Sleeping Me
Lamenter
Phantom Channel

Lamenter is Sleeping Me's (a.k.a Clayton McEvoy) 2nd album (well, it's a mini, or, rather EP), only a short time after his debut, Cradlesongs (Hidden Shoal). Here's more of the eerie 'shoegaze ambience'.

When checking out Cradlesongs' Legs Like Gravestone, I found it fascinating, yet a bit unsatisfying. I was fascinated because of its spellbinding, psychological effect. Even though it's almost too slow floating to sit through. Lamenter is more of the same. Minimalist style patterns, melancholy swirls. Somewhat dizzying moods, of a dark and misty nature. It's quite amazing what magic layers of sounds McEvoy gets out of his guitar. "Redemeer" starts very carefully, building very, very slowly. This is stretch-out, lay-down, lights-out music. A late, late night, post-midnight soundtrack. "Bleeding Riverbed" is a guitar picking, almost conventional song. Quite beautiful, an almost up-lifting song. "The Magnanimous Security Guard" is indeed monumental, but I find it a bit too long. The closing track, "Kinski for Halloween" (Klaus Kinski and Halloween -- oh, what horror-show!), is my favourite song. It's a partly spoken word piece with a spooky feel to its sound. This track is a bit more 'alive' than the others, and could've been a quiet song by Mogwai. Or, maybe Mogwai doing a cover by Godspeed You Black Emperor.

Well, Lamenter is quite fascinating. Its waves of sound, its weave of dark moods. Let Sleeping Me's haunting soundscapes hit you and you want be sleeping.

Copyright © 2009 Håvard Oppøyen