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Airs of the Ear

Richard Youngs  

Airs of the Ear

JAG059
Released: March 18, 2003

FORMATS:
CD

  1. Life on the Stream
  2. Oh My Stars
  3. Fire Horse Rising
  4. Halifax Amore
  5. Machaut's Dream
Richard Youngs’ impressive body of work continues to mount. It resembles, unwittingly for sure, a slow zig zag march towards some Hegelian musical ideal in the distant horizon. Youngs, the leading wizard of droney and minimal psychedelic folk, has unleashed Airs of the Ear, his new opus invoking new magic looking for new ears to ensnare. Building on his esteemed recordings Advent (1990), Sapphie (1998), Making Paper (2001) and May (2002), Airs of the Ear goes beyond merely residing in what is the essential ecology of Richard Youngs–the spiritual nexus between the oft disparate realms of traditional folk and the avant-garde; it now embodies this ecology. Acoustic instruments coexist perfectly with electric ones, while neither class of instrumentation is ever trumped by the other contraptions on the record, namely ring modulation, the square wave or the theremin. Perfect balance is almost achieved. There is harmony, true emotional resonance, even on what is Youngs’ most captivating work on the record, “Fire Horse Rising”. Despite the ever-escalating nature of this song, where Youngs powerfully and repeatedly invokes “…and I don’t understand, …and I don’t want to know…”, the listener is never allowed to feel overwhelmed or be pushed out of that special meditative and trance-like space. The spell is never broken. English born and bred, but residing in Glasgow, Scotland (where Airs of the Ear was recorded), Richard Youngs has remained busy over the last two years. In addition to his recent Jagjaguwar offerings, Youngs has remained a very active collaborator. He has released wonderful albums with Makoto Kawabata (of Acid Mothers Temple fame), Simon Wickham-Smith, Neil Campbell, as well as with Sunroof! & Vibracathedral Orchestra. He is also featured on the latest Damon & Naomi live album Song to the Siren on the bonus DVD where his live performance in Glasgow, Scotland is documented.

Other releases by Richard Youngs

  • Amplifying Host

    Amplifying Host

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  • Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits

    Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits

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  • Under Stellar Stream

    Under Stellar Stream

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  • Simon Wickham-Smith & Richard Youngs - Veil (For Greg)

    Simon Wickham-Smith & Richard Youngs - Veil (For Greg)

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  • Autumn Response

    Autumn Response

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  • The Naive Shaman

    The Naive Shaman

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  • Advent

    Advent

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  • River Through Howling Sky

    River Through Howling Sky

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  • May

    May

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  • Making Paper

    Making Paper

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  • Sapphie

    Sapphie

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