Sphere
Mike Newmark | Tarzana, CA United States | 01/13/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"For those who know or care, Landing is widely perceived as the lighter side of Windy & Carl, the day to their night, the land to their murky waters, and whatever other analogies are necessary to pigeonhole them as purveyors of bright, shimmering psych-haze. And, like Windy & Carl, you pretty much know what you're getting when you buy a Landing album: gently plucked guitar over a light drone, sublime electronic touches, vocals and drums buried heavily in the mixture. Over their 6-year career Landing have only minimally deviated from their original platform, experimenting with organized song structure and loose, reverb-y ambience in equal measure but never veering radically toward either of them. So, in the course of three full-lengths and even more EPs, Landing have established their sound to the fullest extent, culminating in Passages Through--their third LP and the clearest expression of their methods as of yet.
Faced with this situation, Landing needed to know precisely where they were going and how they would plan to progress on subsequent efforts, and it seems they haven't yet begun to answer this question. Sphere is, essentially, another Landing album, utilizing the same elements to a wispy, sleepy, harmless effect. The band once again toes the line between song and texture, and as an entire work it's practically indistinguishable from Circuit, Seasons, and especially Passages Through. Admittedly, Landing are more about consistent beauty than pushing envelopes, but what to do when every dreamy soundscape, every plucked guitar string, every breathy vocal by either Aaron Snow or his wife Adrienne, is in its proper place, cycled and recycled into anonymity? The stasis between albums provokes the question of "why?" enough times to take some pleasure out of listening to this one.
All of which isn't to say that the music on Sphere isn't pretty--it is--but only Landing neophytes will find it worthwhile. "Fluency of Colors" is a gently driving track reminiscent of dreamy post-rockers like Tristeza, but the concoction isn't vibrant enough to make a statement in a liberal six minutes. Beginning here, and ending with the similarly bland "Feel, and the Seas Fill," the listener will find typical Landing, if a bit more uninspired than on previous efforts. All three "Gravitationals" hark back to the effect-heavy ambience of Oceanless and Fade In/Fade Out, but they lack the emotional depth present in spades on both of those EPs. One exception is "Filament," appearing too late on the disc, which is easily one of Landing's most gorgeous songs they have ever recorded: warm, liquidy guitar repeats an affectionate hook over airy violins and Adrienne's vocal echoes. Such a song reminds those who have stuck with the band why they listened in the first place: Landing's warm-colored, autumnal dreaminess is frankly unmatched by anyone within the slowcore genre--a shining, celestial counterpart to Windy & Carl's darker side of the same coin.
And they still are, to be sure, but even as Windy & Carl's musical palette didn't really change, their songs still sounded oddly varied from each other, and each album offered its own distinct rewards. Landing, on the other hand, continue to serve up the same drone-rock they did four albums ago, and their music is less captivating and more soporific than it sounded at the turn of the century; the aural equivalent of chloroform. Consistency used to be Landing's selling point, but it's now becoming their Achilles heel, and Landing listeners would not really be hurt for passing up Sphere, especially if they already have Circuit and Seasons on heavy rotation."
Landing finally achieve a perfect balance
Scott Richardson | Chicago, IL USA | 09/24/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sphere is, undoubtedly, Landing's finest achievement to date. While earlier releases had steered in one direction or another, this album realizes a perfect mix of psychedelic-tinged pop and lush ambient soundscapes, mixing guitars, vocals, and electronics into a gorgeous palate of sounds. A truly remarkable achievement, you really need this album."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1