The Appleseed Cast
Lost Songs
Deep Elm
Lost Songs finds The Appleseed Cast in a period of transition. Comprised of tracks originally conceived of and executed prior to their sprawling double disk work Low Level Owl, Lost Songs rescues these tracks from languishing in obscurity, albeit with some recent additional vocals and mixing. As such, the tracks span the entire length of The Cast’s career and reveal the multiple approaches they take towards their music. Stylistically, some tracks evoke the sonic landscapes associated with artists as diverse as Sigur Ros and My Bloody Valentine. There is also a resemblance to fellow label-mates, Logh with their attention to space and willingness to allow the tracks some breath.
Lost Songs opens up with the somber “E To W,” a track that builds with its lightly strummed guitar before breaking into a melody. A sonic equivalent of watching daybreak in a frigid land, the track has hardly begun when what sounds like a bird chirp is heard. “Peril Parts 1, 2 and 3,” the subsequent track, is a straight-ahead rocker. The lyrics are clearly heard and aren’t drowned out by squalls of feedback. And, with what turns to be the dominant theme that holds these tracks together, the continued sense of wander and travel. A theme most clearly expressed on this track with lines such as: a house. a place to stay. it’s too much. there’s just no way and there’s no time. “Facing North,” the fourth track, is perhaps one of the strongest heavy tracks on the disc, with its crunching rhythm, broken only from time to time with moments of pause and subtle effects. Its polar opposite, the closing track, “Novice Ambient Cannibalization,” revels in Flying Saucer Attack territory. This track assumes an effortless rhythm that is only interrupted from time to time with swells and gurgles of electric guitar. If the opening track was watching dawn break then this is the conclusion of the day. A perfect headphone trip to space out to in a darkened room and watch the stars spin.
Deep Elm Records: http://www.deepelm.com
