“An artist without a label who enjoys Berlin School as much as soft techno”
1 Movements I to VIII 42:24
(DDL 42:24) (V.F.)
(Ambient, EDM, Techno)
Now we are Six really drew me into the musical world of Andy Condon, aka The Glimmer Room. I enjoyed his fluid and refreshing style that lounges from a steamy Berlin School to a more lively music style, without cutting or trivializing the bases of EM. This is exactly what we find on GREY MIRRORS his 2nd opus. Initially presented in a DVD case with handwritten notes from Andy Condon and sealed with sealing wax, this 42 minutes long track is now offered on The Glimmer Room's Bandcamp site in downloadable format only and segmented in 8 parts. This makes it easier to follow this nice musical journey through the free styles of the English synthesist.
The reflections of a mirror may seem lifeless, but not the intro of Grey Mirrors where the chirps of birds sing in the obscure breaths of an ethereal wind. It's like a dreary Sunday that gets sunny with the airy song of pastoral bells. These samplings between bucolic and urban life, between the organic, the acoustic and the electronic will be recurrent elements in this second work of the English musician. The synth formulates some melodious loops whose not quite mature tone cross our ears in a good stereo effect. They swirl in a sequenced echo that a heavier wind pushes towards a temporary greyness. They become uncontrollable percussive arpeggios, sometimes harmonious and sometimes inanimate, through these continuous chirps and the resonance of the bells, on an austere organ layer that is absorbed by a mechanical rumble. The long introduction of GREY MIRRORS is the key to its musical listening. If one is lulled by this sequence with ambiguous emotions and by this choir of absent voices humming a sibylline tune, the rest flows like a sweet harmony with shared feelings. It's moreover in the passage of this choir that a first structure of passive rhythm hardly shakes the pastoral atmospheres of a Sunday in the country. Then, the techno-packed rhythms over metallic percussions, pulsating bass lines and spasmodic sequenced rhythm lines shear into a good melodic theme that is familiar to us if Now we are Six is part of our private collection. Andy Codon closes the loop in a spiral finale with the soft hypnotic hints of its opening.
Far from being totally dark, GREY MIRRORS crosses the shards of emotional complexities with colors. From white to blue without falling into the pathetic dark. A lively work, typical of what The Glimmer Room has become; an artist without a label who enjoys Berlin School as much as soft techno. A beautiful opus with a very personal presentation, reflecting the attention to detail of its author.
Sylvain Lupari (January 30th, 2008) *****
Available at The Glimmer Room Bandcamp
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