Customer Reviews

A Winged Victory for the Sullen

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

 

 

A woman standing by a lake next to a huge oak tree is lost in thought. She is not aware that the autumn leaves are cascading around her in a plume of cool air.

A man being forlorn over the decisions he has made and longs for atonement.

The seashore ebbs away by the surf only to regenerate again.

Stone statues in a lush garden silently muses over their surroundings.

These are only some of the thoughts I have when I listen to this album. "Winged Victory for the Sullen" is the brain child of Adam Wiltzie from Stars of the Lid and pianist Dustin O'Halloran. I am very familiar with the former being a fan of SOTL, but I wasn't with the latter...until this release. I would defiantly say that these two musicians have synergy.

The music itself is layered instrumental cacophonies. If I had to use a clever name to categorize it I would use "neo-classical". There are strings, violins, bass, pianos and other things I am not able to pin point. There is an ambient flare to some of the music on this album which gives it an interesting quality.

I absolutely love this collect of music; it is so peaceful, beautiful, dark, haunting and yet still provides elements of hope. The title of the album/group reflects the music nicely. I believe fans of minimal, instrumental, classical, ambient and even movie scores would really enjoy this album.

I am one of those folks who still like to get CDs and I am happy to say that this CD is housed in an actual plastic tray. The reason I note this is because Kranky usually just slips their CDs in cardboard which leaves the CD open for scuffs and/or scratches. That is not the case here.

So please excuse me, I am going to allow myself to be swept away by these lush notes while I am hypnotized by the siren on the album sleeve......again.

A Winged Victory for the Sullen is composed of Adam Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid, etc.) and Dustin O'Halloran (movie soundtracks, Dévics, etc) who were both accomplished before they joined forces. The team creates a great synergy that enhances their strengths and eliminates their weaknesses. The album has been playing nonstop at home and work since I first heard the streaming samples online and now that I received the CD from Kranky I have even higher quality FLAC versions ripped. Their music is a wonderful mix between classical piano with ambient drone music perfected by the likes of Brian Eno and later by Stars of the Lid. My only complaint is I wish they would have released a double CD as 45 minutes leaves you begging for more. Too bad Amazon is only selling the lower bit rate MP3s as these songs are best heard with high quality headphones or a really good stereo system straight from CD that you can buy from Kranky or ripped in a lossless format like FLAC.

This is a great album.

My complaint is with the confusing price set up of this album. Thinking I would get the entire album with the full download I paid full price. One of the songs was not included- I suppose that means it is only on the CD.

Plus I was charged $8.49.

If I had downloaded the songs individually, it would have been almost $4 cheaper.

If you download the album, and I suggest you do, be careful how you do so.

The musicians behind this have a mordant sense of humor. One of the principals was involved in another Kranky label record, under the name of Stars of the Lid. Don't buy into the title; this is gorgeous studio blending of strings and electronica. It is melodic, hypnotic and somewhere in the general territory of Johann Johannson, Adam Hurst, and Zoe Keating (my favorite red-headed avant guard cellist). It is difficult to describe, but really excellent unclassifiable contemporary classical.