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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Californian pianist and composer Jimmy Lavalle has been knocking out moody experimental recordings since 1999. For this latest album he teamed up with a bunch of Icelandic musicians and headed to the frozen north. The change of scene obviously did him good. "In a Safe Place" is a characteristically mellow, brooding set of soundscapes, with the addition of vocals, more traditional song structures, and occasional understated electronics. The result is a captivating CD, which is more accessible and somehow more affecting than his earlier works. At times haunting and melancholy, at others gently uplifting and anthemic the songs on this album are often spellbinding. The gorgeous "Another Day" with its type-writer beats, swooning strings and sprinkling of piano is worth the cover price alone.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album is the best so far from Jimmy Lavelle aka The Album Leaf. It is certainly the most intelligent work he has produced and this can be atrributed to the fact that there are several memebers of the excellent Sigur Ros guesting here. The use of some beautiful violins and rasping vocals on 'Over the Pond' is undeniably heavily influenced by the Icelandic group, it is definitelt the best track on the album. Yet, we must not take credit away from Mr. Lavelle, it is his excellence that shines through on the record. Slightly less electronic than his other work he embraces a wide range of wind and string instruments and what he leaves us with is an album that is pure bliss. Close your eyes and listen. The Album Leaf has produced a musical kalaidoscope. You should get the rest of his work, sit back and enjoy. If you like this you're certain to like Manitoba and Four Tet, more beautiful electronica.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Something of a chance discovery, this is an absolutely gorgeous record, which reminds me why you shouldn't always trust reviewers. According to what I first encountered about `In A Safe Place' by The Album Leaf, the solo project of Jimmy LaValle, this was supposedly a rather mediocre and uninteresting record. What did intrigue me however was that it had been recorded in Iceland with members of Sigur Ros and The Black Heart Procession (with whom he also plays), and that it was an exercise in ambient, classically-infused post-rock featuring string arrangements and subtle electronic effects. Well, these are the type of sounds which have been engaging me over the past few years, so I thought it worth at least a trial, test listen. And that sold it to me.
There was something else though that also made me curious. I know times have changed, but hearing such delicate, intricately produced sounds as these on Sub Pop- a label that came to define the Seattle-based, lo-fi, grungey garage rock revival of the late 80s/early 90s came as a bit of a shock. After all, I was there when Mudhoney, Soundgarden and Nirvana were the in-thing, even seeing Nirvana perform in London with Godflesh and L7 before they skyrocketed to major-label, world-dominating fame. Sub Pop has clearly changed, not letting its legendary past constrain its future, and has gone onto nurture new and different sounds, including the wonders of `In A Safe Place'.
At times, that signature Scandinavian sound is evident- cheerfully melancholic music that evokes a bleak arctic world from which people shelter in warm and comforting enclaves. Echoes of Sigur Ros can definitely be heard making a worthy contribution, but under LaValle's supervision something rather more accessible emerges- it's more recognisably `human' and not nearly so bizarre and other-worldly as Sigur Ros can be (no offence intended). And while LaValle utilises an updated, more orchestrated version of the early 70s electronic ambient music of Cluster and Eno, it is almost always propelled by a gently skittering programmed percussive base. And this in turn is further enriched by melodies of strings, bells, Rhodes piano and strategically understated vocals (sometimes of the intelligible variety, sometimes of that soothing and beguiling style so typical of Sigur Ros). All in all, this makes for an enthralling album, which for me, has stood the test of other music clamouring for my attention. When I need something to instil a mellow state of contemplation, this is one of my favoured choices. Beautiful.
There was something else though that also made me curious. I know times have changed, but hearing such delicate, intricately produced sounds as these on Sub Pop- a label that came to define the Seattle-based, lo-fi, grungey garage rock revival of the late 80s/early 90s came as a bit of a shock. After all, I was there when Mudhoney, Soundgarden and Nirvana were the in-thing, even seeing Nirvana perform in London with Godflesh and L7 before they skyrocketed to major-label, world-dominating fame. Sub Pop has clearly changed, not letting its legendary past constrain its future, and has gone onto nurture new and different sounds, including the wonders of `In A Safe Place'.
At times, that signature Scandinavian sound is evident- cheerfully melancholic music that evokes a bleak arctic world from which people shelter in warm and comforting enclaves. Echoes of Sigur Ros can definitely be heard making a worthy contribution, but under LaValle's supervision something rather more accessible emerges- it's more recognisably `human' and not nearly so bizarre and other-worldly as Sigur Ros can be (no offence intended). And while LaValle utilises an updated, more orchestrated version of the early 70s electronic ambient music of Cluster and Eno, it is almost always propelled by a gently skittering programmed percussive base. And this in turn is further enriched by melodies of strings, bells, Rhodes piano and strategically understated vocals (sometimes of the intelligible variety, sometimes of that soothing and beguiling style so typical of Sigur Ros). All in all, this makes for an enthralling album, which for me, has stood the test of other music clamouring for my attention. When I need something to instil a mellow state of contemplation, this is one of my favoured choices. Beautiful.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Sublime and one-of-a-kind
There is nothing about this album that I dislike; there is never a time when I am not in the mood to listen to it and I doubt there'll be another like it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by ptjns
ambient-ish excellent-definitely
This is an instrumental album in a vaguely ambient style. I have heard tracks used quite a few times on soundtracks, indeed that is how I came across it. Read more
Published 12 months ago by tallmanbaby
Lovely
I first discovered The Album Leaf via the Sigur Ros website, where they posted an MP3 of "Streamside" from this album, which I thought was wonderful. Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2007 by Peter Lee
Playing it "Safe"
Fans beware -- the Album Leaf takes a different direction in "In A Safe Place." Jimmy LaValle takes a voyage into Sigur Ros's turf, experimenting with pop tunes and ambient... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2006 by E. A Solinas
Buy it
i saw the album leaf (well technically it was just jimmy and a laptop) support Sigur Ros a couple of years ago at the Hammersmith. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2005 by Mr. T. A. V. Bishop
A pleasant listen
But there's really nothing much of substance here. Sigur Ros fans should own it for the contributions that Jonsi and Kjartan make. Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2004 by M. Brown
In a safe place
This album is a must have for any fans of bands such as Sigur ros, Mogwai and Mum. By far the best album so far from "the album leaf". Read more
Published on 12 July 2004 by G. Codd
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