Rameses III
I Could Not Love You More
Type
Rating: 4
29 September 2009
Ambient music is usually associated with cool, cerebral sounds, distinct notes that focus the mind and allow it to wander. Rarely does ambient music sound warm or summery. Rameses III, from Croydon, south London, achieve just that with their new album, I Could Not Love You More.
The music is soft as it drifts and wanders. Notes are rounded and in the background, gentle vocals add a human touch without saying anything. Found sounds find their way into the scapes. Cloud Kings introduces rain. No Water, No Moon ends in birdsong.
There’s early Cocteau Twins in the shimmering guitars, particularly reminiscent of Victorialand (1986), which makes it the kind of ambient that came out of punk, leaning towards goth. Underneath is medieval drone, lending a timeless feel. Echoes remove the music from this plane to another. You don’t want to leave.
The tempo may be downbeat but it’s peaceful rather than melancholic, although there are moments of bittersweet beauty. The music ebbs and flows like slow ripples with some sort of rhythm, the patterns of which shift with each mood. The final track, All Shall Be Well, seems to be stuck in a moment that doesn’t introduce anything new until halfway through its 11 minutes, as if you were watching a sunrise.
Acoustic guitars, electric pianos, Mellotrons and field recordings blur into each other as each track melds and melts into the next. At nearly an hour long, you don’t notice the time pass.
If you are in London, you can see Rameses III perform a one-off set for free at the Union Chapel, Islington on 28 Nov 2009 at 12 noon.
http://www.unionchapel.org.uk/events.php/224/daylight_music_p_joslashrgensen_rameses_iii_seasons_p
For JunkMedia.org
