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alm 66
nigel samways
"illumine"
18 april 2010

photography & artwork: delphine ancelle-b.

recorded and mixed by nigel samways @ hollingdean depot

english sound artist nigel samways is quite a newcomer in the ambient/experimental/field recordings/drone/whatever world with just a handful of digital releases (on camomille or experimedia) and cd-r discs (on his own ephere imprint, october man or hibernate). based upon treated field recordings and acoustic instruments, his short tracks are like snapshots with a strong cinematic feeling...

tracklisting :
1. illumine (i.)
2. illumine (ii.)
3. illumine (iii.)
4. illumine (iv.)

reviews :

Vital Weekly
These three new releases by Taalem are from the younger generation of drone artists. [...]
Samways is the most recent newcomer on the scene and he has had already releases on Ephere, October Man and Hibernate. Unlike so many in the Taalem series he chooses to play four shorter pieces (instead of one or two long ones), which are built from field recordings and acoustic instruments, both of them heavily processed. The instruments are not to be recognized at all, unless of course its the voice material. His treatments aren't always very original I'd say, a bit of the obvious vocoder plug ins. Also the first two parts of 'Illumine' are too short to get a opinion, which is not always the best thing for a piece of drone music. Sometimes it just needs time to develop. The third and the fourth part of it are longer and better, but aren't the best compositions. I heard him do better than these. [...] (FdW)

Norman Records newsletter
This is some tasty ambienty 'sound artist' sort of stuff, utilising instruments and field recordings in the creation of haunting, wispy atmosphere that has me thinking of a laid-up version of myself, drifting in and out of consciousness, revisiting long-forgotten recesses of my foggy subconscious.. Perhaps a little bit like Michael Gambon in The Singing Detective but with less Leanne Battersby. 4/5 (Brett)