Incentive – Presence 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.

“Once upon a time, we looked outward”…. The German Ocean formed in late 2020, a partnership between Darren j Holloway of SINNEN and Gavin Martin. It very quickly became apparent that the sounds and shapes coming out of this pairing were a significant departure from those of the SINNEN collective, harking back to Darren’s days as producer of filmic ambient mini-scores but with a fresh, harsher, darker edge. There was something timeless in the mix, something oceanic in the sound, moments and phases reminding the listener of a Great War era submarine chugging ghost-like just below periscope depth. The eight songs on this eponymous debut formed, floated, swam and dived through the cold waters of The North Lands, perhaps hinting at a reminder that things were not always so introspective as they seem now, and that maybe our better futures lie somewhere beyond renamed borders and sea masses. Welcome (back) to The German Ocean.