L A N D - Night Within - LP
L A N D - Night Within - LP
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CD & LP packaged in deluxe first edition letterpressed jackets. LP is numbered & pressed in an edition of 500. First 100 copies on color vinyl.
Guest contributions include David Sylvian, Daniel O'Sullivan (Miracle and Ulver), Duke Garwood and many others with the two creators, Daniel Lea and Matthew Waters, both taking a directorial role. The album was sculpted in Reykjavik by Ben Frost, enhanced by his signature aural physicality and visceral sub bass. The album is a vast collision of sound, from free brass and woodwind to "geometric" bowed cymbals and metallic percussion.
But more than simply music, the multidisciplinary L A N D draw on and evoke a wide range of art forms. They describe this work as, "approaching an apocalyptic noir narrative," and Night Within, despite its slate visual appeal which recalls the grey paintings of Gerhard Richter, thematically points towards a world occupied by the early postmodern detective stories of Paul Auster and the urban neon dislocation of Taxi Driver with its existential protagonist roaming the city alone late at night.
REVIEWS
"This is easily one of the most intriguing and enigmatic debuts to surface this year, as two musicians that I am completely unfamiliar with have managed to assemble a killer noir jazz ensemble and enlist collaborators as impressive as Ben Frost and David Sylvian." ~ Brainwashed
"Lea and Waters have, through a combination of a clear vision plus pure physicality, created a project where music creates its own universe, instead of simply accompanying it." ~ SSG Music
"It's the best record I've heard in a long time: the debut by L A N D - Night Within." ~ Anobium
"The music is telling its own story, sneaking intersensorially into the visual to hijack fluttering eyelids and instill its own sinister narrative." ~ Tiny Mix Tapes
"L A N D are Daniel Lea and Matthew Waters, the co-directors of this stunning LP called 'Night Within' and starring David Sylvian, Daniel O'Sullivan, Alexander Tucker and Ben Frost, among many others. It's as striking a debut as any that's crossed our path all year, manifesting their stirring passion for film noir soundtracks with the highest attention to detail and aesthetic, from the unsettlingly visceral sound design to the wending, lowlit narrative and urbane collision of panicky discord, tight-but-free percussion and glossily rich harmony. The celluloid analogy is unavoidable and entirely at the core of the album; both the lyrics of David Sylvian's opening theme 'Nothing Is Happening Everywhere' and the accompanying, Morricone-esque guitar shimmers at once evoke sweeping panoramic cinematography and alley-strafing nuance, while the martial snares, squabbly distortion and mournful sax of 'Into The Blue' suggest prowling, shark-eyed figures on mean streets, and the smoky jazz verve of 'Stillman' infers intimacy, playfulness, who knows...? And as with any great flick, it's possibly the most subliminal, peripheral elements which can have the greatest impact, and here it's Ben Frost's filigree mix and post-production - the way he makes the strings and hi-hats shiver above heart-thumping bass on 'Cosmopolis', or his dread-filled dubbing on 'Hotel Room' through to breathtaking rendering of near-infrasonic subbass, plangent keys and thunderous drums on closing scene 'Cold Desire'. Highly recommended." ~ Bookmat
"With bass so deep that it almost has to be described in terms of subliminal perception, with brilliant free drums and metallic percussion that SGC would not be ashamed of going COUNTRY handy in addition to the persistent Cherry Thing-ecstasy groups this summer. The onset duo is from London and has recorded (or, sorry, "sculpted") disc in hot Reykjavik, and it is therefore somewhat elaborate and power seekers. But their dark melancholic soundscapes are also concentrated and tight, and often very beautiful in both harmonies and discords. It will not be quite so apokalypiskt as they hoped, but it may well be perceived as something positive, and David Sylvian vocal guest contribution enhances music beautifully muffled lawsuits further." ~ Nojes Guiden (Sweden - translated)
