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Release Info : Absolutely stunning
debut album of ambient electronic space rock from a CD Tracklisting : PRICE / COST : Reviews :
"Much like William
Burroughs or peak time David Bowie there are times when criticism can
amount to merely placing a word of choice within a sentence almost at
random. This becomes more specific when it comes to certain genres. The
fields of space rock and electronica are by mere definition the
territory of the chin stroker and with this comes a dictionary, nae
lexicon, all of its own. One not well versed with a verse, chorus,
verse, chorus, repeat-to-fade style of pop song.
"Having first come to public attention via the Type Records compilation 'Free The Future', South London trio Our Sleepless Forest have prepared a full-length for Resonant, home of the chilliest post-rock sounds around. This lot make an especially ambient variant of that particular genre though, setting their tuneful guitar runs amongst a backdrop of various outdoorsy sounds, as on 'The Tinderbox', which is fleshed out with sounds from echoing spaces and tweeting birds. None of this sounds particularly fresh or original on paper, but Our Sleepless Forest pull it off with more of dreamlike finesse than most. Expanding their sound further, 'Doors In Limbo' moves into a glacially slow orchestral mode - almost like a Stars Of The Lid composition. Fragments of percussion creep into the clouds of hiss and echo on 'White Bird' and 'Nomads', sounding not dissimilar from the tranced-out drones of Kranky's White Rainbow. All the echo and cloaked sounds clear up a little by the time 'The Clarion' comes around. You can make out a full band in there, making like early Sigur Ros performing in some shaded cavern somewhere at the heart of a forest. It functions as a bit of a payoff for all the swirling, amorphous potential stirred up elsewhere on the album, which taken as a whole is a pretty terrific first outing."
"Having declared
Southeast London troupe Our Sleepless Forest as ‘one’s to watch’
some months ago during a review of Type Records 'Free The Future'
compilation, it’s a tad surprising to see their long-awaited debut
full-length release crop up on the much-loved Resonant Label. Stranger
still, is Resonant’s decision to go with one of Britain’s most
promising up and coming acts, just before the label embarks on an
“indefinite hiatus”.
"Frankly, this is an utterly amazing debut album. Resonoant have released plenty of good stuff over the last few years, but this quite possibly ranks as my favourite so far. I don't want to go bandying superlatives around willy-nilly, but I find it hard to resist with this immense piece of work. Huge swathes of guitar sound with a lightly shoegazing feel coupled with some subtle electronic work in amongst it. It's almost like a combination of Televise and Stafraenn Hakon, but with a little Seefeel added in from time to time. Just an amazingly good album that;s full of depth. If you like a spot of guitar music this is essential."
"Supposedly this is Resonant’s last release. I don’t whether that has had an effect on the distribution, but Our Sleepless Forest’s debut album has proved a difficult creature to track down. I had to resort to Amazon after getting no joy out of Glasgow’s local emporia. This is actually a real shame for an up and coming band who deserve to be heard. The record was originally scheduled for February release, so it’s been a bit of a balls-up really. One break the band did get was the Wire electing to include lead track “Nomads” on the most recent Wiretapper compilation. It’s an extremely impressive beast – a cacophony of forest noise over a lilting skank, and has a gorgeous melody line. “The Tinderbox” is even more busy, with a Babel babble of voices and sounds almost drowning out a simple melodic figure. It uses the same sampledelic approach that the Avalanches used to such gleeful effect a few years back, but with a very different end product. Things quieten down a little for “Doors In Limbo”, a melange of sampled voices and sustained, string-driven drones. It’s very much like a miniature version of Gavin Bryars’ “The Sinking of the Titanic”, and has the same air of loss about it. The first two minutes of “White Bird” tick over slowly before it bursts into technicolour, Ulrich Schnauss-style. The second half is a little more of a mixed bag. “Aircastles” is a bit formless, but “Afraid Of You” is superb. It starts with a gorgeous baroque melody that sounds like it’s constructed out of fragments of backwards guitar, builds into sheets of sound and then ends much as it began. “The Clarion” is impressively dark, with a funereal snare beat leading the way, before the track heads into Mogwai territory with layer upon layer of processed guitar noise. The album ends with “Haze”, which is similar to the central section of “Nomads”, only with even more echo. It sounds a bit like a Slowdive out-take – a little too generically shoe-gazey – and like it’s leading up to some epic climax which never materialises. It’s a slightly flat way to end proceedings, but doesn’t deflect from the fact that Our Sleepless Forest is a very fine record indeed. Much has been made of the youth of Josh Rothberger, Karl Jawara and Sam Purcell, the trio who make up Our Sleepless Forest. It’s a little patronising, as if they’re expected to be McFly or My Chemical Romance fans and have no business making thoughtful, original music. Who gives a shit how old they are? What’s more important is that they put the fact that they have been unfortunate enough to sign to a label in its death throes behind them, and not get discouraged. They’ve made a blistering start"
