Loess - Wind And Water

Overwhelmingly impressive!

Pure melancholic and ruminative music. I've listened to this album for like 100 times, but I can't seem to get bored by it. A beautiful and dreamy trip that takes you to a glamorous and foggy place, making you want to forget about EVERYTHING and just hang loose. It's like floating in the water, free of all the tensions. A very unique and quintessential IDM goodness.


This album will always have a place in my top five albums of all time. A must have for any IDM lover.

The less active a music, the more impressive it is when it has to be described as invigorating and full of vim. Wind and Water achieves this dichotomy, and does so amidst a time inundated with experimental soundscape that fails to compel and IDM that has become all-too formulaic. Enter Loess with their own unique take on ambient and IDM genres to create a piece that is simultaneously melancholy and uplifting, active and pensive, harmonious and discordant, organic and quantized. It creates a scape not of land, but of time. This album creates not an idyllic image of a phlegmatic Sunday afternoon, but rather transforms the listener into an eternal observer watching aeons of time fly past; the listener compelled to watch the coming and going of seasons, the growth and flagging of foliation, the rise and fall of mountains. From there, it is up to the observer to determine what it all means.

The sound of Loess has progressed nicely since the release of the self titled album in 2002 and compared to the magnificent 3D concepts 12", the sound of Wind and Water is much more organic. The record seems to utilize many samples or manipulated synths to create a flowing stream like sound mixed with what really does sound like wind blowing through trees on a breezy afternoon. The reverse sample effect used throughout also adds a nice psychedelic element to the material, which makes it ideal listening for the a lazy morning after. The mood overall sits well with the Loess back catalogue; melancholic, dreamy, and thought provoking. I'm very pleased with this album and have found Loess climbing their way into my top favorites list. Essential purchase for 2006.

Always progressively growing but still keeping a common thread to trace through all their projects, Loess have proven themselves to be one of the most underrated names in the genre. After a long wait, Wind And Water is a brilliant step forward for Loess. Much more ambient than their previous works (in some ways closer to their Codec Scovill output) and very intricate, slowly-evolving drum programming that sounds, well, wet with rain and eroded by wind. Imagine the droney soundscapes of 3d Concepts Part 2 meets the slicker production stylings of their more recent 12BC single. No big surprise, another stunning album by Emerson/Pullman.