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A Still From The Film

by Karina ESP

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REVIEWS
'A Still From The Film'... stretches itself deep into the horizon, drawing out extended drones in a tonal after-burn of sonic embers and trailing sounds. The LP’s first track sprawls across the entire A-side, wading in a distant and forlorn murk of paced subtlety. For 24 captivating minutes, the sidelong track almost culls you in with seductive patience and warm resolve. All you can do is wallow in its beauty. The B-side is broken out into three “briefer” tracks, incorporating a variety of sounds while retaining Gowers’ brooding demeanor. “Close your eyes” and “Distant light (2)” revel in a dusty, noirish lethargy originally perfected by Labradford, Windsor for the Derby and other “post rock” progenitors, while “Low red room (2)” focuses on a the decayed playback of errant radio broadcasts played in left-behind locales.
- Secret Decoder

With the A-side featuring “Low Red Room” one long droning track Karina ESP have plenty of time to explore their subtle soundscapes, crackles and pops entwined with slowly floating guitar drones that drift into the ether creating a dream-like state that corrodes time, the track hovering in the air like a great mystical bird. On the other side are three more conventional pieces, delicate guitar melded into treated vocals, the dream state still invoked, reminding me of Galaxie 500 in slow motion. Adding some percussion final track “Distant Light” is a thing of beauty, the spoken vocals barely audible pulling you into the song's melancholy atmosphere.
- Ptolemaic Terrascope

Side A consists of one long piece (‘Low Red Room’) that develops subtly, starting of with a warm static crackle out of which sombre chords fade before a gracefully plucked nylon stringed guitar marks a segue into a more sustained drone of ethereal modulating tones. Gowers’ mellow, clean and sustaining tone and the slow drift of the music here brings to mind players like Oren Ambarchi or early Taku Sugimoto. Side B starts with a stripped down song for nylon guitar and Gowers’ hushed, distant vocals. Then we have a reprise of ‘Low Red Room’ where the intensity of the drones and static is gradually built up and dissipates before it gets too uncomfortable. We’re back to the nylon guitar for the final track ‘Distant Light’, this time joined by bass guitar, drums and Gowers’ distant, depressed monologue. There’s a real grace to the restrained playing here that reminds me of another antipodean experimentalist, Dean Roberts. As the cyclical chord progression subtly amasses layers of ringing drones, every small nuance of Gowers’ manipulation of his sustaining guitar becomes prominent in how it affects the delicate balance of the piece.
- Norman Records

This limited-to-150-copies vinyl LP starts off with a side-long track called "Low Red Room (1)" that uncoils slowly from near silence into a calming ambience of gently picked guitar and faraway drone. Side two features a slight reprise entitled, appropriately enough, "Low Red Room (2)", as well as couple of more conventional songs; "Close Your Eyes" is a lo-fi lullaby that's sung and strummed soft and close, that seems constantly on the verge of disappearing into the ether, while "Distant Light (2)" (I don't know what happened to part one...) sounds akin to the mumbled contemplations of a certain Tindersticks song, with its mostly indecipherable, softly spoken vocals and eerily lovely musical backdrop that includes cymbal and singing bowl. Very nice indeed.
- Hiroshima Yeah!

