Source (purchased/given/borrowed/the wife's): purchased
Date Acquired: 1999
Original Review: N/A
Thoughts/Memories/ Remembrances: I first encountered the Legion of Green Men ("LoGM") back in my Brave New Waves-fixated days (circa 1994) when I would record those radio broadcasts and compile mixed tapes for repeated listening pleaser. The LoGM song "Synaptic Response" was easily one of highlights and still remains one of my all-time favourite songs in any genre. It's a brilliant techno composition, and I loved it immediately (loving it even more after catching its video on Bravo a year later). I made it a mission to seek out the LoGM album hosting that song, Spatial Specific, only to be quite disappointed with how... un-engaging it was, with "Synaptic Response" being one of few highlights. But based on my continued love of that song alone, I sallied forth and bought this follow-up album from LoGM, and again, was completely disinterested in it. Sometimes, I realized some time ago, I need to distance myself from something that I have an initial response to, and then return to it to see it more objectively. Sometimes opinions change....
Re-Review:...and sometimes they don't. The opening track "For Maria, Wherever I May Find Her" is a peppy, lounge/Caribbean-inspired song, hard to dislike but utterly incongruous with the rest of the album which explores sonic ambiance and spatial sound. Most works having a lot of room to breath and explore their trance-like assemblage of electronic tones, pulses and clicks. Some rhythms or deep bass will occasionally find their way in helping add movement and progression, but on the two-part "Patience" or the broaching 10-minute "Constellation" the sounds linger on far too long, the long-lead to an eventual destination of nowhere. I'm not unreceptive to soundscapes or transient music (hell, I've made some of my own) but there's still got to be a hook. The third and fourth tracks, "Owls In The Apple Tree" and "Gammaland" seem to understand how to engage and work with warmer, progressive textures, and track nine "Logarhythm Two Point Three" is like floating in dark space, nothing but electronic signals to keep you company, which isn't particularly enjoyable listening but it is interesting. This album also features experimental CD tracks requiring use of an old fashioned disc player. It has a track zero (Which requires you to rewind from the start of track one) and a sub-audible track 11 which requires the volume to be cranked near full to be heard.
Sometimes a diverse album really works, but this album lacks consistency or a recognizable theme. I can't fault Floating in Shallow Water for being experimental, and it does yield a few tracks of some interest, but the bulk of it results in detached listening, which I don't think is ever the objective of any musician.
Rating (sell/keep/undecided): sell
Bonus: Synaptic Response video
Date Acquired: 1999
Original Review: N/A
Thoughts/Memories/ Remembrances: I first encountered the Legion of Green Men ("LoGM") back in my Brave New Waves-fixated days (circa 1994) when I would record those radio broadcasts and compile mixed tapes for repeated listening pleaser. The LoGM song "Synaptic Response" was easily one of highlights and still remains one of my all-time favourite songs in any genre. It's a brilliant techno composition, and I loved it immediately (loving it even more after catching its video on Bravo a year later). I made it a mission to seek out the LoGM album hosting that song, Spatial Specific, only to be quite disappointed with how... un-engaging it was, with "Synaptic Response" being one of few highlights. But based on my continued love of that song alone, I sallied forth and bought this follow-up album from LoGM, and again, was completely disinterested in it. Sometimes, I realized some time ago, I need to distance myself from something that I have an initial response to, and then return to it to see it more objectively. Sometimes opinions change....Re-Review:...and sometimes they don't. The opening track "For Maria, Wherever I May Find Her" is a peppy, lounge/Caribbean-inspired song, hard to dislike but utterly incongruous with the rest of the album which explores sonic ambiance and spatial sound. Most works having a lot of room to breath and explore their trance-like assemblage of electronic tones, pulses and clicks. Some rhythms or deep bass will occasionally find their way in helping add movement and progression, but on the two-part "Patience" or the broaching 10-minute "Constellation" the sounds linger on far too long, the long-lead to an eventual destination of nowhere. I'm not unreceptive to soundscapes or transient music (hell, I've made some of my own) but there's still got to be a hook. The third and fourth tracks, "Owls In The Apple Tree" and "Gammaland" seem to understand how to engage and work with warmer, progressive textures, and track nine "Logarhythm Two Point Three" is like floating in dark space, nothing but electronic signals to keep you company, which isn't particularly enjoyable listening but it is interesting. This album also features experimental CD tracks requiring use of an old fashioned disc player. It has a track zero (Which requires you to rewind from the start of track one) and a sub-audible track 11 which requires the volume to be cranked near full to be heard.
Sometimes a diverse album really works, but this album lacks consistency or a recognizable theme. I can't fault Floating in Shallow Water for being experimental, and it does yield a few tracks of some interest, but the bulk of it results in detached listening, which I don't think is ever the objective of any musician.
Rating (sell/keep/undecided): sell
Bonus: Synaptic Response video