced by its synthetic smoothness. The sci-fi aspect of the recording comes forth most prominently during “Space Station J” when lines of film dialogue appear alongside Spence's long, brooding tones. It's this arresting track in particular that elevates the album above the genre norm when the voice samples, brief as they are, bring an air of wonderment to the instrumental setting. It all adds up to fifty-four minutes of ambient-synthetic scene-painting of the kind that, in this case, evokes the image of a lone researcher marooned at the coldest place on the planet and desperately hoping to survive winter's seemingly never-ending onslaught.

Rating : 7.5

Dopo una serie di nomi altisonanti, l'italiana Glacial Movements - affermatasi ormai come etichetta cardine dell'ambient glaciale - dà spazio ad un artista meno noto, ma decisamente all'altezza della situazione. Stormloop (al secolo Kevin Spence, musicista proveniente da Leeds) è un progetto attivo dal 1999 che ha sempre autoprodotto i suoi album, rendendoli disponibili in formato download (mp3 o FLAC) acquistabili dal sito personale; una scelta che non ha impedito di attirare l'attenzione degli addetti ai lavori, che finalmente ne premiano la qualità fissando la musica su CD. I dieci componimenti sono stati registrati negli inverni del 2005 e del 2009, e trovano la loro anima in drones leggerissimi, compatti e quasi offuscati, in grado di riprodurre la sensazione di un tenue vento freddo che trasporta fiocchi di neve. A tale architettura vengono sovrapposte e annesse variazioni tali da diversificare in modo importante i brani: giocano un ruolo particolare i rumori mai invasivi, tesi a fornire quelle sfumature capaci di dare emozioni diverse, magari riportando alla mente suoni naturali, ma senza disdegnare riferimenti a toni sintetici e metallici. Di certo rimangono in mente i tre pezzi d'avvio: la title-track, dove le pulsazioni elettroniche e le voci lontane sembrano distendersi su una sconfinata lastra di ghiaccio; la successiva "Cold Winds", che unisce un'atmosfera calma e sognate a degli imprevedibili passaggi glitch, e "A Blizzard", dotata di una compattezza astrale garantita da drones potenti. In più punti (la fantastica "Space Station J", ma anche tracce come "Melt" e "Drifting-Decent") interviene una semi-melodicità appena accennata e in grado di scatenare una malinconia sconcertante, che garantisce picchi emozionali non indifferenti. Non aspettatevi quindi solo il freddo da "Snowbound", ma anche una massiccia dose di umana tristezza e qualche ondata di confortevole tepore davanti ad un panorama innevato. Come sempre eccellente la confezione, sia dal punto di vista grafico (l'artwork è opera di Bjarne Riesto, artista caro alla Glacial Movements) che del packaging (solito pregevole digipak pesante). Disco ideale per accogliere con calore un freddo inverno. Michele Viali

DARKROOM MAGAZINE

La romana Glacial Movements records firma un nuovo eccellente capitolo in una saga ambient isolazionista portata avanti con dedizione pura e ricerca mirata in un sottobosco dell'elettronica di assai difficile interpretazione. Una label per appassionati veri, per ascoltatori, persone che dedicano del tempo alla musica cercando di assimilarne ogni linea, segmento o frammento che sia.
L'estetica della Glacial Movements è quella delle grandi distese artiche, magici scenari nei quali viene quasi naturale accostare candidi suoni. Un percorso che ormai vede una presenza assidua, con qualcosa come tredici album pubblicati dal lontano 2006.

Questo nuovo viaggio è affidato alle composizioni di Kevin Spence da Leeds, musicista che scopriamo attivissimo su piattaforma Bandcamp con numerosi album in free download.
Per questo suo debutto ufficiale Spence ci fa perdere in 10 meravigliose suite notturne caratterizzate da lunghissime note di piano lasciate echeggiare fino all'infinito, accarezzate con delicatezza da rugiada elettronica lasciata cadere con femminile grazia. Sin dal primo brano è intuibile questa sorta di manto magico che avvolge l'intero lavoro, che a differenza delle passate release della Glacial affronta delle tematiche più avvolgenti.

Non che questo vada minimamente a scontrarsi con le linee sonore finora vissute, semplicemente ci troviamo di fronte ad un nuovo modo di immaginare il tempo e lo spazio, sublimandolo di grazia elettronica fornita ora da intriganti stelle cadenti, ora da field recordings di torrenti, ora da inestricabili nebbie.

