In early fall of 2013 I was living in Shanghai. For those of you who have never been there, it's a busy city with little offerings of tranquility and peace. The music is flashy and the culture is an attempt to knock of mainstream American cultural influences, so teen pop pervades the land.
I was sick one weekend and all I wanted was some soothing sounds. Stumbling my way around Bandcamp, I came across this album called Carry Us All Away by Lowercase Noises. I was a bit late to the party as Carry Us All Away was released in December of 2010, but I'm glad I found my way to the party eventually.
My appreciation for ambient post rock increased dramatically after finding this album.
I was sick one weekend and all I wanted was some soothing sounds. Stumbling my way around Bandcamp, I came across this album called Carry Us All Away by Lowercase Noises. I was a bit late to the party as Carry Us All Away was released in December of 2010, but I'm glad I found my way to the party eventually.
My appreciation for ambient post rock increased dramatically after finding this album.
The next album I listened to from Lowercase Noises was Passage. Carry Us All Away is beautiful and climactic, but Passage has it's own unique character and quality to it. When I think of banjos, I usually think of them being the main overpowering sound in the music. Yet, here he is using a banjo as more of a nuance in the background of the song.
The picking is slow and deliberate. Banjo picking can be fun and all over the place, but this is almost calculated. I felt like the picking was a warning of things to come, it felt almost ominous.
This might be their most unique album. While amazing and beautiful, what sticks out the most to me is the character. It feels like an entity in of itself.
The picking is slow and deliberate. Banjo picking can be fun and all over the place, but this is almost calculated. I felt like the picking was a warning of things to come, it felt almost ominous.
This might be their most unique album. While amazing and beautiful, what sticks out the most to me is the character. It feels like an entity in of itself.
Now this is where things get interesting. I move onto the album Blake.
The beginning of "Will You Catch Me If I Blow Away? Part 2" did something to my head when I first heard it. It really go in there deep and worked its way in my mind pretty deep and it kind of took over my mood for a while. I felt nostalgic and melancholy.
And for days I couldn't get the sound or feeling out of my head.
And for nights I needed it to sleep.
And it helped. It helped the whole situation there in Shanghai.
The beginning of "Will You Catch Me If I Blow Away? Part 2" did something to my head when I first heard it. It really go in there deep and worked its way in my mind pretty deep and it kind of took over my mood for a while. I felt nostalgic and melancholy.
And for days I couldn't get the sound or feeling out of my head.
And for nights I needed it to sleep.
And it helped. It helped the whole situation there in Shanghai.
So, Blake was released in March of 2013 for his son. But since I went through his albums in an all over the map frenzy, the next one I got to was Vivian which was released for his daughter in September of 2011.
It has a more child like and carefree feel to it. Almost innocent and curious.
Kind of what you would want your child's world to sound like if you had the chance to create a world of sound for your child the way he has created albums for all three of his children.
It has a more child like and carefree feel to it. Almost innocent and curious.
Kind of what you would want your child's world to sound like if you had the chance to create a world of sound for your child the way he has created albums for all three of his children.
Again,I was all over the map with the albums from Lowercase Noises and I went backwards through time in some cases as far as chronological order goes.
In May of 2010 Lowercase Noises released Marshall for his son.
It sounds a lot like Blake, or I suppose since Marshall came first, Blake sounds a lot like Marshall, but the one thing that sticks out to me is the wave effect in the background.
There are waves behind the music. They take you away if you listen close enough
In May of 2010 Lowercase Noises released Marshall for his son.
It sounds a lot like Blake, or I suppose since Marshall came first, Blake sounds a lot like Marshall, but the one thing that sticks out to me is the wave effect in the background.
There are waves behind the music. They take you away if you listen close enough
Andy Othling of Lowercase Noises says on all of his pages that he is a "guitarist interested in playing the guitar as slow as possible." I would say he achieves that goal in these albums. Each note lingers out throughout each song, and they stretch as far as possible into the depths of the mind.
Andy Othling is from New Mexico and recently announced a new album to be released soon called "This is for our Sins."
Andy Othling is from New Mexico and recently announced a new album to be released soon called "This is for our Sins."