Gilded
A Smooth Sea Never Made A Skilful Sailor EP
Hidden Shoal Recordings

The experimental, ambient duo Gilded (counting Matt Roesner and Adam Trainer) have just put out this new (freely downloadable) EP, which is cunningly entitled A Smooth Sea Never Made A Skilful Sailor, following their critically acclaimed debut album Terrane. A small sea never made a drunken sailor...?

A Smooth Sea Never Made A Skilful Sailor holds three previously unreleased tracks: "38 Degrees (Live at The Bird)", which is a guitar-based live improvisation, as well as two remixes/re-workings of "Cluttered Room" (off Terrane) done by Shoeb Ahmad of Canberra's Spartak, and the other by experimental popsters perth. "38 Degrees" is a fragile and careful, gliding piece filled with static noise and tickling sounds. It's a 6 minute+ pleasant piece of slow-pop improv. "Cluttered Room (Shoeb Ahmads's Thriftstore Mix)" and "Cluttered Room (perth Remix)" are two different 'rooms'. Different furniture, different interiors, different colors, different design and style. I think I prefer the perth pice of the two.

A Smooth Sea... is pleasant company, being both smooth and restistant music. Like Hidden Shoal describes the EP: "...ebbing electro-acoustic micro-environment set adrift in clouds of reverb..." It's chill out time. You might become a bit dizzy, but you won't be seasick.

Copyright © 2014 Håvard Oppøyen