Le note del piano vengono lavorate al fine di trasmettere di volta in volta sensazioni differenti, da lunghi riverberi su suonate classiche a metallici "pizzichi" proprio sulle corde. L'immaginario è senza ombra di dubbio quello dei paesi costieri norvegesi in quegli incantati inverni nei quali i cieli si tingono di colori impensabili e sfumature piene di sentimento. E' proprio in un immagine così nitida che possiamo trovare l'equilibrio perfetto con la musica proposta da Stormloop.

Verso il finale due piacevolissime anomalie, la prima in occasione del brano "Loosing Sleep", una soffocata dinamica che a ben sentire potrebbe celare un'esplosione materiale che invece non arriva lasciandoci però le membra scosse da una sinusoide fortemente alterata ed accompagnata da quella che potremmo immaginare come una ritmica industriale passata al setaccio.

Poi nella seguente "Space Station" dove ad uscire dal coro è il suono di una chitarra che scivola in sottofondo in un brano stellare che si concede anche l'introduzione di una voce femminile.

Un nuovo gioiello per le vostre fredde notti invernali.

D’après notre service de climatologie musicale, tout amateur de paysagisme digital brumeux évoluera confortablement dans l’univers évocateur de Stormloop. Dans ce premier album, Kevin Spence s’est largement inspiré des fortes chutes de neige de décembre 2009 pour créer des atmosphères sonores cristallines et célestes. Synthés, guitares et voix échantillonnées se superposent ici en vue de simuler un climat polaire, parvenant même à faire crépiter dans nos enceintes quelques flocons de neige. De murmures naturalistes en échos chimériques, ces compositions aux effluves ésotériques trouvent au final l'idéal compromis entre la dimension spatiale de l'école californienne (Rich, Roach...) et la froideur environnementale de l' "ambient arctique" !

Where Erik Wøllo’s music floats, the music of Stormloop (a.k.a. Kevin Spence) alternately throbs and shimmers. But the overall mood of Snowbound is perfectly encapsulated by the album title: this is not so much music as sound sculpture, and what the sculpture looks like is an enormous and nearly featureless snow field, punctuated only by mile-deep, echoing chasms. Here questions of “beauty” and indeed even of “music” seem rather beside the point—this is programmatic music intended to evoke a physical environment of equally balanced beauty and terror. Suggested uses: Put this on when you feel the need to be reminded how grateful you are to a) live in a civilization b) with central heating and c) other human beings.

Het Italiaanse Glacial Movements heeft zich gespecialiseerd in diepvriesambient dat zich laat horen als een poolwind die over de toendra raast. De bevroren wereld is een dankbaar onderwerp voor de thematische seizoenshoek van de arctische ambient, waar een desolate en mensonvriendelijke omgeving in soundscapes en drones weerklinken. Nu de taak aan Stormloop, een zekere Kev Spence uit Leeds, om de zoveelste poolexpeditie van Glacial Movements tot een bevredigend einde te brengen. De expeditie op 'Snowbound' is echter geen bittere strijd tegen de elementen, maar een van comfort en berusting, want voordat de permafrost de huid zwart blakert, heeft Stormloop zich al lang en breed verschanst in een warme blokhut, om met een bak thee te genieten van het uitzicht op dwarrelende sneeuw en eindeloze ijsvlaktes. We luisteren dus naar een arctisch geluid van voornamelijk rust en verwondering, bij vlagen warm te noemen, als een waterig zonnetje dat de zee van ijs van kleur voorziet. Heel soms treedt de duisternis in, maar zelfs dan overheerst de melancholie in de uitgesponnen tonen, die vooral zweven zonder te schuren. Wij houden liever van het geluid van afbrokkelende gletsjers, bevroren ledematen en huilende sneeuwwolven terwijl de weg naar de beschaving is vergeten en er wordt geploeterd zonder jas en wat vodden aan de voeten. Die plaat hebben we echter nog niet gevonden, niet op Glacial Movements in elk geval.
 

