Highly Recommended

Simon Scott - Navigare

(2009 / Miasmah)
ambient / drone / modern classical

Simon Scott is something of a hero in underground music circles, having made his name as part of Slowdive - one of shoegaze's genre-defining acts - only to remain an intensely active presence on the scene through his collaborations with Rafael Anton Irisarri (as part of The Sight Below's live band) and Isan's Antony Ryan (recording together as Seavault). In addition to these projects, Scott curates the label Kesh, releasing works from the likes of Sebastian Roux, Hannu, Mark Templeton and Aus. Throughout all these various elements of Scott's work you can trace a common thread running throughout; there's a fixation on the more sculpted, textural aspects of sound. 'Navigare' fully embraces the idea of sound-sculpting whilst retaining the more suggestively song-driven impetus of Scott's past, and the resultant album marks a new evolutionary step for Erik Skodvin's Miasmah imprint. (boomkat.com)

My Rating: 4/5