coast/range/arc//

Album review

Originally released by Italian ambient label Glacial Movements Records in 2011, Coast/Range/Arc, Loscil's sixth album, is inspired by the Cascade Range of mountains extending throughout the western part of North America, from British Columbia down to northern California. All of the tracks are named after mountains, peaks, and volcanoes along the range, and they all resemble scenes from afternoons spent exploring those locations. The calm, subarctic glow of "Black Tusk" opens the album, with a soft, festering layer of static imitating the whip of a harsh wind, but everything is otherwise tranquil. "Fromme" is accompanied by the refreshing rush of a stream, while deep bass pulses give the track more of a rhythmic framework, bringing it closer to the producer's dub techno work. The album starts to feel more cinematic with "Stave Peak," consisting of slow, foghorn-like notes and rolling mist, while "Névé" is more ominous, yet vast and impressive, like staring at a glacial valley from a craggy height, risking the threat of an avalanche to view something jaw-dropping. Following the barren, ringing wind-scape of "Brohm Ridge," "Goat Mountain" is like the shifting colors and settling atmosphere as the sun descends from the sky, matching the feeling of gradual transformation. Coast/Range/Arc might not initially seem as dynamic as Loscil's more well-known albums, but it reveals much more through close, repeated listening, and as a pure ambient experience, it's one of his most rewarding.

© Paul Simpson /TiVo