13 October 2011
Vanguard Music

Eclectic yet unified, the Cinematic Orchestra's guitarist's third album is very much of it's time. There's a vogue for instrumental albums and quieter collections dropping through the door at Vanguard Towers. It's like the musical equivalent of "staying in is the new going out". "Meditative thoughtful music is the new rock and roll". There are all sorts of styles here but they are all full of thought. Take the first track for example, an extended guitar solo (ala Kaki King) atop echoing and slightly fuzzy colours. Not rock and roll but it grabs you. Later you'll find jazz and electronic sounds, smoothed into a consistent and hypnotic shape. Pinning it together is a love of steel stringed guitar (of course...). Sometimes it is a loud electric-edged tone, occasionally a bubbling Grant Green tone on jazzier numbers but Stuart seems adept at switching between the two.

Stuart is a dab hand (and foot) with the effects pedals, creating loops and electronic effects that make for a wide-screen album. Rather like his day-job, these sound like they should be accompanying a film. Or you could stick some headphones on and gaze out of the window. Keys, harp effects, DJ sounds - it's all here. There's no 3 minute singles here - most hover around the five minute mark and some run it up to eight, maximising the effect time. "Inflight" steps up a beat, with some racing drums but the glassy effect of the guitar still gives a languid shoegaze effect to the whole. I found myself playing this often while I was doing computer work, letting it carry me along while the guitar occasionally needled my brain and distracted me. Title track, Distilled, uses a jittery dance effect and jazzy drums under the string effects to jolt you gently back towards the real world.

As with all Naim releases, the sound quality is excellent - as natural as an electronic effects set is likely to get.

View FULL review HERE