Merchants Of Air
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Albums
    • Concerts
  • Interviews

James A. McDermid - Tonal Glints

20/2/2018

Comments

 
ambient / experimental
Krysalisound
bandcamp
Picture
In recent weeks, my daily efforts seem to nudge towards my writing career more than my work for Merchants Of Air. In a way, that is a good evolution, certainly from a professional standpoint. However, I missed writing about brilliant new albums, and especially about albums that play a certain role in my other writings. This one by James A. McDermid has been playing quite a few times in the past few days. It accompagnied me while I created a new chapter in my 'Unwasted Years' project, thus it serves as some sort of inspiration. I said it before and I'll say it again, that is what good albums do: inspire people. Therefore it's certainly good enough to be reviewed.

Of course, James A. McDermid is no stranger to Merchants Of Air. Last April I reviewed his 'Ghost Folk' album, which had been released on Polar Seas Records (read). Now, the Bristol, England resident returns with a brand new set of instrumentals. Like 'Ghost Folk', this album is dedicated to McDermid's sister Harriet, who passed away in August 2016. In these twelve tracks he tries to cope with the loss and the grief. You can also hear that. Although I tagged this as "ambient" most of the songs here are vague, subdued pieces of music, influenced by folk, ambient and post rock. You can hear sad guitars, gloomy soundscapes and a deeply introvert atmosphere. 

I found it hard to pick a favorite track on this album, but I guess that's just my massive adoration for ambient music. 'Within Reach' is a certain candidate for that spot, but so is the dark and droning 'If You Concede' and the lingering 'All The Shutters Are Closed'. In all, obviously, this is a splendid album, a very emotional too. I'm certain that all of these tracks will appear in my day-to-day playlist from now on, along with their predecessors of 'Ghost Folk'. Some of these songs will probably function as inspiration again as they are perfect mood setters. So yes, this album comes highly recommended to all ambient aficionados out there.


​Serge

Comments
    Picture
    Support Merchants Of Air, check our our shirts

    Categories

    All
    Acoustic
    Alternative
    Ambient
    Americana
    Avant Garde
    Blackgaze
    Black Metal
    Blues
    Breakcore
    Classical
    Country
    Crust
    Dark Ambient
    Dark Jazz
    Darkwave
    Death Metal
    Doom
    Downtempo
    Dreampop
    Drone
    Drum & Bass
    Dungeon Synth
    EBM
    Edm
    Electronic
    Experimental
    Folk
    Folk Metal
    Funk
    Glitch
    Gothic
    Grindcore
    Grunge
    Hardcore
    Hard Rcok
    Hard Rock
    Heavy Metal
    Hip Hop
    House
    Idm
    Indie
    Industrial
    Jazz
    Krautrock
    Lo Fi
    Lo-fi
    Martial Industrial
    Math Rock
    Metal
    Metalcore
    Musique Concrète
    Neofolk
    New Wave
    Noise
    Noise Rock
    Nu Metal
    Pop
    Post Hardcore
    Post Metal
    Post Punk
    Post Rock
    Power Electronics
    Power Metal
    Progressive
    Psychedelic
    Psytrance
    Punk
    Rock
    Shoegaze
    Sludge
    Soul
    Soundtrack
    Southern Rock
    Space Rock
    Stoner Rock
    Symphonic Metal
    Synthpop
    Techno
    Thrash Metal
    Trance
    Trip Hop
    Vaporwave

Find us on

facebook
google+
twitter
tumblr
​
minds

About Us

Contact
FAQ
Logos and banners
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.