"Snowbound“ von STORMLOOP ist auf Glacial Movements erschienen und mir fällt kein Label ein, dessen Veröffentlichungen bezüglich Design und Musik so homogen sind. Damit meine ich nicht vorhersehbar oder gar langweilig. Die Fotografie auf dem Cover des weiß gerahmten Digipacks ist sehr atmosphärisch, im Inneren findet man dieses Motiv variiert wieder. Wobei der Begriff „langweilig“ für diese Art der (Ambient) Musik, ein weiteres Mal inspiriert von der Weite und Erhabenheit von Schneelandschaften („recorded in the winters of 2005 and 2009″), insofern im positiven Sinne passend ist, dass die Klangflächen eine Weile brauchen, sich zu entwickeln, bevor sie dann ihren Weg in Ohr und Gemüt der geneigten Hörerschaft finden. Nach dem, besonders in Relation zu anderen Stücken dieses Genres bzw. Labels, rhythmischen Opener, vermeint man die Geräusche des Winters selbst zu hören: Vielschichtige, helle Laute ertönen, ganz und gar kein „jingle bells“, sondern ein fernes Klirren, ein leises Schaben (oder Schmelzen) und Wehen zieht durch den Hörkanal und lässt kalte Landschaften vor dem geistigen Auge entstehen. „A blizzard“ zeigt die schroffere Seite der (winterlichen) Natur und kommt mit kühlen Noise-Elementen daher, während das passend betitelte „a calm reflection“ gewissermaßen einen Gegenpol bildet – gibt es „white ambient“? Wie bereits angedeutet, ist „Snowbound“ gewissermaßen ein Konzeptalbum, welches  klangliche Weiten vorführt, die mal eher „natürlich“ klingen, wie z.B. die Schmelz- und Tropfgeräusche in „melt“, dann auch wieder mehr synthetisch-ästhetisierend (wenn das ein sinnvoller Ausdruck ist) mit Melodiebögen, die ein wenig in Richtung Neoklassik gehen, und sogar mit verträumten Sprachsamples („space station“) garniert sind. Als Referenz möchte ich REGARD EXTREME und INADE erwähnen, mehr jedoch noch auf eine deutlich ruhigere Variante der von COIL und ELPH erschaffenen Klangwelten verweisen. Natürlich ist es auch hier am besten, sich STORMLOOP selbst anzuhören, was ich wirklich empfehlen kann.

(flake777)

Before I go into the details of this review, I’d like to take a moment and talk about the label. Glacial Movements is an Italian label, specializing in “glacial and isolationist ambient”, founded and curated by Alessandro Tedeschi, also known as Netherworld. The label was launched in July of 2006, with a customary introductory compilation. The second catalog release was Netherworld’s Mørketid (2007), followed by Rapoon‘s Time Frost (2007). The minimalist aesthetic of the dark ambiance and icy drone continued with releases by Lull, Skare, Aqua Dorsa, and Francisco López.

 

I finally discovered the label with a beautiful album by bvdub, The Art Of Dying Alone (2010), and then kept my ears open for Netherworld‘s follow up, Over The Summit (2011), Loscil‘s Coast/ Range/ Arc (2011), and of course bvdub‘s return for the interpretations on Tedeschi’s above mentioned first release - I Remember (Translations Of Mørketid). It’s no wonder that the label quickly climbed to the top of my favorites, as I tracked down and purchased the back catalog. Here’s an introductory paragraph from the label’s page:

Places that man has forgotten… icy landscapes… fields of flowers covered eternally with ice… Icebergs colliding among themselves… The boreal dawn that shines upon silent white valleys in the Great Northern lands… an explorer lost among the Antarctic glaciers looking for the way home… The cold and silent night that falls upon the glacial valleys… creatures that look for shelter from the Great Northern cold… Glacial Movements is a label born to describe and spread these thoughts/images through sound.

Yes, fans of Biosphere, William Basinski, Deathprod, and the minimalism ofTaylor Deupree, Robert Henke, Richard Chartier and Yann Novak will appreciate any and all of the above mentioned albums. Not to mention the most amazing upcoming release schedule from Pjusk, Marsen Jules, Phobos, Aidan Baker & Troum, and Celer!!! Did that get you excited? OK, now back to Snowbound!

Stormloop is the brainchild of Leeds based (England) Kev Spence, who has been producing and self-releasing ambient albums since 1999. There are about a dozen albums available via his bandcamp page, if you get hungry for more. Snowbound* (written with an asterisk), is Spence’s very first release for a record label, and it is a perfect fit for Glacial Movements! Collecting the material recorded during a two-week snow fall in December of 2009, the album tells the story of solitude and detachment through slow evolving sound and straightforward titles such as “Cold Winds”, “Dense Fog”, “Melt” and “A Blizzard”.

