Many (belated) thanks to Hypnagogue for including “Calton Hill” on last month’s episode. Catch it on the Hypnagogue site and subscribe to catch future episodes of this wonderful show.
Tag: lf17
Calton Road Cobblestones on Phantom Circuit
Doozy of a new Phantom Circuit episode out now, including “Calton Road Cobblestones” from LF17 / Edinburgh. Originally aired June 6 on Beachy Head Radio; catch the archive on Mixcloud or below, and see the track list on the Phantom Circuit website.
listencorp track-by-track review
listencorp has a really incisive track-by-track review of LF17 / Edinburgh up. Here’s what they had to say about “Calton Road Cobblestones:”
Calton Road Cobblestones ends Elizabeth Joan Kelly’s sonic exploration of a small patch of Edinburgh’s ground, taking the listener to a spare and empty space that opens up slightly through the wandering keys, frigid noise, mulling synth pads and emotive strings that close off the song. It’s an ending that lets free-wheeling melodies speak to the aura of Edinburgh, encapsulating the ominous yet rich spirit of the city.
Read the full review at listencorp.co.uk, and many thanks to Louis Pelingen for such an inspired piece.
The Wire Review
It’s such an honor to be featured in The Wire, and this month’s review from Spenser Tomson is just wonderful. An excerpt:
“Calton Hill” sounds weirdly like the more ambient sections of Queen’s soundtrack for Flash Gordon; “Princes Street Gardens” traces a stroll not through the city streets but the shallow tropical lagoons which came long before. Given a set of urban field recordings, it’s reasonable to expect the result might be far less fantastical and strange, but Kelly always finds weirdness in the everyday.
Read the whole issue (maybe with the help of your local library)? at The Wire website.
ANTIGRAVITY Review
An absolutely lovely review of LF17 / Edinburgh in one of my personal favorite New Orleans publications, ANTIGRAVITY Magazine. An excerpt:
The three electro ambient tracks, each named after a location in Edinburgh where the original field recordings were made (“Calton Hill,” “Princes Street Gardens,” “Calton Road Cobblestones”), are soothing and otherworldly, occasionally employing synthesizers to flirt with more unsettling undertones. The end result only hints at the original recordings, Kelly’s production leaving the faintest memory of the actual time and place, like stepping into a dream reality.
Many thanks to ANTIGRAVITY and Mary Beth Campbell for this. Catch the whole thing, plus reviews of Kim Gordon, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Hurray For The Riff Raff, and more on the ANTIGRAVITY website.
Princes Street Gardens on Sonic Imperfections
A big thank you to Nigel Bryant for playing “Princes Street Gardens” on Resonance FM’s Sonic Imperfections. Catch the archived show on Mixcloud or below:
Avant Music News Review
Avant Music News has graciously reviewed LF17 / Edinburgh, and per usual it’s an insightful analysis of the release:
“Calton Hill is five minutes of ethereal chording with a slow voice-like melody. The tones are light but with a hint of anxiety. Princes Street Gardens is based on looped rhythmic structures reminiscent of old-school works from Dockstader and others. Over these, Kelly places a dialog between echoing effects and horn-like themes. Calton Road Cobblestones finishes things up with sparse string-plucking and drones. The latter grow ominous as the piece ends.”
Catch it, and more of the most knowledgeable analysis in experimental music, on the Avant Music News website.
Princes Street Gardens on Four Larks And A WreN
Thank you to Four Larks And A Wren for playing “Princes Street Gardens” off LF17 / Edinburgh. Originally aired on Three D Radio in Adelaide, there’s a show playlist with links to every song’s Bandcamp link helpfully available.
Aural Aggravation on LF17 / Edinburgh
Many thanks to Aural Aggravation for the lovely review of the newest from myself and
Mortality Tables, LF17 / Edinburgh.
“In Elizabeth Joan Kelly’s hands, the sounds of a vibrant city are rendered, smoothed, with cross-hatching, delicate shading, some light smudging, a soft blending, by which everything clamorous is faded out to leave a slow hazing. There is, ultimately, no sense of Edinburgh itself here, and we find ourselves adrift, drifting on slow tides of sound with no connection to time or space.”
Catch the whole review, plus many more from the LIFEFILES series, over on Aural Aggravation.
Elizabeth Joan Kelly 