THE VILLAGE ORCHESTRA: I Can Hear The Sirens Singing Again (Highpoint Lowlife)

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Posted on Jun 23rd 2009 12:18 am

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The Village Orchestra: I Can Hear The Sirens Singing Again

THE VILLAGE ORCHESTRA
I Can Hear The Sirens Singing Again
HPLL037
Highpoint Lowlife 2009
01 Track. 58mins36secs

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Scotland has long been a fertile ground for electronic music, and one of the country’s best exports is undoubtedly the Marcia Blaine School For Girls collective, whose three members, Bryan Kerr, David Donnolly and Ruaridh Law, have released music on labels such as Benbecula, Unlabel, Static Caravan or Metal-On-Metal, either collectively or individually, for over ten years. It is however on London-based Highpoint Lowlife that the trio have found their natural home, first producing the excellent Some Paths Lead Back Again project four years ago, then their album Halfway Into The Woods two years ago. It is also on Highpoint Lowlife that Ruaridh Law’s seminal solo effort Et In Arcadia Ego, as The Village Orchestra, was published, again in 2005.

While he has since released music on other imprints, Law returns to HPLL for his latest effort. Released as a digital album, with just one hundred CDR copies produced, I Can Hear The Sirens Singing Again contains just one hour-long ambient piece, which slowly progresses through various sequences, some entirely beat-less and atmospheric, others propelled by dubbey beats, with occasional recurring events, most notably a ringing phone and a spooky reversed sample of Kristin Hersh and Michael Stipe’s Your Ghost (hint).

While I Can Hear… shares with Et In Arcadia Ego a taste for lush and evocative soundscapes and a clear penchant for atmospheric settings and textures, this new work, due in part to its nature, is a much more sustained and demanding project, with the many shades of its predecessor combined into one free-flowing narrative. This piece is structured in such a way that it goes through many variations, from the environmental noises and graceful calm of the opening sequence to the rougher soundscapes materialising a bit later into the piece to the beautiful rhythmic motifs heard almost half an hour in, surprisingly evocative of Biosphere at times, and the sweeping cinematic drapes which follow, each pushing the overall piece in a new dimension, while retaining a constant textural flow all the way through. It rapidly becomes almost impossible not to loose oneself in the piece as Law offers very few other indicators on the way than that Kristin Hersh sample. The mind is therefore left to wander from one sonic setting to the next, subjected to various flux of energy and density without even consciously moving ahead, as if caught in a state of dream.

With this beautiful work, Ruaridh Law has developed the lush and rich textures of Et In Arcadia Ego into a wonderful sonic tale, with diverse elements woven together into a hypnotic soundtrack. I Can Hear The Sirrens Singing Again is a truly accomplished piece of work which confirms, if necessary, Law as one of the most interesting ambient artists to have emerged from Scotland in recent years.

4.7/5

Icon: arrow The Village Orchestra | Highpoint Lowlife
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6 Responses to “THE VILLAGE ORCHESTRA: I Can Hear The Sirens Singing Again (Highpoint Lowlife)”

  1. […] The Milk Factory: “With this beautiful work, Ruaridh Law has developed the lush and rich textures of Et In Arcadia Ego into a wonderful sonic tale, with diverse elements woven together into a hypnotic soundtrack. I Can Hear The Sirrens Singing Again is a truly accomplished piece of work which confirms, if necessary, Law as one of the most interesting ambient artists to have emerged from Scotland in recent years.” […]

  2. Siren Reception - The Village Orchestraon 25 Jun 2009 at 10:42 pm

    […] The Milk Factory: “With this beautiful work, Ruaridh Law has developed the lush and rich textures of Et In Arcadia Ego into a wonderful sonic tale, with diverse elements woven together into a hypnotic soundtrack. I Can Hear The Sirrens Singing Again is a truly accomplished piece of work which confirms, if necessary, Law as one of the most interesting ambient artists to have emerged from Scotland in recent years.” […]

  3. Chris Dookson 08 Jul 2009 at 10:13 am

    I’m on this CD! When it was performed live, I was ill and I had to send my contribution as files to be mixed in “when deemed appropriate!” and so it went, they even stuck a picture of me on the spare seat and so I had a virtual presence. On first listen, I said to Ruaridh “so you didn’t end up using the samples then?” to which he replied “listen again…, listen again” and so I did very closely, and yes! I can hear my contributions…

  4. themilkmanon 09 Jul 2009 at 1:08 am

    That’s cool! You’ve worked with him and the Marcia Blaine lads, or in the same kind of circles, before though, haven’t you? Do you know them pretty well then?

  5. […] making this a truly fascinating, if much too short, opus. Following the recent ambient release from The Village Orchestra, Alpine. provides Highpoint Lowlife with yet another fine slice of atmospheric electronic […]

  6. THE 2009 REVIEW | themilkfactoryon 19 Dec 2010 at 8:41 pm

    […] VILLAGE ORCHESTRA I Can Hear The Sirens Singing Again Highpoint […]