Nathan Fake - Drowning In A Sea Of Love

buji, Mar 15, 2006

Im trying to find some satisfactory combination of words to describe "Drowning in a Sea of Love", Nathan Fakes debut full length album released yesterday on the Border Community label, but I suspect my mission may be doomed even before I start. And its not because I dont know what to make of the music; it is because there is such a clarity to the music that I understand it in a part of myself where words are of no use, & serve only to obscure and complicate.

"Drowning..." is an album that communicates directly on an emotional level, with both the simplicity of an old, battered music box and the raw power of a full symphonic orchestra. And though it is both electronic and full of emotion, I found it to be unlike other electronic music of that sort, which are oftentimes manipulative to the point of a kind of emotional violence. Instead of trying to steer listeners to a particular destination, Fakes music simply exists unto itself. But such is the beauty of "Drowning..." that it is like a glass which is overflowing, saturating everything around it in the process.

"Drowning..." is the soundtrack to some of the happiest dreams youve ever had... It is lullabies of innocence and wonder which existed before memory...

A part of me wishes that I understood the techniques Fake is using to create this sound. There is something unusual and haunting about the kinds of chords he is using, as if they have been twisted and are just Barely in harmony (or at least this is what it feels like is going on, to my musically uneducated self). But another part of me knows that sometimes it is just best to be left ignorant, so that we can still stand in awe of the almighty and powerful Oz.

I cant remember hearing a music that was both so simple and yet so powerfully moving since Mobys early ambient tracks off of "Everything Is Wrong". "Drowning..." doesnt really sound anything like that, but thats what it reminds me of anyway, deep down in that place where words get in the way.

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