Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Seaworthy - 1897 [12K - 2009]

1897 is the second full length album by Australian electro/ acoustic mood setters Seaworthy on the great ambient/ electronic meets acoustic label 12k. It finds the three piece weaving a darker, starker and more melancholy work than their first album for the label the excellent Map in Hand.

The bands sound is still focusing in on a mixture of: bluesy guitar hovers and twangs, folky richness and slumbering drone emission with subtle electronics elements and treatments. But overall there’s a bleaker, more sombre and drifting mood present here with at times an almost dark ambient/ organic industrial air arising, yet it never gets too dark with a richly harmonic in place and the bands distinct sound still present- it’s just darkening the sonic waters somewhat. Part of the reason for the albums tone has to do with were it was recorded; which was in and around a 100 year old decommissioned ammunitions bunker in Newington, Australia. The Bunker was Constructed in 1897(hence the albums name) to store gunpowder, with the bunker been use by the Australian navy up until recently. The band utilize the natural reverb and tones of the bunkers rooms to record guitar and electronic elements, as well as mixing in field recordings from inside the buildings, and the surrounding wetland and forest environments. But the field recording never overrun or take over the bands mainly drifting and shimmering guitar based sound; they just add rewarding and atmospric detail to the albums rich harmonic yet darkly tinged unfold.

1897 is more album based compared to Map In hand with sonic and musically themes repeating themselves here and there; along with the wonderful mood the band conjur up through-out the album which is best described as summer past melancholy meet nostalgic harmonic warmth. It’s a haunting, harmonic and sadly soothing album that really mangers to get under ones skin over replays

Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Seaworthy - 1897
1897 is the second full length album by Australian electro/ acoustic mood setters Seaworthy on the great ambient/ electronic meets acoustic label 12k. I...
061225   Split Apex - Thoughts in 3D
051225   Heretic - Breaking Point
051225   Abscess - Though The Cracks O...
051225   Koobaatoo Asparagus - Between...
041225   Whore’s Breath - Precipitat...
041225   Lord Cernunnos / doublepeace ...
041225   PINK WOOL - Nightsweater
041225   Dracula - Dracula(VOD)
041225   The Ominous Circle - Cloven ...
041225   A Hyena In The Safe - A Hyena...
Latest Articles

The Spectral Sounds of The Projec...
As music obsessives know, what makes a label fascinating is not just the sounds they release. The most intriguing labels offer a conceptual framework and con...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
090525   Ennaytch - Of walls, abused ...
150425   Dead, Dead Swans interview - ...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom