Deaf Centre: Owl Splinters (Type)

Cello and Piano, two of my most favoured instruments, both have the ability to create a mood of despair and longing that can move the most hardarsed motherfucker to tears. On this album they up the atmosphere to build in a sense of contemplative dread that has you frequently listening on the edge of your seat. Do not make the mistake of lumping this with similarly instrumented ambient works - this is an album that should be listened to and requires your full attention to experience the shifting patterns and depth of beauty. The piano occasionally shows shades of prettiness but there is often something swooping underneath, quietly, that threatens to slam the lid on the pianist's fingers. 'The day i would never have' being a case in point, where the opening solo piano is slowly subsumed by the metallic roar of the cello until it is evaporated by the sweeping, crashing, chords - until nothing remains and all is dark, by which time the darkness crashes, leaving a simple piano melody to leave the side on a sense of beauty again. Sometimes this record scares me but always this record encompasses me.