Nightports with Tom Herbert＜限定盤＞

British electro-acoustic duo Nightports (Adam Martin and Mark Slater) previously worked with artists such as pianist Matthew Bourne and drummer Betamax (the Comet Is Coming, Soccer96), crafting complex soundscapes entirely from a single instrument played by the featured artist. Their third release for The Leaf Label is a collaboration with Tom Herbert, a bassist best known for playing in genre-blurring groups like Polar Bear and the Invisible, as well as session work for Adele, Lianne La Havas, Brigitte Fontaine, and others. The album displays a wide array of textures generated from a double bass, and the tracks are sequenced in an arc that creates space by placing the more atmospheric pieces up front, then pushing the limits with the more aggressive ones. Opener "Hibernal" hinges on sparse, carefully selected notes, which become surrounded by bowed strokes electronically altered until they resemble ghosts. "Eye to Eye" is a set of shimmering vibrations set against calmer movements. "October" marks a shift downward into a darker mood, and "Inhabit" is a more ominous cloud swarming around Herberts delicate phrasing. "Arcs" has an insistent thump imitating a kick drum, and the dazzling "Lumin" embraces electronic rhythms even further, with glitchier arrangements and the unexpected presence of an Aphex Twin-like melody. "Hydrodynamica" is more prickly and agitated, pressurized into a smothering industrial crunch. "Vacancy" has some of the albums most jagged, static-encrusted sounds, yet its arranged into a graceful float, and the results are uncommonly lovely. ~ Paul Simpson