Talvihorros

And It Was So

Denovali, 2012

Reviewer: Chris Hattingh

The new Talvihorros album “And It Was So” is a rich tapestry of layered soundscapes. Some passages are breathtakingly beautiful….any one of these tracks would be great material for a movie soundtrack. Here are some of my favorites:

“Let There Be Light” features a long fade in with guitar swells, sustained strings and an occasional crunch guitar power chord standing out in stark relief against the guitar echo loops which are very reminiscent of some of the dreamier work of guitarist Denis Taaffe. Drums kick in around the 7:00 mark with a lazy 6/8 meter. Unobtrusive strings drift gently throughout. This track has a very relaxing vibe – perfect music for unwinding. The fade out is as gentle as the fade in, and features strings, wind and rain? samples….aaaah.

“In The Midst Of The Waters” also features a long gentle fade in, complete with guitar echo loops, sound effects samples?, guitar harmonics, subtle use of tremolo and volume swells (almost an e-bow type of sound in places). Once again I am reminded of Denis Taaffe’s more mellow work. This track is almost like free jazz meets avant-garde music meets alleatoric music meets new age music. And again, the mood is very tranquil and relaxing. The fade out features more beautiful guitar echoes, and what sounds a lot like a Hammond B3 through a Leslie…but I’m sure it’s really a guitar.

“Great Sea Monsters” fades in with a distorted guitar drone, volume swells and echo loops, then lots of tasteful guitar harmonics, and what sounds to me like looped feedback and some string pedal notes. Around the 4:20 mark a natural sounding guitar theme is introduced (when I say “natural” I mean without much in the way of effects…but this evolves nicely with some creative stereo panning) followed by string swells and xylophone? at the fade out…

I would recommend this album to all lovers of new age music, all guitar tone connoisseurs and aficionados, and even classical music fans who are open-minded. In fact, anyone who would enjoy an album’s worth of beauty and tranquillity should give this one a listen.

Talvihorros are:

Ben Chatwin – Acoustic and electric guitars

Field Rotation – Violin

Petrels – Cello

Jordan Chatwin – Drums/percussion

Anais Lalange – Viola

All things Chris Hatting can be found at: www.chrishattingh.com