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Review: 'Pure Phase Ensemble'
'Live at SpaceFest!'   

-  Album: 'Live at SpaceFest!' -  Label: 'Nasiono Records'
-  Genre: 'Indie' -  Release Date: '8th August 2015'

Our Rating:

I have fond memories of way, way back (1990 is way back from here in 2015), in my early teens, listening to John Peel and hearing Ride’s ‘Dreams Burn Down’ for the first time. It blew me away. While the music press shrugged off so much shoegaze as wishy-washy (I recall Melody Maker publishing a particularly dismissive review of Slowdive’s ‘Slouvaki’), at its best, the shoegaze scene – particularly MBV’s seminal ‘Loveless’ album, Ride on their debut album, and not to forget some choice cuts from Chapterhouse – provided some musical moments of explosive dynamism.

Pure Phase Ensemble is an international music collective, created especially for the SpaceFest festival in Gdansk, which takes place annually in December and is organised by the Nasiono Association. This year’s edition sees Mark Gardner return to his roots to produce some of the most exhilarating music since Ride’s early peak. By turns experimental and atmospheric, there’s a real sense of movement in this performance, which features seven pieces, the majority of which are lengthy, exploratory works. The textures are rich, and while there aren’t any killer choruses to be found across the album’s 55-minute span, there’s no short of engagement.

The focus here is very much on dreamy soundscapes, as fractal guitars chime beneath laid-back vocals that drift harmoniously over the expansive tracks. Ultimately, genre is merely a construct, and what matters is the music, and this is subtly compelling.

Pure Phase Ensemble Online
  author: Christopher Nosnibor

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Pure Phase Ensemble - Live at SpaceFest!