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 Caught in the Carousel - Music Reviews and More
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Unwed Sailor
Circles
Burnt Toast
A stopgap to satisfy fans anxiously awaiting the follow up to 2003’s The Marionette and the Music Box, Circles finds former Roadside Monument/Pedro the Lion bassist Johnathon Ford at his most deliciously abstract. Comprised of two movements--“Mist” and “Mesa”--Circles is a meditative and thoughtful offering which showcases Ford’s willingness to explore the seemingly limitless terrain of instrumental music. Coming in at just over eleven minutes, “Mist” is a foggy number buttressed by distant percussion that moves gradually to the forefront. The song is executed with such finesse and atmosphere; it achieves a kind of silence that belies the lush instrumentation it’s comprised of. Meanwhile, “Mesa” picks up beautifully where “Mist” leaves off, utilizing the same growing drum steps that now begin to morph into stutter step beats and rhythms. By 1:51 the song gracefully increases its percussive speed and by 2:30 transforms into a new wave symphony accented by chiming guitars, which veer gently into the fading distance. The band’s new one White Ox is set to be released in August, and if this is any indication of the direction Unwed Sailor is going, it should be masterful.
—Alex Green
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