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Moon Gravity
- Antarctica MP3 EP 2017 | Silber 235 3 tracks, 23 minutes $3 download Listen on Bandcamp | Listen on Spotify : Press Release : Video for Nightfall Track Listing: Nightfall Snowstorm Purpling |
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| Reviews: Been a while since we went gooey eyed and weak at the knee at the prospect of new Silber endorsed groove. Latest batch of platters features the debut material by Moon Gravity entitled ‘Antarctica’. Better known to kith n’ kin as Stas Neilyk, he is a sonic alchemist whose slow burn atmospheric artistry is informed by the late 80’s New Zealand minimalist noise scene, the same school that influenced the celebrated Kranky imprint. As the title of this three track EP might hint, ‘Antarctica’ is inspired by the desolate beauty of the polar regions, between the silence and storming rage of these most forbidding regions of weather extremes, Moon Gravity tailors a symphonic palette that sighs to the landscapes stilled and deathly majesty, the sounds despite their sparse toning are lushly coloured and lulling not to mention poised and punctuated in a statuesque detailing, the best moment of which without doubt being the drop dead ethereal and elegiac ‘Snowstorm’ which manages sumptuously to find a protective safe hole from the punishing freeze somewhere between Roy Montgomery’s ‘true’ and Tex La Homa’s ‘dazzle me with transience’. Elsewhere the beautifully demurring ‘nightfall’ is kissed with a reclining Flying Saucer Attack lilt whose slo-mo seduction comes graced in the kind of hymnal hue we’ve come to expect of Cheval Sombre and of late Hey Exit while ‘purpling’ rounds up matters and leads events to the end groove though not before spraying all in dream drifted haloes of snow burning radiance whilst possessed of an intimately dinked sonic seduction that to these ears sounds like a stars going out tearful farewell orchestrated by the criminally underappreciated Yellow6. ~ The Sunday Experience The cool sounds of ice particles floating in the air has been captured in sonic form by Stockholm’s ‘Moon Gravity’. The three track release, Antarctica, glides in glacial beauty. It was officially released back on the 27th February via Silber Records and is available to buy/download right now. Iridescent layers spiral round the eardrum in Nightfall. A faint drone ebbs and flows in Snowstorm, before sharp shards of guitar build into something substantial. A dusting of vocal adds to the atmosphere and it gets truly deep and dark when the bass kicks in. The cosmic rays of Purpling spread out into the wintry sky like the Northern Lights. ~ Primal Music Stas Neilyk from Sweden issues a debut release- either an EP or a mini-mini-album depending on how you look at it- that’s a tribute to the Antarctic polar night. Why somebody from so far up the Northern hemisphere would be more interested in the Southern polar night is not made clear but thankfully it’s not important. What we have here is three tracks, totalling 23 minutes, of moody, slow post-rock very reminiscent (to me at least) of the Resonance Association et al. Repeated guitar chords with slow filters walk relentlessly over low-end drones with a feel that’s organic, and also surprisingly warm considering the dark and frozen musical concept. With its plucked guitar lines processed into sounding synthetic, and distant deep vocal chords, opener “Nightfall” starts resembling a moody piece of Vangelis score- including, but not limited to, his 1983 “Antarctica” score. There’s elements of this in final track “Purpling” as well, although in the latter the guitar has shades of Peter Hook. This comparison is more loose than direct, for the legal record! Longest track “Snowstorm” has a greater emphasis on a more traditional guitar sound, and is firmly placed in shoegaze territory for the most part. Two-thirds through, there’s a surprise, as the present at the end of a crescendo is a slow techno beat that, while the piece stays firmly on its original track, gives it a new lease of life for the remainder of its run. The finale of “Purpling” is a familiar melodic peaking, a technique often used at the end of atmospheric scores to signal the top of the metaphorical (or literal) mountain, and while there’s a bit of a sense that this kind of work has been done before somewhat, it’s still a well-made and emotive mini-album. It’s more melodic and arguably more MOR than Silber’s typical output, but may prove to be a good way in for newcomers. ~ Stuart Bruce, Chain D.L.K. Moon Gravity is the recording project of Stas Neilyk from Sweden (and formerly of shoegaze/dream pop band Star Horse). Their debut release, a mini-album titled Antarctica, is coming out very soon on Silber Records, and today we’re happy to unveil the record in it’s entirity. Neilyk describes the album as “a three track representation of the Antarctic polar night, starting at the onset of winter, as the sun disappears for