Soft layers of synth pads and bass drift through the landscape like a heavy cloud. It is impossible to avoid references to early mist, murky fog and smoky vapor when describing a hazy atmosphere painted by Spence. But unlike the organic ambiance of guitars and strings by some of the above mentioned artists, the music of Stormloop is a little synthetic, spacey and futuristic. As ifSnowbound* is a soundtrack for an alien planet, covered in gaseous atmosphere and frozen rock. Wind picks up, but it lacks the oxygen. Instead it is thick with heavier elements that cover the caverns hungry for sun. Just writing these words with the music in the background sent chills down my spine…

Composing usually late into the night, watching the heavy snowfalls was the inspiration for these tracks, and the feeling of been lost in some remote cabin, safe but warm, with good food and drink, staring out at the depths of winter snow that covers the land… These crystalline soundscapes, take us from the cold winter nights, then out towards the bleakness of space. Snowbound* is an authentic full-immersion into the cold, and you can really feel the snowflakes on your skin.

Spence has also released a complimentary album, Snowbound** The Tracks Left In The Snow, as a ten track digital-only download via his bandcamp, recorded during the same sessions as Snowbound*. Photography by Bjarne Riesto is once again featured on this Glacial Movements release, adding to the overall aesthetic of the label that I’m falling in love with… Now I need to go and boil some water for my green tea…

Serait-ce l’approche du froid d’un hiver long à démarrer ou l’effet boule de neige des bilans ambient éparpillés comme autant de flocons sur la Toile au début du mois, la saison quoi qu’il en soit était propice à compléter le mien, parka polaire et bottes à crampons de rigueur.

2011 - Glacial Movements Records
J’en aurai mis du temps à m’intéresser plus en profondeur à Glacial Movements et à son concept d’ambient isolationniste déroulée en vastes étendues boréales. Pas faute pourtant pour le label italien d’avoir ouvert sa porte ces deux dernières années à des artistes aussi réputés que le Canadien Loscil ou le Californien Bvdub, le premier batteur à ses heures pour Destroyer et transfuge de chez Kranky le temps du majestueux Coast/ Range/ Arc au printemps dernier, le second pour deux opus successifs, The Art Of Dying Alone et I Remember qui comptent certainement parmi les sommets d’une courte mais déjà pléthorique carrière, du moins aux oreilles des admirateurs de ses rêveries célestes parfois touchées par la grâce mais bien souvent interminables, il faut bien l’avouer.

Il aura donc fallu que Kev Spence, un autre stakhanoviste mais originaire de Leeds celui-là et plus connu des drone addicts sous le nom de Stormloop, se découvre avec la structure romaine une fascination commune pour les précipitations floconneuses afin que l’envie nous prenne de creuser en douceur sous la glace à la découverte de la face cachée de ce solide iceberg, appelé à tracer sa route dans l’océan des productions ambient en 2012 avec des sorties en approche de la part de Pjusk, Marsen Jules ou encore Aidan Baker pour un nouvelle collaboration avec le duo allemand Troum après leur anxiogène Domino Visurgis de 2010.

En effet, et malgré la productivité assez colossale de l’Anglais notamment via Bandcamp où nombre de ses autoproductions depuis 2004 figurent en libre écoute, on est ici en terrain quasi vierge, ce qui vous l’aurez compris relève de l’injustice la plus totale. Car si l’on a beaucoup vanté l’an dernier dans les milieux autorisés son compatriote le vétéran Chris Watson, ex Cabaret Voltaire dont le périple en train fantôme dans les limbes du temps a sans doute perdu plus d’un auditeur en cours de route, les évocations plus abstraites de Snowbound* nous destinent un voyage tout aussi immersif et spectral dans les deux sens du terme, son exploration du prisme lumineux et de sa réverbération sur les banquises soniques de l’Antarctique nous réservant son lot de zones d’ombre et de tonalités lancinantes voire carrément hantées.

