Lights Out Asia, whose approach marries Boards of Canada with film-score panache and sweeping melodic flourishes that demand your full attention - merits talk of masterpiece. Instantly likeable, if not loveable. Take it to your heart, then take it to bed.
Crystalline beats submerge in lengthy structures as the dynamic of daytime slows to a crawl in this coastal trek along the icy Aleutian Archipelago. The cascading digital delays exhumed from Aurore Rien no longer chain into crests of volume; they now act as the melodic counterpart to the gurgling electronics and stoic piano phrases which define Lights Out Asia’s musical vocabulary. Not everything is glacial; Chris Schafer’s evocative vocals recall Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis, providing much needed warmth in their periodic usage.
As elegant as Sigur Ros. As cinematic as Godspeed You Black Emperor. As chilling as Mum. As stately as Yellow 6.
Beautifully layered and ambient post-rock with limited vocals that match well with the music when given the chance. Bringing together technology and nature to create an expansive electronic field, Lights Out Asia creates some intense mood music.
I hate the term ‘Thinking Man’s Dance Music’ because it implies that only smart people listen to these records, but this superb album by Lights Out Asia is dangerously close to being called just that. This record is a lush waterfall of cascading electronic strings, luscious vocals and layered trip hop exotica that delivers enough sensuality to send the nuns in a nunnery buzzing for their bibles, looking for redemption. There are no frilly frills, nutty voice decoders, or trendy tantrums to be found on this adult soundtrack. These are fresh, laid back, body numbing trips that send us reeling into other hip gyrating dimensions. The sound son this record is so Euro that you can smell the leather pants when you open the CD case. But do not be fooled mon ami, this CD is made up of all the good things that make up our friends across the pond.
