07 Nov 2005 :: MP3

Andrew Daly and Gareth Dickson have joined forces to maximise the potential of their organically based sound with a subtle range of electronic manipulation which is a style we've seen an awful lot of recently. So, one tends to wonder what it is, exactly, that sets this apart from other similar releases.

It's really rather simple when you spend any length of time listening to the work. There's a grace and beauty that touches everything they do that smacks of artists who are completely at home with the equipment they use and the way they use it.

Guitars, samplers and effects are the bones of the sounds on offer here and they combine to make reversed notes and melodies, deep textures and swathes of noise, both passive and aggressive.

From the very first note of 'Each Year Of Our Lives' you can hear the time these guys have spent constructing aching layers of melancholic sound. A gentle guitar riff opens and a tinkling melody of reverb-laced notes opens out before you. The feeling is one of coherent improvisation and there's clearly an element of this in the music. Whilst a simple bass note underpins everything, a series of lightly played musical elements plays over the top to create an atmosphere that's as gentle as it is textured. Haunting layers of effects are brushed lightly over the surface to give added depth and it's hard not to be drawn in.

The second of the untitled tracks is, initially at least, more overtly musical and has some clear folk leanings, albeit with a more spacious air. After a lovely beginning of crisp, shining guitars a more processed sound creeps into the mix with those effects once again playing their part in making this dense without being heavy. A reversed percussion sound plays throughout the latter half of the track and even though it's based on an abstract rhythm it absolutely holds everything together, keeping the guitar playing in check.

Finishing with the third track the sense of melancholy becomes even stronger. I’d compare it to the work of Greg Davis or Keiichi Sugimoto (of Minamo and Fourcolor fame) and that’s certainly never a criticism. It has several things in common with the aforementioned; a sense of delicate melody, deft use of reverb to create an almost spiritual feel, yet with an earthy undertone that’s not quite world music and not quite folk but somewhere in between. I almost felt like there was a Hi-Life influence to the guitar playing a couple of times, but that might just have been me!

Taking a simple guitar sound and keeping the interest of the listener can often be hard – The Impossible Flower do it with ease.

Reviewed by Mike Oliver

:: 1. The Impossible Flower - Untitled #1

:: 2. The Impossible Flower - Untitled #2

:: 3. The Impossible Flower - Untitled #3