[releases] afe063lcd
the impossible flower: roots and fruits

Track List:

1.  Bees and Honey  5:40

2.  The Jig  7:02

3.  Tritudal  4:13

4.  Recovery Position  3:11

5.  Daybroke  5:29

6.  If We Sing (.....then Let's Sing Together)  5:50

7.  Honey and Bees  8:16

Description:

Simplicity is probably the key to Andrew David Daly's longly prepared and awaited debut on Afe.

Basically recorded a few years ago, when The Impossible Flower was still a solo project (Gareth Dickson have joined forces with him in the meantime, to maximise the potential of their organically based sound), "Roots and Fruits" is simply brilliant.

Consisting of seven tracks clocking in at about forty minutes, created mostly using guitar, piano, sampler and electronics, the album opens with the lovely bowed strings of "Bees and Honey".

The track proceeds introducing reversed guitar lines, sampled finger exercises, arpeggios and chords that perfectly summarize The Impossible Flower approach to electronically influenced guitar music.

"The Jig" follows with its beautiful guitar melodies helped by background reversed lines that keep flowing in and out of the mix giving the track its own feeling along with pads and tremolo effects in the closing section.

"Tritudal" is an exercise in repetitive minimalism of what appear to be sampled and multilayered bells, mixed with other electronic sounds of a not better identified nature.

Piano is the main character in "Recovery Position", the shortest number on the album. Accompanied by deep percussions and sporadic background guitar noises, it draws a colourful springtime acquerello.

"Daybroke" begins with what seems to be reversed piano samples and proceeds re-introducing layers of treated and untreated guitars increasing the tension by the minute with the help of percussive swathes of noise and effects.

"If We Sing (.....then Let's Sing Together) is probably the most psychedelic piece on "Roots and Fruits". Its dreamlike atmosphere slowly evolves in an ostinato guitar line backed up by sparse metallic sounds and filtered/phased ambiences.

The album closes with the long "Honey and Bees" a strongly re-worked and expanded rendition of the opening "Bees and Honey", enriched with female vocals and more and more reverse tricks.

"Un pregevole lavoro di musica discreta e 'luminosa' al di fuori di ogni confine e di ogni possibile classificazione stilistica."
Sound and Silence (1) [more]

"Ad aprire, un vero capolavoro, ossia "Bees and Honey", davvero splendida tra arpeggi di chitarra acustica in primo piano e suoni di un'altra chitarra invece assai effettata sullo sfondo, tra echi e delay, che quasi potrebbe veder apparire la voce di Mark Kozelek dei Red House Painters..."
Sound and Silence (2) [more]

"Nicely played mood music for sure, that may not hold that many surprises, but it's quite alright altogether."
Vital Weekly [more]

"Honey and Bees" is my personal favourite here, adding some catchy female vocals to different layers of gentle backwards sounds. Can't really wait to see where things will go from here."
Chain D.L.K. [more]

"Roots and Fruits" si divide tra il quieto e rasserenante fluire chitarristico di "The Jig", il tintinnio rituale di "Tritudal", la meditazione condotta dal piano di "Recovery Position" il penetrante mantra di "Daybroke", lo scorrere ambientale di "If We Sing (.....Then Let's Sing Together)"
Blow Up [more]

"Il fiore impossibile che da il nome al progetto musicale di Andrew David Daly è preso da una storia immaginaria; unico vegetale sopravvissuto ad un olocausto nucleare, inizia a far germogliare semi di tutte le piante al fine di ripopolare la natura circostante. Musicalmente "Roots And Fruits" procede nello stesso modo. Nel suo DNA sonoro vi sono i codici di musiche eclettiche e diverse, che Daly riesce a condensare in maniera omogenea; i sette pezzi qui presenti sono figli di un sapiente intreccio tra elementi acustici (chitarra in primis, ma anche piano) ed elettronici... Un disco di elegante raffinatezza destinato ad un probabile ed immeritato silenzio. Facciamo in modo che non sia così."
SentireAscoltare [more]