Oliver Coates - John Luther Adams’ Canticles of the Sky + Three High Places '2019

Tracks list

Celebrated cellist Oliver Coates beautifully expands upon his blink ’n
miss 2018 release of ‘John Luther Adams’ Canticles of the
Sky’ with a further three takes on pieces from the same John Luther Adams
release, plus an alternate version.

Originally issued by RVNG Intl in early 2018 as a primer for their release of
Coates’ ’Shelley’s On Zenn-la’ album, the RSD
pressing of 1000 copies flew out, so it’s a mercy that he’s now
returned to delve deeper into the same album, with results ranking among his
most definitive solo recordings.

In contrast to Coates’ other solo records, there’s no discernible
electronics in the album, bar one obvious omission in the ‘(Alt FX
Render)’ of ‘Above Sunset’. That one aside, the others
effectively reveal what myriad other artists - from The Corrs to Radiohead,
Actress and Mica Levi - have been privy to in the studio: simply Coates’
untreated cello in its naked form. 

Currently based in that Cairngorms, in the northern Scottish Highlands,
it’s maybe easy to understand why John Luther Adams’ musical
transcriptions of the Alaskan wilds appealed so much to Coates. In a way
intended to mimic or emulate the music of an Aeolian Harp, he plays open strings
that reflect the “untouched” nature of the Aolian Harp - a
wind-blown instrument often found on hill tops or open spaces - and describe the
sun’s slow, low arc as viewed from northerly latitudes. The four
’Sky’ pieces are each as sublime as the next, while the new parts
- form the same original Adams album - feel equally natural, elemental,
especially in the head-thizzing, elegant dynamics of ‘The Wind at Maclaren
Summit.’

Tracklist:
01. Oliver Coates - Sky With Four Suns
02. Oliver Coates - Sky With Four Moons
03. Oliver Coates - Sky With Nameless Colors
04. Oliver Coates - Sky With Endless Stars
05. Oliver Coates - Above Sunset Pass
06. Oliver Coates - The Wind at Maclaren Summit
07. Oliver Coates - Looking Toward Hope
08. Oliver Coates - Above Sunset Pass (Alt FX Render)

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