London composer Matt Stevens explores the depths of guitar playing, building his layered instrumentals with loops, drums and samplers. When you work like that, changes are that you add just a bit too much, losing focus and clarity in the process. Not so on his debut album Echo, a collection of well-balanced, adventurous tracks.
Stevens is like a kid in a musical candy store, grabbing things from the jazz, rock, folk and flamenco shelves. With a drum sound that is dry as a sweltering day in the Sahara, and caressing guitar licks, Echo comes crawling out of the speakers like a contented cat who raided the fridge. Recommended if you like Kaki King, Robert Fripp and Steve Hackett.
Echo is a self-released album. Buy it (pay-what-you-want) from his website. The 10 Track Digipack Version Of Echo (limited edition 0f 60 copies) is yours for £5 GBP or more.
Tracks:
- Burning Bandstands
- Airships
- Drama In The Coals
- Flies In The Basement
- Snow Part 3
- Chasing The Sun
- Spencer Park
- West Green
- Jubilee
- Dolls House
MP3: Matt Stevens - Spencer Park
Live dates:
» mattstevensguitar.com