The Changelings
Amphibian
Middlesex
This is a mellow, underwater, poetic, trippy, laying around in your girlfriend’s closet, slightly spooky, sleep music. There’s probably a specific style that this music fits into, but I don’t know what it is. Ethereal? But there’s a lot more than that.
There’s a lot of cool timbres on this recording. The list of instruments includes keyboards, percussion, bass, violin, viola, guitars, voices, hammered dulcimer, toy accordion, sitar, harp, and some awesome effects. The string pizzicatos on “Frog Song” are clever, I don’t know if they are done acoustically, or via samples, but I like them. There’s some really bitchin’ violin playing on “Melusine” and I love the way the song ends. The imagery of the whole package is perfect for this music; completely unified. The music is very loopy and emotive, without droning on and on. They did a great job of not playing everything all at once.
I suppose it’s pointless and unfair to describe this music in words. I don’t know, it’s like a really authentic fairy-tale soundtrack. OK, hold on, there’s an 8-minute pirate song on here, too. What the hell? I love that piano and keys! This is fucking cool! I wish I hadn’t missed them at DragonCon, it would be fascinating to see a band play this. “Cauterwaul” is really great, with all the voices coming in and out, the cat sounds, and the piano tone clusters. You know, there is some really inspiring shit here. I’ve just been converted. OK, bye, I’ve gotta go and find out when they’re playing next. Middlesex Records, P.O. Box 8207, Atlanta, GA 30306
