Reviews
Artist:Duncan Lyall Album: Milestone
Label: Red Deer
Tracks: 6
Website: http://www.duncanlyall.com
This is a sonically and musically expansive album from multi instrumentalist, composer and producer Duncan Lyall. Within its first minutes "Wind In The Trees" blends lyrical piano and some ethereal nu Prog guitar before Lori Watson's fiddle comes in. Inspired by a windy reflective interlude in a Glasgow flat. Watson's words and vocal, part song, part poetry add to the pictures. As do the evocative electric textures from Lyall's Moog. If the name Duncan Lyall is a new one to you, then check recent recordings by Kate Rusby and albums by The Treacherous Orchestra. The Sunday Herald described him as the go to bassist for Scotland's new folk generation. With over 80 album credits check your collections, chances are he's there already.
The circling keyboard textures at the start of "Barnacarry Bay" are straight out of Terry Reilly or Tangerine Dream, but with a folky warmth that blends perfectly with Jarlath Henderson's Uilleann Pipes and Whistles. Duncan has consciously blended the acoustic and electronic sounds on this album, miking the pipes to make them different before processing the sound, blending acoustic and sampled strings to blur the edges a little. The resulting sound is, perfection, a take on the layered music of 70s Mike Oldfield. Every track on the album is over 6 minutes long, but everything flies by and nothing overstays it's welcome. "Twa Corbies" with its beats and hypnotic vocal from Lori Watson is straight out of the Martyn Bennett, who Lyall calls visionary. Lori's vocal sails through a digital storm of textures and electronics with a delicate Dub fiddle and guitar melody in its eye. "Roli" is another superb melody with a little trip hop lilt in its step that twines together some big speaker Floydian guitar and sublime fiddle. Written for Lyall's rabbit who had strong views on music, but liked a bit of Air's Moon Safari. "Z" with its strong beat is full of musical ideas. "Titan" is built around a powerful keyboard and guitar melody that builds to a furious pipe part, some more fine guitar from Chas MacKenzie and a funky bass line keeps it surprising right to the end.
Hearing Duncan Lyall play with Kate Rusby inspired me to add INFINITE REFLECTIONS, his previous album to my pile at the interval merch desk. MILESTONE is aptly named as it marks a development in what Duncan calls CinematicFolkElectronicRockFunk. His keen ear for arrangements and melodies runs through both albums, but he is flowing fluidly across genres making fascinating music, file under Lyall.
Marc Higgins
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