Yes, that Lloyd Cole. College pin up of the 80s, briefly pop star in the 90s, and then into country in his more mature years. Hes now grey and plays lots of golf. But he released an instrumental electronic album Plastic Wood in 2002, which Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster picked up on, and now theyve collaborated (purely by t’internet) on this album of ambient electronic sounds. Apart from Wandelbar, which is reverberating, throbbing, booming, machine-like noise, the rest of the 49 minutes is given over to more restrained electronic pieces.
Cluster and all the variants that followed them are one obvious touchstone, with a Debussy-inspired classicism the other. Virginie L could be a soundtrack to an elegant Attenborough documentary about the Antarctic while Still Life With Kannyu is minimal, featuring just piano and a sound like a malfunctioning stylophone. However, HIQS is the stand out piece for its repetitive, shape-shifting electronic tones. These are pleasant and polite ambient sounds, unremarkable if you know Roedelius, more surprising if you only know Coles earlier output, but more an interesting footnote than a bold headline.
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Publication: Sounds XP
Publication date: 20/02/13