Le rapprochement avec El Tren Fantasma ne s’arrête d’ailleurs pas là, un appel radiophonique venu des tréfonds de l’inconscient ouvrant et refermant les deux oeuvres pour souligner leur caractère de parenthèses irréelles. Mais que les allergiques aux récits sonores de Watson se rassurent, ici l’imagination n’a d’autre limite que l’horizon d’une immensité glacée à perte de vue et les field recordings - qu’il s’agisse des crépitements de la fonte d’une banquise régulièrement représentée sur les pochettes du label modelées par le duo de plasticiens Keep Adding (dépêchez-vous, il reste des digipacks), de l’écoulement de l’eau dégelée ou du souffle d’un blizzard que l’on imagine tranchant comme une volée de lames de rasoir - demeurent au second plan des nappes cristallines ou brumeuses à la musicalité nettement plus évidente, parfois sous-tendues par les caresses feutrés d’une paire de balais jazz (Losing Sleep) ou par l’écho minimal de pulsations ambient-dub comme sur l’introductif Snowbound à découvrir via ce court extrait (d’autres sont disponibles ici et l’album entier sous Spotify en suivant l’affreux logo verdâtre en bas de tracklist) :

Un voyage glacé mais paradoxalement confortable dont les qualités impressionniste et hypnotique doivent beaucoup aux influences respectives - et séminales l’une comme l’autre - des Norvégiens de Biosphere et du Californien Steve Roach, et que l’on aura amplement l’occasion de prolonger sur la bien-nommée compilation de "chutes" The Tracks Left In The Snow issue des mêmes sessions (cf. ci-dessous) voire pourquoi pas sur le plus onirique Autumn II dont l’atmosphère de nostalgie en clair-obscur pourra parfois rappeler les récollections anachroniques de l’excellent Leyland Kirby.

Il freddo artico che di questi ultimi tempi ha investito l'Italia avrà senza dubbio reso felice Alessandro Tedeschi, boss dell'etichetta Glacial Movements attivo musicalmente sotto la sigla Netherworld. Lo spirito di questa validissima label italiana è proprio quello di evocare le lontane lande polari coperte da sterminate distese di ghiaccio e "musicate" dal vento libero di corrervi attraverso. La Glacial Movements propone infatti un'ambient isolazionista fortemente evocativa, in alcuni casi più spettrale, in altri più raccolta ed intimista. Nel catalogo della label ci sono nomi di un certo livello internazionale: (ossia Mike Harris di Scorn, Napalm Death, Matera), Bvdub,Rapoon, Francisco Lopez, Skare, Loscil.

Tra le sue più recenti pubblicazioni colpisce particolarmente il lavoro di Stormloop, ossia Kevin Spence da Leeds. In passato il musicista ha fatto circolare la sua creatività in maniera molto "carbonara" attraverso file mp3 sul suo sito; ora invece proprio grazie alla lungimiranza di Tedeschi l'artista inglese può pubblicare il suo primo cd ufficiale.
Come tutte le release di questa casa discografica, anche "Snowbound" ha una confezione digipack molto curata, e anch'essa rappresenta in copertina uno splendido scatto paesaggistico dell'estremo nord, un gioco di scuri e lontane luci che sono poi l'essenza del contenuto musicale. Spence ha infatti concepito idealmente il suo lavoro come una visione di queste sterminate terre, godute però dall'interno di un rifugio caldo e accogliente.

I brani che si susseguono sono quasi tutti caratterizzati da un lungo minutaggio, e sono composti da dilatati droni dentro i quali si sviluppano altri suoni molto tenui e soffusi che ne arricchiscono il corpo musicale. Le dieci tracce tengono sempre viva l'attenzione proprio perché tra le maglie di questi lunghi tappeti elettronici si carpisce un'astratta melodia. Si viene quasi spinti, come in una sorta di trance, ad esplorare ciascun elemento che compone il lavoro, ammirandone le scelte musicali trascinati da una mistica ipnosi.

Per produzioni come queste è proprio il caso di chiudere gli occhi e lasciarsi trasportare verso terre ancora incontaminate, in cui la Natura è sovrana.

 

Et file la métaphore. Snowbound ne fait absolument aucun mystère sur ses intentions. C’est un disque évocateur, un disque pour l’hiver – manteau blanc, courant d’air, musique frigorifiée. C’est aussi un tout premier album - ce qui a ici, une fois n’est pas coutume, quelque chose de bien particulier. Car le Britannique Kev Spence produit de la musique ambient et électronique depuis une dizaine d’années sans avoir jamais rien publié de ses travaux. Snowbound est sa première œuvre publiée. Malheureusement pour lui, c’est aussi dans ce passage à l’acte qu’il nous faudra aller chercher trace d’une petite révolution. Autant se rendre à l’évidence : en dépit d’une indéniable habileté à dépeindre le cirque polaire des températures ressenties, on a tout de même connu musique plus passionnante. Citons par exemple, sur cette même thématique du froid, les trois premiers albums de Thomas Köner, récemment réédités par le label Type.