Green – The Conservatory Experiment

Ambient electronic dub collective The Conservatory Experiment return with new album Green.

…it’s gone forever is a great sample fest of a start. Opening with “as is often the case, it began with an observation that made no sense to anyone” this blends creaking electronics with reverbed guitar in their classic Orb / Pink Floyd style. In the early morning light of the kitchen this works ever so well. That dubbed style is further extrapolated on Take Your Chances but with added vocal and reggae influences.

Dead as ‘a can be by his feet de ya ken is less successful. Experimental noise matched against some Scots which I simply found tiring. Unseen Forcumstances offers an odd list of dates and names and more Floyd guitar shards. Theme music for a BBC2 crime series set in windswept Uist with a lot of beards, probably.

Dark Engine ramps up the electronics as it enters dark dance territory. Betta stays electronic with a spoken verse vocal. All doom and gloom. The Ballad of Brother Amen and Unnamed Symphony mark a welcome return to dubbed pastures. The latter’s ambience is the sound of soft sunlight.

Balancing Mushrooms isn’t the hippy nonsense you might imagine, it’s Knopfler electronica. Has an easy swing. FOUR returns to proper electronics. An almost dubstep vibe infuses the track, with IDM skippy beats. Love this one. F.S.O.B. brings the guitars back. The album ends on a high note with Beached (we could be happy). The electronics have a slight ebb and flow, like waves on a shore. IDM Balearic?

And so the album blissed out to fade. Worth £6.99 of your money for the start and end tracks alone.

~ by acidted on March 13, 2016.