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9 spontaneous compositions
forged into 40 minutes of pure feeling [2011-2016], featuring: S0N0, Aris Tegos, Alexandru Hegyesi (aka Shanyio), all n4tural, Skouras in Spetsai & George Avramidis. production & artwork by moody alien. ......................................................................................... Available on CD & MC (ltd editions of 50 each) from Thirsty Leaves Music. |
REVIEWS.
"[...] We can hear the birds chirping, the children playing, the tapping and rustling while he searches for a tune in the junk heap of sounds. Turns out there are quite a few tunes in here, or rather fragments and fractions of tunes, waiting to be stitched together. [...] The album makes one think of the beauty of discarded things, which after a bit of scraping and varnish (or trumpet) may enjoy second lives even more lovely than their first. In the right hands, anything can be an instrument, and songs can be found where none have been reported to exist. Moody Alien calls these “spontaneous compositions”, a sign of hope for the frustrated composer; dig through the junk, and you may yet find gold."
Richard Allen for A Closer Listen
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"[...] What’s so remarkable about this record is how familiar it sounds not only in terms of sound choices but general tone; you have half-remembered dreams of this place and can almost make out some of the details but yet the location continues to elude. These tracks come across to me like an old friend you’d sit across from and wile away the hours recounting youth’s folly and then the acrimonious manner in which the years have passed; how many have come and gone while the stream of time silently continues to flow above, beneath, around and through you. Like a pair of well-worn jeans which conform to every nuance or that set of weathered gloves you wear when it is time to go out back and maintain the fence, you’ll feel right at home here. [...]
If you know of anyone else who has this many disparate elements going on in their work, do let me know. It all just flows so seamlessly! These were ordered with the greatest of care. [...]
Brilliant!"
Peter Marks for Santa Sangre
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"[...] It is hard to tell what is going on here. Layers of alien sounding acoustic guitars with odd bent strings and atmospheric sounds. What this reminds me most of is the long lost cassette culture of the seventies & eighties when the underground exploded with millions of self-produced cassette tapes and labels. Dream-like piano occasional floats through. There is some strange, disorienting bowed dulcimer “Com’ on Down (to the Junkyard)”, it feels as it is orchestral in its own weird way. Moody does a great job of assembling related parts that fit together just right: disembodied spoken words, distant mutant trumpet, soft yet freaky acoustic guitars and well-selected use of space or ambience. Some rather warped acoustic guitars buzz together on “A Empty Mind, The Devil’s Home”, creating an underwater resonance. “All You Ever Do (Repeat Yourself)”, has a most mesmerizing repeating riff that gets right under your skin. At times I thought that some of this was recorded on cheap or old recorders. Yet, Mr. Alien has found a way to carefully manipulate what appears to be normal sounds and then turn them into something more interesting. A few minutes after the last regular track is a bonus track not found on the Download version of this release. There are several shifting layers of drones with acoustic guitar flourishes added here and there. It does bring things to a grand yet modest conclusion."
Bruce Lee Gallanter for Downtown Music Gallery
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"[...] 40 minutes of spontaneous, emotional compositions on the border of ambient, noise and minimalism. Alien again draws natural and artificial sounds from various sources, which he handles completely freely, and combines them with his own, live improvisations. There are also brass instruments. Among the predominant strings, there will be a dulcimer or autoharp (modified chord zither) played by Alexandru Hegyesi (aka Shanyio) from Romania. Yes, and you will also find one fatal truth, which is the alpha and omega of human history - "an empty mind, the devil's home"…"
Jan Hocek for JazzPort.cz