Windy & Carl/Landing - split album
(Music Fellowship)
Tucked inside a piece of card stock, folded in half and hand painted by Windy, is the lovely Windy & Carl and Landing split CD. Because it has only four songs, I was expecting a short sampling of the bands, but this split CD is a complete album's worth of music, lasting forty-five minutes.
"Untitled" is the only selection by Windy & Carl. One tone made with vibrating and sustained electric guitar chords is constant throughout the song, but it is animated with shifts in volume and intensity. Other sounds surface from it for a moment then sink again. Chimes are fairly constant but are more obvious at different times. Keyboards flow with the guitar but change pitch and almost have a melody, although it is mostly obscured by other sounds.
The song eventually builds to a sort of climax, where all instruments become prominent and merge together into a more complex sound, and it is easier to hear how they are working together. The guitar gets more aggressive until the music seems to pulsate.
There is always something new happening just beneath the surface of this song, and my favorite thing about it is that when you listen to it on headphones and with your eyes closed, you seem to float.
The transition between Windy & Carl and Landing is natural. "Along" starts without much structure, echoing Windy & Carl, but eventually bass guitar joins the guitar and airy keyboards. Then another guitar joins the first, and their melodies intertwine in 3/4 time, and Aaron sings a few lines in a clear, pleasant voice.
In "Where the Leaves No Longer Grow," the drums are simple but varied. The keyboard almost throbs throughout and gives a vibrant background to delicate guitars and singing. The singing is mixed with other sounds, almost like another instrument.
In "Passage to Sleep," which lasts about seventeen minutes, a guitar theme with subtle variations is the foundation of the song. Steady, unobtrusive drumming and keyboards gradually fade in and out. The guitars change melody and rhythm stealthily, shifting the song into different moods and sections. The other instruments fade in and out and change sounds throughout the song, and Adrienne sings in a wispy voice.
The Windy & Carl song on this split CD is mesmerizing, and the Landing songs are some of the most beautiful I've heard. The 3/4 rhythm and the vibrant guitars especially stand out. As you can see, I've given the Windy & Carl/Landing split a 12/12. And, as everyone now knows, thanks to the explanatory introduction to last month's issue, 12/12 means you should buy this as soon as possible. So do that.
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