Irish producer/composer/performer Jimmy Behan offers us 45 minutes of physical pleasure. This is our reward for buying "Days are What We Live In". It’s a 45 minutes that we can repeat as long as there's a battery in the CD player and follicles left in our ears.
W&H reviewed a little of Behan's work as part of an Elusive Recordings sampler "EKLECTRA" in the Spring of this year. On this release, his full debut, it's very clear that he has more than a couple of sampler ideas bubbling. Few aspire to full exploitation of electronica's troublesomely infinite sonic palette, but Behan has a go and the result is very handsome. He does tunes, he does textures, he does voices, beats and blips and there are songs too.
He also does sumptuously inventive things on the borders between natural and created sound. Surface calm and emotional serenity are pieced together from glistening fragments of glass, metal, water, acid, sky, plastic, insect life and fire. Aural pointillism I suppose. The whole work, heard unfocussed, is a dreamy chilled-out morning of grace and comfort. Loads of people would want to buy that. It makes you feel very good about the world. But if you want to get up close and spend time with the tiny dots, things just get more and more interesting. There's a lot to hear.
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It starts on the side of the angels with "Granby Row". Round about bar 16 a subtle, shifting guitar figure sets off the first of the goose-bump thrills that recur throughout this delightful album. Some voice, a drum loop, all manner of samples and synthesised sound weave textures and patterns that used to be called "exquisite orchestration". It’s pretty fine stuff, and this opening track will persuade lots on non-electronica people to stick with it a lot longer.
"Mayfly" brings in more of the unexpectedness of digital sound, but there's a real drum pattern there, and a guitar and tune that help the novice stay in touch – and a gorgeous violin comes in half way through to steal your heart away.
"Deeper than Heaven", with vocals by Nina Hynes is a good old fashioned song. Closing track "Under the Woods" could be ballet music, with insect noise and beautiful gliding things. In between there are treats in every track. Can’t go wrong really
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