"Absolutely stunning debut album of ambient electronic space rock from afrighteningly young three-piece from South London - their first fullrelease, having had an early version of album track 'The Tinderbox' includedon the Type Records 'Free The Future' compilation.Having met at school, Sam Purcell, Josh Rothberger and Karl Jawara startedexperimenting with various musical instruments and sounds using software andbasic recording equipment, inspired by the music they were into and with theaim of creating their own wall of sound. After 14 months they emerged withsomething they were sufficiently happy with to allow it to be heard byothers, and ultimately that brings us to the present day - an eight-track,45-minute debut that is comparable to any in this field in recent times.Our Sleepless Forest's music is multi-layered, complex and dense, yetdedication and attention are rewarded as the intricate slow-build melodiesare revealed beneath the feedback, crackle and hiss. Reminiscent at times ofthe likes of Loscil or even Radiohead's more out-there moments but on thewhole avoiding the predictable comparisons associated with music of thisgenre, this is an album that simply has to be heard."
"Ambient's psychadelic post rock side with a youthful touch! Our Sleepless Forest's debut is one that creates a serene atmosphere amidst all the noise and mild experimentalism it incorporates and places them aside from like minded fellows Animal Collective. The warm sounds of nature lost in echo will take you on a trip in imaginary places, where you can enjoy the campfire with these three youngsters hailing from the UK."
"When I reviewed Port-Royal’s Afraid to Dance (2007) last year I mentioned that there weren’t a lot of bands that made music so close to laptop-based electronica. The same could be said for the debut from label-mates Our Sleepless Forest, though for slightly different reasons. It’s true that this English trio is equally concerned with sounds in the most abstract sense, but rather than simply re-creating electronic genres under the guise of a live band Our Sleepless Forest are out to reinvent current underground rock streams like post-rock, free folk, and shoegaze by ingeniously toying with their often predictable structures. Or, to put it another way: it’s not often that a band’s Myspace can list influences as diverse as Sigur Rós, Animal Collective, Gang Gang Dance, and Stars of the Lid and actually sound like they’ve internalized and conflated all of those bands’ innovations, but here it is. And just looking at these influences suggests an interesting dichotomy: on one hand we have Brooklyn-based noiseniks who thrive on spontaneity and serendipity while on the other we have bands who have practically defined the term “glacial” by stretching notes into infinity and creating tranquil environments. If I had to pick one, I’d say Our Sleepless Forest belongs more comfortably in the latter category; the album is lush in every sense of the word, and the band doesn’t resort to primal moaning or screaming (or actually any prominent vocal sounds at all). Still, the band flirts with chaos here, even if they do it in a way which is remarkably easy to listen to: opening track “Nomads” starts and ends with a four-note bass riff around one chord à la Spacemen 3, and uses this rather basic foundation to layer sheets of reverb that are probably guitars but remind me more of Gas than Cocteau Twins. In the middle the core rhythm drops out and an acoustic guitar sounds like it’s going to pull the track into a softer section but the wall of sound never retreats, creating an effect where you never quite make out the rhythm of the guitar picking and it registers as a faint, droning hum. Then there’s all the other stuff: something that could either be a pile of synths or distant voices, an awesome percussion break, possibly a sitar, and what sounds like a massive Glenn Branca guitar orchestra reduced to background noise. And this is just the first track. Sleepless indeed."
"The South London based trio formed by members Sam Purcell, Josh Rothberger and Karl Jawara make their debut album on Resonant. The first track ‘Nomads’ appears on ‘The Wire’s’ ‘Wire Tapper 19’ compilation series with the April 290 issue. ‘Our Sleepless Forest’ album is a blend of electronica and ambient. It recalls me of Slowdive, The Durutti Column and Manual. The music is expansive with its twinkling guitars, soft synth waves and recordings. ‘Afraid of you’ has a baroque feeling and a wall of sound in the background like on ‘The Clarion’ where the sound is harsh and noisy. The beauty marks the whole album though."
Obscure Sound : Indie Blog Feature (Here)
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