Hidden Shoal Recordings » RL/VL Reviews

RL/VL “Chagrin” – Textura

tim — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:55:27 +0000

Excerpt: “Generated using analogue synths, tape machines, old cassettes, computer, and toys, the lo-fi ambient style Hamill presents on the album is considerably more sophisticated in conception than what one would expect from one so young. Chagrin’s richly detailed landscapes threaten to recede from view when played at mid-volume but assert themselves more strongly when heard through headphones. Textural sounds are magnified and musical elements are filtered through dense blankets, rendering them corroded and industrial in character. The album’s thirteen pieces are typically unassuming, retiring settings that on melodic terms aren’t leagues removed from Eno’s ambient material… Like B&W photographs of bucolic scenery growing progressively fainter over time, Chagrin’s shimmering vistas resonate as memory traces that often seem on the verge of vanishing.”

Textura

RL/VL “Chagrin” – Fractionals

tim — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 06:28:31 +0000

“Chagrin is the best album of 2008 that I totally failed to mention at the time, and one of my favourite ambient albums ever, full stop.”

Fractionals

RL/VL “Chagrin” – Resident Advisor

tim — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:56:09 +0000

Excerpt: “Hamill, AKA RL/VL, is thankfully too young to understand the sadie-masie crawl supposedly required of minimalists, and whenever his small, melodic textures threaten to disappear they always return calmly, in themes and droves and memorable parts, from two minute intros to extended ponderings. With its somewhat cynical title, it’s a surprise that Chagrin is so sweet, evoking erotic sighs and moans heard off in the distance rather than one-bedroom alienation in a city hostel or something… The underlying hook throughout the whole is that you can feel the spare alienation melting off every track, which become warmer and warmer as the thing wisps along at a floe pace… And it never stops evoking, which is how you could tell there was youth in it without even knowing Hamill’s only 18. The imagination’s too wild and unrefined to sleep.”

Resident Advisor

RL/VL “Chagrin” – Cyclic Defrost

tim — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:07:29 +0000

Excerpt: “RL/VL is 18-year-old, Belfast-based Jack Hamill. His debut album on Hidden Shoal is brilliant. There are obvious stylistic influences – late ’70s Eno at the pinnacle of those – but Chagrin has enough to stand on its own as one of the best examples of ambience that I have heard for a long time. The first thing that stands out is the amount of recording residue that is ingrained in the music… the whole point of this music is the quiet meshing of vague, indiscreet sounds. Another feature are those ‘musical’ sounds. They are some of the most acrid and corroded I have ever heard, without Hamill ever resorting to distortion or bitcrushing… The best description I can think of for this music is that it sounds like the aural equivalent of a long disused wall. Its layers of paint and decades of history are now exposed by weather, its usefulness has long since departed, yet it stands as an almost silent testament to vast amounts of information that require forensic observation to uncover. Chagrin is a peaceful, still, beautiful testament to post-industrial decay.”

Cyclic Defrost

RL/VL “Chagrin” – Blogcritics

tim — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:33:04 +0000

Excerpt: “Do you remember those magic eye 3D images that had people squinting at them at the recommended six inches distance whilst on crowded trains? After a period of going cross eyed a sudden ‘Eureka’ moment would arrive. Listening to Chagrin is a similar, musical, experience… quite often it is best to lie back, in a dark room, and allow your own experience to take you… it is rich with colour, rather like swimming in watercolours, and it has a myriad of doors, and mirrors to choose from. There is something triumphantly ageless about the landscape it conjures up. We, the listener, are invited to float above it, looking down as we travel across the scenery. Chagrin is a musical out of body experience. It is music for the mind. It is meditation.”

Blogcritics

RL/VL “Chagrin” – Luna Kafe

tim — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:02:42 +0000

Excerpt: “extremely sparse and minimalist instrumental music. It’s like a mild breeze disappearing almost before you noticed it’s been around you… It’s a massive collage even though it’s very low and whispering throughout, and rather comforting, putting you in a tranquil state of mind… The compositions are like paintings. Oil on canvas. They sure need some of your time… There are many fine moments of course. Finally, I must say I do get impressed by 18-year-olds being creative like this. Hamill, hailing from outside Belfast, began exposing his compositions some 2 years ago and he sounds like a full-blown, full-grown electronic composer… Come swim the ambience of Chagrin.”

Luna Kafe

RL/VL ‘Kweens’ – Luna Kafe

tim — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:40:12 +0000

Excerpt: “a hovering, floating, soothing piece of art. This is music perfect for comforting your soul after tough, hard days. Music for contemplation and meditation. Shimmering warm and bright… Just lay back and close your eyes.”

Luna Kafe