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TAPE - Luminarium

TAPE - Luminarium
Hapna
CD // £10.99
FOLK / AMERICANA
Released: Apr 2008
Catalogue Number: H42CD

Back in stock! *STUNNING NEW ALBUM FROM MASTERS OF TEXTURED, LATE NIGHT, MULTI-INSTRUMENTAL, POST CLASSICAL MUSIC - TAPE* Once again Tomas Hallonsten and the brothers Berthling - Andreas and Johan - return to the studio as electroacoustic trio Tape. Their last full-length outing 'Rideau' found the band taking a different slant on their sound, shifting away from the fanciful field recordings and harmonium tones of first two albums Opera and Milieu and instead embracing a more robust, more composed sound. 'Luminarum' is a further step forward in the band's evolution, bringing together a collection of mostly brief instrumental songs loaded with atmosphere, electronic nuance, and above all timeless melodies. It's the manner in which the band presents these melodies that makes them really special: 'Beams', the opening piece, sounds quite unlike anything else, featuring intertwining lead sounds from guitars - one picked, one played with a slide. The tuneful refrain is held in place by sporadic drum and organ sounds coloured by a vintage echo that could have been lifted from some old dub 7". 'Moth Wings' exhibits a far stronger electronic presence, weaving crackles of digital inference with the acoustic guitar strums as if they were easy bedfellows, while the next piece, 'Fingers' lodges itself in your brain irrespective of the awkward rhythmic figures and disjointedness of its curious arrangement. We're only three tracks in and this is already shaping up to be something special - even by Tape's high standards. The second half of 'Luminarum' begins with 'Dripstone', which organically marries together rough, downbeat piano chords with primitive analogue oscillations and a melody that's more implied than explicitly present. Better yet is 'Parade', a quietly epic composition that sounds a little as you'd imagine a collaboration between a Salvation Army brass band and Sigur Ros in one of their more downsized moments, but it would be doing Tape a great disservice to consider them as some sort of post-rock band, or for that matter to categorize them in any way. The only really useful comparisons to make would be to other Tape albums, and Luminarum finds this unique Swedish troupe at least equalling, if not bettering the genre-defying work they've made their name with. Amazing stuff - Highly Recommended.

• Tracks on TAPE - Luminarium:
• TAPE : 01
• TAPE : 02
• TAPE : 03

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