Paying homage to your idols in music making can be a dangerous business. There is always the looming threat that you will come off as trying to be ironic, when you weren't, or insincere, when sincere was all you were trying to be.
Felt Cover, the new LP by the San Francisco group Charles Atlas manages to pay a fare amount of homage to some of the 20th century's greatest composers while still maintaining a strong sense of self. The sprit of Eno is pervasive throughout, as well as his contemporaries, most notably Daniel Lanois and Harold Budd.
This record exists in a kind of dream state, ebbing and flowing, never really finding a climax. Or maybe not really looking for one, just content in the space that it is in. To say the instrumentation is spars on this LP would be an understatement, and that's what's so refreshing about Charles Atlas, nothing grandiose or terribly dramatic, just a strong sense of simplicity with out being simplistic. There strength though, is in how they play, often sounded majestic and laconic at the same time. Softly spoken Guitar lines, keyboards, and the occasional trumpet, cello, or drums all lay just below the surface, only shifting above for a moment or two. The over all effect is pastoral and impressionistic, leaving an imprint rather than a permanent mark. The band has focused in completely on the idea of minimalism, the idea that in the end one or two instruments can be as powerful as one hundred. This is intimate music; music that at times leaves you longing for more. But I would argue that longing for more is much more powerful than getting too much.
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