Bucolica

After releasing several critically acclaimed albums on highly regarded labels such as Ghost Box, Type, Further, and Tapeworm under his Pye Corner Audio alias, Martin Jenkins turns his attention to darker and experimental pastures on his debut album as the House in the Woods. Bucolica is a record that is painted by cinematic influences and features sounds emerging like fog surrounding a forest. The tracks are sequenced superbly and glide together in a majestic manner recalling the works of legendary avant-garde group Popol Vuh (the track "Untitled Blackniss" would not seem out of place on the band's soundtrack to Werner Herzog's 1972 masterpiece Aguirre: The Wrath of God). The title track is a joyous cosmic ray of proto-Krautrock consciousness that beckons you to explore further inside the record. What follows is a wonderful and dreamy excursion through outer edges of post-rave ambience. Textures gently come down and the album's surprising tenderness comes through. Naturally, as the project name suggests, songs such as "Favershell" and "Mountains of the Sea" are eerie and recall the unknown dangers of nature and the dark perils of rural exploration. Bucolica is full of little sonic surprises; Jenkins has a fabulous ability to switch sounds and moods to veer from sunrise to twilight. The air of slight menace lurks behind this record but flickers with the safety of light throughout. Our Head Technician proves himself to be one master woodsman. ~ Aneet Nijjar|