 | Grouper Cover the Windows and the Walls
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| | Full Review | Ratings (84) |
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| 4.0 excellent | theBonerKing | January 28th 24 |
I am familiar with pretty much all of Liz Harris's most popular/significant releases (her unique blending of singer/songwriter and psychedelic folk instrumentation with ambient and drone composition was one of the first forms of ambient music that really clicked with me) so Cover the Windows and the Walls represents one of my first forays into the fringes of her catalogue. This comes after my having finally fallen in love with ambient and drone music in the last couple years, and indeed I'm glad I waited to hear this because I might not have appreciated it as much when I was first getting into Grouper. "Murky" is the first word that comes to mind to describe this music. The echoes of conventional songs are here, but obscured by layers of reverb and feedback such that any conventional song structure is virtually undetectable; this is ambient music through and through. And in that sense it's quite successful, with many gorgeous textures forming the foundation of the music, paired with beautiful and subtle melodies (vocal and instrumental) that drift in and out of focus, urging the listener into a sort of trancelike state. The foundation is well-laid here for the sounds Harris would explore in her next several releases, and this would certainly not be the first Grouper album I'd recommend to anybody who is not decently well-acquainted with ambient music, Cover the Windows and the Walls certainly deserves to be in the conversation as one of Harris's many excellent releases, and makes me even more exited to dig into her other less-heard albums.
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| 4.0 excellent | Bedex | August 6th 19 |
Wonderful record and chronologically the first of hers that truly marked me after her s/t. 1-3 are jams and a 4.2, potential 4.5 territory. 1 is a very organic and acoustic flavour of Grouper, much closer to DaDDuaH than her previous records. 2 is more like Wider, with vocals again being long choir-esque drones. Very melancholic and lovely, kinda jam. 3 pushes it further and is even dronier, noisier and less folk/dream pop than 1, like drowning slowly but in peace. The transitions between these three tracks (and those that follow) are flawless and the storytelling potential is compelling. 3 is a slow decaying jam a la Flood 4. This is an intense record that calls for perfect and attentive listening conditions. 4-7 are very nice tracks too, but don't quite have that extra edge that makes me want to 4.5 the first half of the record. 4 is probably a jam, quite a cinematic track that recalls the organic textures of 1. 5 is the same but less jammy. Before the record starts feeling stagnant, Grouper masterfully brings welcome variation with tasty loud, noisy drone textures in 6. 7 is nice and decays slowly to end the record. Memorable and very solid album. 4.1
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| 4.0 excellent | BeeRyan | November 17th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | kevbogz | September 13th 20 |
| 3.5 great | Living | January 6th 20 |
| 3.0 good | Jan555 | November 12th 19 |
| 3.0 good | JJKeys | February 15th 19 |
| 5.0 classic | robin | April 13th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Hawks | November 29th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Mandais | October 27th 17 |
| 2.5 average | El Olam | December 22nd 16 |
| 3.5 great | Wolfe | November 19th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Pangea | October 28th 15 |
| 3.5 great | Froot | July 26th 15 |
| 3.5 great | Jots EMERITUS | January 17th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | lou1000 | October 17th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Topaz | June 30th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Ire | February 17th 12 |
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