Eluvium - Copia

It's the new one!  If you're unfamiliar with Eluvium, check out the other Robosexual reviews.  His last full-length, Talk Amongst The Trees, was a far more atmospheric affair than his earlier piano-only work, and the newer EP When I Live By the Garden and the Sea was a mixture of both.  The feel of the latter is what pervades on Copia.  There's a little more orchestration, more instruments, but it's not the gauzy, narcotic drone of Talk Amongst The Trees.  I kind of miss that sound, but there's enough of it on that album to satisy.  So, if he began with a keyboard, moved on to his guitar and loopstation, Copia is where he seems to be experimenting with a more diverse instrumentation within each song and within the album itself.  Violins and oboes speak to one another on "Requiem for Frankfort Avenue," while many-stringed drones make up "Seeing You Off the Edges" and "After Nature," whiel the solo piano of "Radio Ballet" would feel very comfortable on An Accidental Memory In Case Of Death.  The long tracks are pretty and don't overstay their welcome, but they also don't have the strength of his older long format songs like "Taken" or "Behind Your Trouble" - the first of which gets better with time and the second of which is like a mini-EP.

To be honest, some of the tracks sound more like Max Richter than Eluvium, which is only bad if you don't like Max Richter.  I have always liked Eluvium's different sound, however, and while I like all the tracks, I'm concerned that his new instrument set is making his compositions less distinctive.  That sounds harsher than it is, because both artists are very skilful, and there are certainly enough tracks on Copia the likes of which you won't find anywhere else.

Here's "After Nature," and here's "Amreik," by Eluvium.

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[allsongs]

Hey. Intern with NPR's All Songs Considered, here.

You can hear Explosions in the Sky and Eluvium live from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, March 17. Browse over to our Web site at around 9 p.m.

We'll have photos from the show and a live concert chat, too.

[robosexual sez: dude, I love NPR. How do I get your job? All songs considered, sounds pretty filthy, like good filthy. Check it out, readers.]