Phillip Western - "Worlds End" 2xCD
Following up his superb 2001
release with Tim Hill, 'Dark Features', Vancouver-based producer
Western here drops a double-CD set of his hybrid electronic/ambient
rock grooves. Disc A is full of exotic sounds and deep rhythms, all
set to a playful near-club backbeat--quite beautiful work that
simultaneously energizes and relaxes. Dub strains are present
thoughout a number of the 14-songs on disc A, and this music is
ideally suited for chilled-out evenings or hazy latenights. Disc B
is basically one extended ambient piece that floats and glides in a
sea of amniotic guitars, understated vocals, and textural synth washes.
Western's fusion of clubby techno and swirly guitar psychedelia is melodic
and unique, and 'Worlds End' tastefully manoeuvers between melodic
headphone-blissouts and groovy rump-shakin' beats. Western and cohorts
have created a gem of an album, laced with exploratory directions yet
fully accessable to listeners who appreciate a good sonic voyage.
Recommended work here. (The Record Company)
Todd Zachritz
Godsend Online
Western has made an auspicious, ambitious (and lengthy) return to
electronic music. Calling this electronic is misleading as Western
employs drums, guitar, and bass as well as the expected synths and
programs. Disc one consists of short pieces and jumps around
stylistically though Western never loses his focus. Disc Two might be
Western's Tubular Bells as its many parts flow together forming an
ambient whole. He avoids production trendisness and cliches, leaving you
with the impression of an individual interpretation of ambient/electronica.
Tom Harrison
Vancouver Province
Phillip Western is probably best known for his work since 1995 with cEvin Key
in Download and platEAU but he has also simultaneously nurtured a burgeoning
solo career.Ê "Worlds End" follows in the footsteps of 1998's "The Escapist"
and 2000's "Dark Features" with two more discs.Ê There's an ethereal quality to
nearly all of Western's work whether electronic, non or bothÊ- he seems to be
playing guitar, bass and drums as much as programming these days - and the vibe
is as much Spiritualized as it is Download.Ê This time he foregoes his own
vocals, which mucked up "Dark Features" a bit, in favor of just samples or
vocals by a few others.Ê Disc one pumps out the familiar blurry-eyed, body
movin' techno of past projects though suitable guitar licks and chordal
textures pepper or drive many tracks.Ê Things get positively hectic in "The
Gangs" and "Tuesday Died Jack", the latter's schizophrenic rhythm backdrop for
an equally manic monologue that sounds a heck of a lot like Spud from
"Trainspotting".Ê The second half of disc one is loaded with the best tracks.Ê
"White People" goes in the opposite direction, slowing things down to a lovely
dub-like crawl.Ê "The Truth" is truly the masterstroke.Ê By the second minute
everything coalesces to perfection:Ê the catchy groove, the synthetic and six
string flourishes and Leigh Forslund's subdued vocal.Ê If there were any
justice in this world this song would be all over the radio and everyone would
be bobbing their head to it.Ê A Western album isn't complete without unexpected
weirdness, so there's the spoken word tale in "The Growers" and the spoken "the
penis" loop of "The Penis".ÊÊ The eight minute title track is the grand finale
and it crescendos with swirling guitar notes and cymbal laden drums, followed
by a brief "weapons of mass hallucination" chorus.Ê That's more than enough but
wait, there's more!Ê Disc two adds over 72 minutes of just ambient bliss
divided into two suites, "Asleep" and "Awake".Ê Subtle tones, drones and
guitar/bass notes make up the gentle drift of both, "Asleep" approaching
perfection while "Awake" is a little more obtrusive and sample saturated.Ê
Western's solo work has simply been more rewarding for me than the hit and miss
of recent Download and platEAU.Ê For now "Worlds End" is only available from
Colour Speaks.com ...
Mark Weddle
Mark Weddle's Reviews
Phil Western has just released his third solo album, taking the form of a 2 CD set entitled World's
End. His last release, 2001's hidden-classic Dark Features, showed the longtime (and recently ex)
member of Download expanding his horizons to include a variety of different styles. World's End
foremost strikes as baring a more integrated, less kitchen sink approach. Yet there is still great
diversity to be found. World's End is a kaleidoscopic sequence of various moods and atmospheres
that takes a largely laid back approach. Don't be misled - a minimalist album this is not. Layers
of dissociated voices, acoustic instruments, and synths formulate a dense and ever changing mesh
of sound. There is quite a lot going on in these tracks. Eastern flavors hover above the pulsing
electronic drive of No More You. These are the types of tracks with hidden corners you can get lost
in. Fear not, the album soon moves into moments of the hyper-kinetic rhythmically heavy tracks that
characterized albums like Download's Effector. The break-beat rhythms of The Gangs and Tuesday Jack
Died revive the dying corpses of techno and drum and bass while Darkstar has shades of an
industrial-dance hit. Land Based is an instant classic, with a frenetic yet subtly evolving
electronic beat underpinning a vast environment of sound that integrates some of the progressive
leanings of Phil's previous album. White People and The Truth offer a dub flavor. Tracks like
Simpleton utilize a pure, melodic guitar in combination with the electronic settings to great
effect. The climactic title track is a powerful blast of space-rock. These songs are cinematic and
emotive. They may have electronic roots but they feel like natural creatures that live and breathe.
All of those songs populate the first disc. The second presents a suite of sorts in 29 parts,
divided into sections entitled Asleep and Awake. On this disc, Phil travels headlong into
soundscape territory. Each track comprises a chapter in an epic journey in sound. If you're a fan
of long, multi-part songs then this entire disc was created for you. Stylistically the music has
moments that remind of Aphex Twin's ambient work, the not-so-ambient Manorexia project of Jim
Thirlwell, the final 3 tracks of Doubting ThomasÕs The Infidel, or the flagship records of early
ambient, all with the spacious sensibility of one of the Legendary Pink Dots' Premonition tracks.
Yet this disc avoids the cliched layers of reverbed pads and strings that plague most 'atmospheric'
music. Many of these tracks prominently feature delicate guitar and offer a wide variety of sonic
pictures. This is music to be played late at night, when no one else is awake and you feel like
taking a trip through space.
On this album Phil Western has integrated the at times disparate styles and influences of Dark
Features into a cohesive whole and in the process has created a new, unique sound. World's End
offers 2 CDs for a total of 130+ minutes of spectacular music, available from The Record Company
at www.colourspeaks.com.
Corey Goldberg
www.litany.net
|