Hammock – Longest Year

This needs a vinyl release badly!

What can be said about the beautiful music of Hammock that I haven't said before? Perhaps with the Longest Year EP, the duo, comprising of Andrew Thompson and Marc Byrd, have pushed themselves even further into the territory of evolving ambient sound. Add to that the fact that 12k's label boss, Taylor Deupree mastered the release, and you've got a five track elegant mini-album drenched in ravishing cello by Matt Slocum (of Sixpence None The Richer) and ethereal bliss of reverbed guitars. This 33-minute little gem melts away the last pieces of ice, formed around the trunks of trees and crusty edges of a withered soul. Commemorating the end of one tough year (Byrd's house was partially destroyed by the Nashville flood), and celebrating the beginning of another, Longest Year is a "soundtrack for winter, a gorgeous wall of sound imbued with the introspection, melancholy and mystery of the season." For this release on the groups own Hammock Music, percussion is completely absent, and the ambient soundscapes stretch beyond all boundaries and imaginations, creating a peaceful meditation on all that has been, and all that's to come. Along with the previously lauded album, Chasing After Shadows... Living With The Ghosts, Hammock has been quiet busy in 2010: there is the four track digital Outtakes EP for the latter mentioned album, as well as a little limited four track EP that comes with a photobook package, North West East South, and finally, a three track digital only single, Like New Year's Day a collaboration between Hammock and Matthew Ryan with individual remixes. I'm also glad to report that the duo is already working on their next Hammock album, hopefully to be released this year!