Donnacha Costello - Together Is The New Alone (Mille Plateaux/104, 2001)

mp3 / 320 / 140mb / rs | rel. 2001

"Easy to see how certain releases have been overlooked on Mille Plateaux – a revered and highly esteemed label whose only shortfall is that of a release schedule that seems to expand with such ceasless enthusiasm and frequency that few can keep up. This, then, is a truly marvellous record, one that seems to stand slightly to the left of much of MP’s clicky output. With an entrenchment inside tone, rather than click, Donnacha’s flavour comes from the same school of electronic drift that has personified Kompakt’s ‘Pop Ambient’ scene. Tracks like ‘In Spite Of Everything’ reverberate with distant Piano’s, hissy chops of rhythm and layers of semi-accoustic ambience. ‘Slowly Sinking in’ revolves in and out of electronic traditions and ends up sounding not-unlike Geiom / Morgan Caney’s forays into organic electronica. The album works incredibly well from start to finish, an emotional exercise in creating ambience that avoids the use of cliché and sinks you into a world of comfort and tired-eyed sleepiness....of the best kind. Don’t make the mistake of letting this slip by. Essential.."-Boomkat