Customer Reviews

Imperial

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was one of the few people who didn't think highly of Robin's project, "Violet Indiana." I would have preferred a solo of him on guitar at the time of the first Violet release. Boy, did he ever deliver! Imperial is the album Robin should have released eons ago (no pun intended). The beginning track is pure classic Robin. Slow and breezy, it delves into deep atmospheric settings, and picks up with luscious guitar sounds aching to halcyon. Guitar sounds clash exquisitely into one another, merging and melting, forming a perfect blend of serenity and tranquility. Thank you Mr. Guthrie for not keeping these treasures all to yourself; your talents have spilled all over this perfect album.

"Ethereal." Inevitably this description (or tag, if you will) would invade any dialogue concerning music like this. Yet Imperial avoids the curse that dooms many of Robin's contemporaries. This is not your average shimmering guitar solo work. It's a throwback to the Cocteau era, a Violet Indiana instrumental, a shoegazer tease.

The cd is thoughtfully produced, opening with the title track and that familiar guitar sound that Robin perfected and many admirers copied. There are surprises too - beats and keyboards thrown into the mix alongside artfully minimalistic melodies. Elemental, is a good example of this. Other standouts are Tera, Music for Labour, and Drift (previously available in Bella Union's first cd sampler).

Those of us fortunate enough to catch Robin on tour performing live to his film, Lumiere, got a taste of his skill at creating art through sound and light. Imperial gives its listeners that same experience.

Robin Guthrie's Imperial sounds to me like a rumination on solitude and loss, although I'm probably just projecting my own feelings as a Cocteau Twins fan who misses Elizabeth Fraser. The music here reminds me of Victorialand, only much slower and without the forward momentum that vocals would provide. In fact, parts of Imperial might not sound out of place on Brian Eno's atmospheric Apollo album. The introspective feel of Imperial makes it a tasteful alternative to both New Age- and electronica-derived forms of ambient music. As suggested by the title of track 7 (Music for Labour), this CD is good to listen to while working.

Evoking the loneliness of wide open spaces, this first solo release from founding member, producer, and guitarist of Cocteau Twins sounds as a soundtrack of a drive through the American Southwest. Devoid of percussion, minimal bass and characterized by simple guitar chords, Imperial has a resonant desolate quality that not quite takes you to despair but has you on the road leading to it. "Music for labour" captures the despair most noticably, while the stand out track, "falling from grace" could have been an instrumental out-take from the Cocteau's Victorialand, and is one of the best pieces of music Guthrie has written sans Simon Raymonde and Elizabeth Fraser.

Perhaps not as poignant as Mysterious Skin, even though "Imperial" was released before Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie's now classic soundtrack from the film "Mysterious Skin". This 2003 Bella Union release remains a relevant find. Guthrie's beach patrol enters familiar ground here. Sonic, shimmering, lush textures to daydream with (or sunbathe if you prefer). Anyone familiar with the sound Robin crafted with the Cocteau Twins will appreciate this gem. This is the extension that the Twins "Evangeline" always deserved (musically speaking). This is a nice campanion to not only the Mysterious Skin soundtrack, but to his 2006 "Continental" release as well. Thought provoking ambience at it's finest. An impeccable treat.

olofpalme63

Robin Guthrie's first solo album is essential for everyone who loves the Cocteau Twins. Each track is a beautiful exploration of mood and texture. Occasionally, bits of melody surface and float away. But most significant is that each song holds an empty space in it, a space that seems to be haunted by the memory of a certain voice...
Either as it is or supplemented by this imaginary voice, this record is truly gorgeous. Get it before it's gone.

Is it possible to have a singular Cocteau Twin? Well, Robin Guthrie manages to remind us that while Elisabeth Fraser's vocals were the most immediately memorable part of the band, his watery guitar work was no less integral. Here, on IMPERIAL, that guitar is isolated, drifting in the atmosphere like a lazy cloud. The title track grows subtly, like waves accumulating in strength. "Freefall" stays true to its name, with a progressively dreamy piano line. A shell of a beat gives "Tera" some grounding for the otherwise ethereal melody. And even as the guitar on "Music for Labour" loops around itself, it grows ornamentation and depth. "Elemental" has surprising warmth and simplicity, while "Drift" closes the album with an electric growl. Quietly beautiful.

After leaving a flourishing fifteen-year marriage with the Cocteau Twins, Guthrie steps from behind the velvet drape to take a bow, offering a new taste instead of bitter tears. Ghostly but never silent, he's lent "dramagic" to collaborators such as Lush, Heavenly Bodies, Dif Juz, Ian McCulloch and Violet Indiana (with fellow Cocteau Simon Raymonde).

In what might be called new age for nu-wavers, Guthrie lifts you up with straightforward instrumentals and gorgeous signature Gretch riffs. Rest assured, heaven is never far with Freefall, as swells of grand piano blossom with a bouquet of droning chords, much in the style found on The Moon and the Melodies with Harold Budd.

Music for Labour revisits the simple evolving stanzas from "Victorialand" which is an endless wellspring of sensuality and sublime feelings.

Guthrie stands not only as seducer for swooning ears but also as sculptor, shaping dreams as easy as a morphing cloud, using a vaporous mass of hypnotic suggestion... floating a thousand miles away...

After leaving a flourishing fifteen-year marriage with the Cocteau Twins, Guthrie steps from behind the velvet drape to take a bow, offering a new taste instead of bitter tears. Ghostly but never silent, he's lent "dramagic" to collaborators such as Lush, Heavenly Bodies, Dif Juz, Ian McCulloch and Violet Indiana (with fellow Cocteau Simon Raymonde).

In what might be called new age for nu-wavers, Guthrie lifts you up with straightforward instrumentals and gorgeous signature Gretch riffs. Rest assured, heaven is never far with Freefall, as swells of grand piano blossom with a bouquet of droning chords, much in the style found on The Moon and the Melodies with Harold Budd.

Music for Labour revisits the simple evolving stanzas from "Victorialand" which is an endless wellspring of sensuality and sublime feelings.

Guthrie stands not only as seducer for swooning ears but also as sculptor, shaping dreams as easy as a morphing cloud, using a vaporous mass of hypnotic suggestion... floating a thousand miles away...

Imperial is a solid album, it creates a very special mood similar to victorialand and moon and the melodies but with a more modern feel to it. IT is an essential recording for anyone who is a fan of Cocteau Twins and their style of music.