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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful paintings in sound!, 30 May 2008
"Schoolyard Ghosts", the first No-Man album for 5 years, will not disappoint Steve Wilson's growing number of fans.
Steve Wilson is an artist in love with his craft. He is seemingly indefatigable, loving to explore sounds and music through his various projects. Does he ever rest? If he is not touring, he is recording! He is surely one of the most impressive musicians in the world today!
As well as No-Man, I am also familiar with his work with Porcupine Tree, Blackfield and Bass Communion. I struggle with Bass Communion but love everything else. No-Man is his collaboration with vocalist Tim Bowness. There are significant musical differences to each of Steve's other projects but there are also similarities, particularly compositional similarities in terms of song construction and use of instrumental sound.
"Schoolyard Ghosts" has eight compositions - calling them songs would be an injustice - and the album's running time comes in at just under the hour.
The tempo is slow. The compositions build from simple beginnings to introduce new instruments and sounds, like a painter adding colours and textures to a canvas. That's exactly how I see these compositions - aural paintings, soundscapes, they are paintings with sound. Each instrument is carefully chosen to convey a particular mental image in the listener, complementing the lyrics wonderfully. The slowness of the tempo calls for the listener's attention, draws him in, asks him to take time to listen carefully. This is not background music, it pays dividends to those who give it their full attention and can savour the soundscapes and it rewards repeated listening.
There's much to appreciate in all of the eight compositions. My current favourites, and the ones I will draw your attention to this time are the opener, "All Sweet Things", "Pigeon Drummer", "Truenorth" (which, at about 12 minutes, is the album's longest composition) and ""Song of the Surf".
"All Sweet Things", as the title suggests, has probably the sweetest melody of the whole album and its soundscape is created with simple piano chords, synthesiser and, later, vibes and a light, low, rumbling sound that I can't quite place. A very pretty picture.
"Pigeon Drummer" has the greatest aural contrasts of all the compositions. Again beginning softly and slowly with synthesiser and piano, it explodes into several bars of a quicker tempo maelstrom of heavy rock guitar and drums before softening again for the sung verse, re-exploding into the maelstrom etc. It's a compelling, atmospheric composition!
"Truenorth" uses pan pipes and orchestral strings from Steve's palette for this evocative aural painting.
Finally, on "Song of the Surf", electric guitar and tom-tom drums evoke the sound of the sea, developing into quite a softly mantric, rhythmic feel, just like the wash of waves softly on the shore, with added textures of orchestral strings, vibes and other percussion sounds in the background. Lush!
Come on in and listen to this great master at work!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another gem, 27 April 2008
Is it possible to make another masterpiece after the mesmerizing and gorgeous Together We're Stranger album? The answer is simply yes. Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness did it again. Every song on Schoolyard Ghost is a shining star of immense beauty. This album is a must have for No-Maniacs.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Songs You Should Know, 6 May 2008
The 1st no-man (Tim Bowness & Steven Wilson) album since 2003 makes up for the long wait by arriving in a lavishly packaged cd/dvda edition - complete with a normal (stereo) CD plus 5.1 mix, & 3 videos on the dvda disc.
'schoolyard ghosts' opens with the sublime 'all sweet things' which sets the mood for the songs that follow - although mostly reflective, there is an air of optimism throughout the 8 songs, it's certainly not a downbeat listening experience.
'schoolyard ghosts' makes full use of its vast list of guest players - the celestial 'wherever there is light', which evokes the best of Sigur Rós, features some beautiful pedal steel guitar from Bruce Kaphan (known for his work with American Music Club, Red House Painters & REM amongst others). 'pigeon drummer' features manic percussion from Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson), and Steven Wilson's Porcupine Tree colleagues Gavin Harrison & Colin Edwin also feature on the album.
'schoolyard ghosts' centre-piece is the track 'truenorth', which weighs in at nearly 13 minutes in length, but with not a second wasted. Warm strings and scattering flute drives this 3 part song, which is already becoming a firm favourite, and possible career highlight, in the eyes of a lot of no-man fans.
In an era of mp3 players and random music playlists, this is one of those albums that deserves to be played in order and in isolation, it's not background music.
If you already love the music of no-man, then this is a risk-free purchase. If you are a fan of Steven Wilson's other band, Porcupine Tree, or just a fan of quality, emotive, heart-felt music, then this would be an ideal inroad into no-man's growing catalogue.
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