The British Space Group
Eyes Turned
Skyward
UK Quiet
World Quiet World 51 CD-R
(2015)
By the looks of the strong design of its sleeve, this
disc could be an examination of all those sci-fi, weird (or wyrd) 1970s schools
programmes on tv, or their soundtracks, and indeed the first track Remote Viewing is built around a
recording of a man talking about déja
vous in the kind of officious home-counties accent that tallies with my own
recollection of Schools & Colleges programming of that time. Those expecting a Ghost Box–style, hauntological,
period pop will be disappointed though; the music on Eyes Turned Skyward is actually contemporary-sounding drone
ambient. As always, the production is
clear and glassy, like peering at the reflection of misty landscapes through
the panes of an open window at dawn.
Despite the album being credited to The British Space
Group, (although no personnel is listed on the sleeve), I suspect this may be
the work of the Quiet World label head Ian Holloway alone. If so, I admire his attempt to develop his
own approach to ambient soundscape with today’s recording equipment, while
somehow still simultaneously referencing the experimental sonics of past
decades.
Haze Of Summer
uses organ tones to steadily build up overflowing feelings of goodwill, while Slow Light, composed as it is of
electronic chittering, lightly wah’ed bass and swirling keyboard effects steps
up the feeling of being stranded on a star freighter light years from home.
Fourth track The
Dust Between The Stars is particularly transporting, and strangely
comforting, based around a circling figure played on an analogue electronic
bass keyboard of unknown vintage.
The Work Of Fire
features a distant mildly ring-modulated electric guitar sound somehow
referencing spaghetti westerns and space movie soundtracks. Breath
During Sleep is possibly the most kosmische-inspired
piece on the album, reminding me of Amon Duul II’s quieter moments.
The final track; the magisterial The Last Of Time, is a beautiful piece of quiet ambience, where
nothing seems to happen much, but in a very good way.
On the cover, a rocket orbits a concentric-circle planet
while a lone spaceman is sucked into a graphic representation of a black
hole. The spaceman device is nicely
carried over from the vortex on the back cover into the blackness of the inside
of the booklet. This title is limited to
50 physical units but is also available from the Quiet World bandcamp site.
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