Circle Traps – Obelisk EP (Five Easy
Pieces)
Vinyl/DL
Out Now
Obelisk is one of those things that
you want to like. Five tracks combining ambience
with drone and the promise to equal the success of the debut EP, Fjord.
‘Heatwave’ opens with a backdrop of
drone and what appear to either be random chime-like sounds, or, a calculated
attempt to purposely play a tune out of synch.
The percussion also doesn’t necessarily suit, but, there’s a feeling
that after two or three listens, it will all fall into place. Unfortunately, it doesn’t, and, the theme
continues for the remaining four tracks.
There’s no doubt that Portico
Quartet’s Jack Wyllie and Duncan Bellamy, with the addition of Will Ward, are
striving to be original. There’s also no
question that there are interesting sounds and effects used here, (the
beginning to ‘Open Cube’ being case in point), but they just don’t seem to
gel.
At times, the tracks sound like
there are two or more separate melodies being played at once and can become
slightly frustrating. At little over two
minutes, ‘Pop’ could well be the EP highlight.
Simple drone with the addition of an interest semi-drumbeat makes for
easy listening with enough variance to keep it engaging. Any comparisons to Four Tet can be made here
as the track fades away from whence it came.
The title track and ‘Redshift’ close
the EP with very much of the same, staggered stalling. The later attempts to forge a distinctive
melody, but, doesn’t necessarily meet its goal.
‘Obelisk’ too promises much but falls just short of the mark.
There are ideas on Obelisk EP, but
sometimes, originality at the price of a good track isn’t always the
objective. You get the feeling that the
EP is just one or two steps from being something rather special, and, there’s
no doubt that there are great things up Circle Traps’ sleeves. Unfortunately, just not yet.
6/10
Links
Published on Louder Than War 6/09/13 - here
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