a good couple of months and ending just as the first rays start climbing the horizon.” Perhaps unsurprisingly then, the predominant image on Antarctica is that of the cold. Moon Gravity use all of the tools in the shoegaze/ambient arsenal to conjure a dark and frozen wasteland, soaring glacial guitars and shimmering indistinct vocals, not unlike the aurora borealis that grace the cover. ‘Nightfall’ opens with a gentle melancholy, the levity shot through the track slowly dropping away, first into deep drone and then an eventual insulated hush, allowing the song to be transcendental in a way unique to last things. ‘Snowstorm’ forms from within this blanketed quiet, the ebbing hum punctuated by echoing noise like some vast geological force creeping over a barren land. The intensity gathers over the mammoth play-length, becoming loud and mean and awesome in the way of natural phenomena too big for us to fully grasp. An insistent drum beat kicks in around the eight-minute mark as the nebulous atmosphere shrinks inwards and a sense of forward motion returns, dragging the release through to the closer ‘Purpling’, an airy number of celestial swirls and luminous peaks. The finale of the entire thing has planetary weight, slow and huge and glorious, operating according to strict laws yet appearing somehow above them, as though some God could not resist this part of his jigsaw being cast with wonder. ~ Liam Doyle, Wake the Deaf Moon Gravity delves into shimmering drone landscapes on the expansive “Antarctica”. Within their sprawling tracks, Moon Gravity lets post-rock and grunge combine into an elaborate ornate whole. Throughout the collection heartfelt melodies drift by full of a stately grace. By taking their time Moon Gravity allows the sound to unfurl resulting in unexpected bursts of beauty. Attention to detail adds to their overall feeling of constantly seeing the strange and uncertain. Guitar gestures have a loose, emotional quality to them for they refuse to adhere to traditional structure. Keeping everything unique and surprising allows the sound to fully sculpt itself into something overpowering. Hushed in tone is the opener, the soothing lullaby of “Nightfall”. Glorious vocals adorn the song merging perfectly with the droning guitar work. The many layers interact and in fact intersect into a streaming consciousness sound. Easily the highlight of the album is the ambitious work of “Snowstorm”. Beginning with mere wisps of sound, the song’s patience is a virtue. Gradually the piece comes into focus, becoming ever larger and more potent with each reiteration. Over the course of the track the song aims for the sky and lands amongst the stars, with the sound taking on a spaced-out, sky-gazing orientation. With “Purpling” Moon Gravity ends things with a yearning feeling. Vast walls of sound crash down on the listener, while the angular guitar work offers an anchor of sort. Ending the album “Purpling” aptly embodies all that came before it. With “Antarctica” Moon Gravity taps into an ancient, almost Gregorian, kind of spirit. ~ Beach Sloth I musicisti del Grande Nord si sono spesso cimentati nel tentativo di rendere con le sette note le atmosfere delle loro terre lontane e disabitate, colori come l'immenso, abbagliante bianco delle distese a perdita d'occhio di neve e ghiaccio o quelli fluorescenti e cangianti che pennellano il cielo nelle aurore australi e posseggono in sé la magia di un mondo irreale e incantato e la travolgente estasi dell'esperienza psichedelica. Adesso tocca a Moon Gravity, moniker del musicista di Stoccolma Stas Neilyk, mettersi alla prova con questo EP d'esordio che sposta l'attenzione agli antipodi della loro terra verso l'Antartico, continente immenso e spopolato regno di ghiacci millenari. Tre i brani in scaletta, una sorta di suite a cogliere tre momenti diversi: il sole sparisce dietro l'orizzonte, l'aurora australe annuncia l'arrivo della lunga notte polare, oscurità e gelo implacabile si preparano ad avvolgere la terra per mesi (Nightfall), dopo essere sprofondati nella notte arriva una tempesta di neve a rendere ancor più spettrale un paesaggio preda di forze immani e oscure (Snowstorm), ma infine i primi timidi squarci di luce vengono a riportare la calma sugli immensi spazi del continente disabitato (Purpling). “Antarctica” è un viaggio sonoro lungo l'inquieta atmosfera glaciale e l'oscurità di un paesaggio estremo, poco meno di venticinque minuti che ci trascinano fra la pace annichilente del nulla, del buio e l'angosciosa paura di tempeste assolute che sembrano non finire mai, fra lo stupore per i giochi di luce e la rinascita annunciata dai primi raggi di sole. Musicalmente Stas Neilyk utilizza i synth per evocare i grandi e turbinosi spazi, mentre le chitarre, dal suono gelido ed emotivamente distaccato, di chiara derivazione shoegaze, si perdono in implacabili drones ipnotici. Un esperimento riuscito fra shoegaze e ambient, con incursioni in sonorità post rock e noise. ~ Distorsioni |
