"The Enchanter Persuaded"
2006, Brah Records (Jagjaguwar)
The place I'm writing this post from is far, far too bright.
The Caves' music is meant to be listened in a dark place. Not pitch black, no, rather a room faintly illuminated by a computer screen or a muted TV. If I were the kind of person who spent his primary school years playing strategy computer games, I'd say this music is the best soundtrack to an epic college dorm room nostalgia-induced Age Of Empires II all nighter. Since that's not me, I'll just stick to saying that "The Enchanter Persuaded" is an album with quite ethereal qualities (...).
Assembled by Black Mountain's own bleeps'n'swooshes master Jeremy Schmidt, this CD (...please issue a vinyl version... ) is obviously separated into 2 types of songs: long, layered, lethargic Klaus Schulze style galactic vagabonding, and shorter pieces that actually have time signatures. Both will satisfy the Virgin-era Tangerine Dream/10,000 Hz Legend Air fans willing to make their ears feel lost on either an infinite foggy plain or in a dense, ancient forest in the springtime (think Lord of the Rings Ent territory). Combined, these 50 minutes of music will probably make you imagine weird things. Awesome Weird things.
Of course, this 2006 album is pure revivalism (although I've never heard someone actually make music that reminded me of Age of Empires), and references will be obvious to anyone familiar with, say, early 70's German electronics or any other obscure niche of moody synthesized music. Those people should still consider giving the Sinoia Caves a chance, because Schmidt's tribute to the aforementioned golden era masters is an interesting and summarizing one. For the same reasons, it'll serve as a perfect introduction for the ones not yet familiar with the world of rhythm-less electronic music.
In a few words, The Enchanter Persuaded is up there with Tangerine Dream's Ricochet, and even if it might not be equally good or innovative, it's honorable try: for that, Schmidt's efforts should be acknowledged.
As much as I would have liked to invent the post's title, it's actually the fifth track's name.
Yogradius' Review
Dusted Magazine's review
Allmusic Sinoia Caves page (no review)
JNCT
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