{"product_id":"ben-chasny-the-intimate-landscape-lp","title":"Ben Chasny - The Intimate Landscape [LP]","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFormat: LP \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eCatalogue No.: DC810 \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBarcode: 0781484081012\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRelease Date: 05 Nov 2021\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eGenre: Folk\/Americana\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e At the invitation of KPM Music, Ben Chasny, the wizard of Six Organs of Admittance, steps behind his acoustic to produce a new instrumental guitar set. Library music, or deeply personal essays on a formative instrument? Under his fingers, Ben plays it both ways, making simply beautiful music that spans beyond the limits of folk, ambient and soundtrack music. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e A new instrumental album of acoustic guitar playing from Six Organs of Admittance? Everybody knows it’s been far too long since 2004’s much-beloved ‘For Octavio Paz’; even as the landscape has crowded with acoustic players, we’ve all been dying to hear Ben’s distinctive virtuosity again in this format.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e KPM Music, the legendary British library music company, extended an offer to Ben to make some songs for their library. Well aware of their history, he immediately agreed. The field of library music (music made for hire, for use in placement in films and advertising) is one that’s come to public consciousness only relatively recently in the long century of record-making, but the influence of such records has been felt for years in the aesthetics of many diverse artists, including several who’ve recorded for Drag City, whose appreciation for Ben’s unique artistry has been borne out over a countless variety of releases.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Ben chose the acoustic guitar for these recordings after considering the width and breadth of possible music he could make for the occasion. His approach while playing it was simple - deceptively so: to make music as present and immediate and beautiful as possible. This type of playing requires a deep breath before beginning, as it has to generate from within, as well as at the fingertips.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e The resulting music is inventive and engaging, both in and out of the astral style of Ben’s music and the utilitarian genre of music to which he’s contributing. The album’s title is a clue to these dual intentions, as is Ben’s use of his given name rather than the Six Organs of Admittance alias he has preferred in his career. These songs manifest lovely themes played on acoustic guitar, recorded with spacious, almost pastoral ambiance; richly evocative pieces that can fill the multiple purposes of any sound library around the world.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e When paired with their titles, however - such as ‘Last Night to Use the Telescope’, ‘Circular Road’, and ‘On the Way to the Coast’ - these pieces are profoundly recontextualized as potent personal expressions. So too are the songs with titles like ‘Water Dragon’, ‘Star Cascade’ and ‘Dust In the Ravine’. Two decades-plus into his life in music, Ben’s got the craft and ability to make music that can be encompassingly heard as intimate and universal.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Going for melody, Ben employs a relaxed technical facility, supported by a few guitar overdubs, plus several well-placed synths and a passage of wordless vocalizing, accessing the murky depths of his reservoir of spirituality while hand-spinning irresistible sonic candy at the same time. This is a greatly engrossing listening experience, regardless of what the listener’s intentions are.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Given the rarity of such lovely acoustic essays from the fingers of Ben Chasny, and thanks to EMI and KPM Music, we’ll find ourselves returning to gaze over ‘The Intimate Landscape’ often, for many years to come.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eTracklisting:\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe Many Faces of Stone\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eLast Night to Use the Telescope\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWaterfall Path\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eCross-Winged Formation\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWater Dragon\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eStar Cascade\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWhere Have All the\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSummers Gone?\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eCircular Road\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSix Diamonds\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eDust In the Ravine\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFading Blue\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSecond Moon\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eOn the Way to the Coast\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41070818918556,"sku":"DC810","price":20.88,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0130\/8714\/6043\/products\/1_b748b4f1-2ddf-4dd6-8e78-d480a248387e.jpg?v=1634062908","url":"https:\/\/www.horizonsmusic.co.uk\/products\/ben-chasny-the-intimate-landscape-lp","provider":"Horizons Music","version":"1.0","type":"link"}