Dreone – Prelude CD

Using a number of lilting, jazz-inflected chord progressions sampled on acoustic guitar by long-term collaborate Il Bradipo as a canvas, this is the most clearly structured Goodparley record to date. Collecting more expressive improvised guitar melodies and juxtaposing them with long-form drone pieces, this record contains wistfulness, nostalgia and moments of wonder. A more colourful palette than previous records, Canvas draws on the separate whimsical styles of F.S. Blumm and the lo-fi community, with sporadic bursts of experimental delay work explored on previous Goodparley releases. The guitar pieces here present a fractured memory space, whilst the ambients slip into the realm of dreams. Sometimes the two intersect and bridge, sometimes they stand apart, together. This is, of course, only one reading of the music within. This record is a canvas, not quite blank, presented to you with space for whatever you bring to it.

Based on the story of an ancient Breton city swallowed by the sea, Alan Morse Davies’ takes us on a journey both turbulent and quiet.

1. I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. (07:20)
2. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails. (05:45)
3. When he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. (04:04)
4. The pain was so great, that it made me moan. (07:12)
5. And yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. (05:24)
6. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. (05:55)
7. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. (05:29)
8. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying. (05:08)