Mark Nelson, longtime man at the controls for Labradford and his own Pan American project, has long been developing his interest in quiet sounds and delicate expanses : a strange, individual, mindblowing mix of electronics and acoustic soundscapes - drifting along in a harmonious stretch of opulent melodic textures and precious found sounds. Somehow you can't call these pieces 'ambient', although in many respects they perfectly sum up the ambience of both vast open spaces and intimate hideaways. While on his last album 'River Made No Sound', Nelson explored the furthest reaches of electronic reduction, 'Quiet City' is a much more organic affair, re-introducing luxurious instrumentation and space echoes showered with love, even a lone melodica makes it's way to turn things even more ageless, beyond categorisation. Rarely has quiet, minimal music sounded as rich or as overflowing with as much warmth or evocative intensity for its vocabulary - a language that Nelson has spoken fluently for a good few years now, but has never managed to express with as much other-worldly beauty or compassion as found on this incredible album. 'Quiet City'is a vast, expansive album, an intimate huddle of ideas illustrated with fireglow red and icy-blue surrounds. A masterpiece of its kind - utterly breathtaking from start to finish and hugely, massively recommended. Breathtaking music. Limited copies.
