Haunting debut EP from Seattle, Washington.
Alison Doyle's neo classical ambient project Cascadian begins it's life with the 5-track melodramatic beauty that is "Amongst the Trees We Stopped". The piano driven ambient release, made available for free is a haunting splendour of unique atmospheres, idyllic landscapes and slow, hypnotising cascades of fresh neo classical sounds. Alison, who in her spare time is also a talented photographer, captures the beauty of the world around us not only with her camera, but with her music. You can easily hear the background noises of trains, planes and roaring waves weaved into the fabric of this sometimes delicate release. Weaved so well in fact, that the roar of a plane flying above actually manages to add to the ambience.
The EP's highlight for me, asides from the gorgeous piano performances is the tail-end of it. After the first two tracks have lured you in with their haunting, yet tempting charm, the alluring '28 Days Later' score cover of "Hearts for Jim" leads you perfectly into the peaceful and relaxing finale; two tracks, one a solo piano piece, the second a mesmerizing piece for electric guitar, piano and synth. Also, this is really one of those rare releases where the cover art is so well matched to the music, that you find yourself drawn in to that landscape, that place. You can't help but feel like you're actually there and personally, those are the sort of releases that I spend my time hunting down.
I found myself gladly listening to this EP multiple times in succession, all in the name of finding the right words; and to give the right ammount of justice to this remarkable little EP. It's a brilliant debut and I hope to hear more from Alison's amazing project.
Oh and did I mention that it's free?
Ta-ta for now,
Steve Holland.
Tracklist
1 The Corinthian Sea
2 Georgetown
3 Hearts for Jim (28 Days Later Score Cover)
4 I Left You in the Dark (Take 1)
5 Exhaustion
Download this incredible debut for free at Cascadian's Last.FM page @ http://www.last.fm/music/Cascadian
Go to http://www.alliedee.com/ for some amazing photography and links to more free music from Alison Doyle.