Ideal continuation of the previous work done by Chris Gowers on the Belgian label Morc, "Detachment" (2012), the snapshot expanded in album format contained in the four tracks of "A Still From The Film" sees the British sound-artist expand the boundaries of his Karina ESP project beyond the confines of ambient-drone experimentation alone.
If already in the case of the previous drive in the growing drastic tide of Gowers had appeared acoustic inserts to give fragments of vibrant heat to the imperturbable melancholy of its dense environmental landscapes, "A Still From The Film" substantially reverses the compositional process of English guitarist, showing him engaged in the construction of fragile rarefied harmonies, as well as in the unpublished vocal garments.
Almost two-thirds of the duration of the work are occupied by the twenty-four minutes of "Low Red Room (1)", narcoleptic symphony of soft and suspended reverberations, which gradually acquire a harmonious consistency from the initial abstract modulations, still defined by the elongation of hypnotic loops but sweetly marked by timbres of caressing nostalgia. The second part "Low Red Room (1)" adds to this sleepy symphony an appendix of a further five minutes, which follows in synthesis an analogous plot, with more marked guitar languishes and side by side, in the final part, from a gritty subtly distorted current .
The most salient novelties come from the two remaining songs, starting with the surprise of listening to Gowers singing under his breath on the arpeggios of "Close Your Eyes", according to a register not so distant from that of Fraser McGowan, who contributed to the recording of the work. The expressive affinity and sensitivity between the two artists can be seen in the other passage in which the vocal element "Distant Light (2)" appears, even though in the form of a subdued spoken word, next to bare acoustic timbres from the melodies resonant which, in deference to the title of the work, seem the perfect viatic to crystallize images and memories.
In addition to being an enjoyable work with expressive emotional content, "A Still From The Film" marks an important turning point in the artistic activity of Chris Gowers, here at the most accessible, articulate and engaging point of his production.
- Music Won't Save You (translated from Italian)

An edition of 150 pieces, only available on vinyl. Labels that give this kind of musical projects a chance deserve a statue anyway. In this case, the Belgian Morc Tapes. This is the release of A Still From The Film by Karina ESP. Behind it is the Englishman Chris Gowers who puts down a sound like a piece of art that you have to fine-tune yourself. You get drones and ambient, but guitar work and vocals are not lacking either. In only four songs, where the opener alone takes more than 24 minutes, he tells his story. No easy costs, so you really have to sit down for a while. Preferably in a room where nobody disturbs you. I would not take the headphones until later, because now and then it cracks pretty. It makes even the seasoned ambient fan feel uncomfortable. It has been a while since I was in the Stedelijk Museum, but this album would not be out of place. Maybe with a beautiful video. To look at it from another angle. Where the last ambient-like Pink Floyd album gets a lot of attention, this heavier but purer brother certainly deserves half the attention and the empty sales of all copies.
- fileunder.nl (translated from Dutch)

MORC is a Flemish label, set up by Dutchman Wim Lecluyse. It contains surreal music, ranging from more or less accessible. Influences are numerous: folk, new acoustic, psychedelic pop, film music, drone music, electronic experimental to avant garde and everything in between. So you can go many ways with the label and that is very attractive. Especially because the characteristic of the productions is: low fi, high quality. No slick press campaigns, no flashy clips, not even a promotional tour. What the musician (s) put on disc is pure emotion, art and expression. Wary of fashion fills, sales figures, trends and fads. So honest music. You have to lie down, because sometimes she is a-melodious, then enchanting, enchantingly simple (not simplistic) or just meditative. The latter applies to the first track of A still from the film by Karina ESP. Guitarist Chris Gowers lets you float through space for twenty-four minutes with minimalistic, shifting sound images. Only halfway through the song are the first sparse melodic sounds from the electric guitar of Gowers. The slowness of the track drags you to a subconscious level. The second side of the vinyl disc has a more song character with simple songs sung with a whispering voice. Yet again this desolate atmosphere, which characterizes the music of Karina ESP and makes it intriguing.
- New Folk Sounds (translated from Dutch)

credits

released July 23, 2014

Composed and performed by Chris Gowers between 3rd and 7th May 2013, at Acoustic Autumn Studios in Paisley, Scotland.
Guitars, bass, cymbal, singing bowl, radio, voice and effects pedals by Chris Gowers.
Analogue synthesizer and digital effects by Fraser McGowan.
Recorded, produced and mastered by Fraser McGowan.
Photographs by Chris Gowers, design by Wim Lecluyse.
Screen-printing by Smeraldina-Rima.
Special thanks as ever to Wim Lecluyse, and to Fraser McGowan for assistance, guidance and support.
morc69
www.morctapes.com

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Karina ESP London, UK

Karina ESP as a recording project has been in existence since 1998, sporadically appearing via underground tape labels, self- released CDRs, limited CDs and lathe-cuts, in between long periods of silence.

Output consists of lo-fi improvised minimal drone-works, tonal experiments and ambient recordings using guitar and a variety of effects.
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