PRICE:
$15.50
LOW STOCK LEVEL
ARTIST
TITLE
Inland
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
ANTICIP 007CD ANTICIP 007CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
5/12/2009

This is the second full-length release by Canadian experimental electronic artist, Mark Templeton. The follow-up to 2007's acclaimed Standing On A Hummingbird (ANTICIP 001CD), Inland continues his humble electro-acoustic balancing act, using stringed instruments, drums, field recordings and his own voice with sensitive, effective processing, while playing with stillness and rhythm, visible, warm melodies and smeared, distorted meanderings. One hears the clear plucking of the guitar and banjo at times, and at others, a thick wall of texture. Beginning work in geographically-remote Edmonton, Alberta, Templeton continued and eventually finished the material after moving to the urban center of Montreal, which, in the usual paradox of urban centers, imposed the solitary remoteness of being away from friends and family while crowded in an isolating environment. The placement is still outdoors, but with a sense of borders rather than an endless plain. Working within these confines has yielded Templeton's most abundant work to date, a modern experimental campfire music which retains a subtle folkiness while acknowledging that this campout is only a five-minute ride from the comforts and technology of the big city and its big machines. Templeton makes extensive use of his voice as a melodic sound source, never uttering a word, but using the human sound as a layer which pulls you in and makes the most of its inherent gravity. Just as the voice sings out and is then quickly distanced and obscured, the song-like-structure of these pieces takes shape and then dissipates, leaving the shadows of guitar, banjo, voice, percussion and field recording elements. Since his solo debut, Templeton has developed a more fully-realized version of his sound, bathing it in a similar haze, but in a less handled, edited manner. By stepping back just a bit, and giving the sounds some more air, he has forged a stronger identity and found a place on a tightrope between electronic processing, folk-ambient music and an instrumental practice which doesn't sacrifice anything.