The results of collaborative works often show new musical traits of the collaborating artists, the Nest project isn’t an exception here. This project of Huw Roberts and Otto Totland (one half of the Norwegian duo Deaf Center – their new album will be released these days by the way) comes up with a selection of wonderful melancholic and eclectic pieces not even comparable to the solo works of Huw Roberts or the deadly sound of Deaf Center although the new album sometimes reminds me of some Nest tracks, to be honest. And just to say that clearly, this was meant definitely positive.
‘Retold’ is the first release physical release of the Serein label which started as a netlabel being re-founded with its new concept in 2009 by Huw Roberts. This album also is based on a former EP (self-titled ‘Nest’, released 2007) which was part of the netlabel concept. This EP contained the first six tracks of this CD. Nest did some more recordings again and added five more pieces to create this cohesive (and this is a remarkable fact mentioning a recording period of three years until the complete album has been released in 2009) ‘Retold’ album. Outstanding pieces are especially ‘Cad Goddeu (Revised)’ and ‘Far From Land’ with their choral/orchestral elements. The piano-based compositions like ‘The Twelve’ remind a bit of Claude Débussy so that this album seems to be mainly inspired by minimal classical and impressionistic composers. This could be a reason for the cover artwork as well, showing a still of the sea washing round the rough rocks in a (natural) impressionistic colouring.
This Serein ‘debut’ album was as promising as the catalogue has grown since then – the following Olan Mill is another stunner and für 2011 they started a seasonal 10″ vinyl series which also seems to be fantastic. Definitely a label and a project to keep an eye on in future.
[ 4,7 / 5 ]
Oh my,…Absolutely hands-down essential for people enjoying deep instrumental music. This is easily a 5/5 and I don’t give those away freely. It’s something about the feeling contained within certain tracks. It is one of a set of albums my girlfriend and I keep coming back to when the days are right. It has never lost its sheen in several years now. This album, minus a couple tracks, was freely available for a long while. I became acquainted with the music of Nest through the free tracks available on Last.fm. Naturally, I got extremely excited when I heard it would be released in hardcopy again. Always on my bookshelf in open view.
Float over here: http://www.serein.co.uk/
Thanks Jason for your additional thoughts and advising me of the missing link(s).
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