Various Artists — Silva

Silva is the first proper release from Norwegian label Miasmah, and it’s a wonderfully treat for the ears. The compilation has a richly dark air throughout, all of the artists to some extent or another mix organic instruments with electronics. Surprisingly enough for compilation there’s not one duff track here and it seems to flow as a whole, making a wonderfully lush atmospheric journey, from begining to end.

Yasume’s Wakeare invites us into a tranquil slow moving world of string patterns and cold electronics, producing some deeply sad and haunting melodies, to drift away with. It makes a breathing taking mix of classical tones and electronics. Library Tape's The Scratches On The Window In The Doors Of Each Cell, mixes wonderful funeral procession piano, with clear cold atmospheric guitar work, in the background electric guitar feedback is slowly building up, like watching a summers day sky filled with dark rain heavy clouds, as a procession carrys a coffin, weaves it’s way into a forest to a burial ground among the carpet of brown to yellow leafs. Greg Haine’s The Tired Dairy (edit) hovers in layers of string drones, almost giving the feeling of floating through cannons of stars, catching glimpse of barren planets, hazed by strange light, giving a feeling of more melodic early Tangerine Dream.

All in all one of the more enjoyable label compilations, I’ve come across. Of interest to fans of cinematic electronica and fans of more mellow postrock.