Track Listing

1. Before the Celebration
2. Air Between Us
3. Through a Glass Darkly
4. Blankets of Night
5. Winter Light
6. Miles to Go Before Sleep
7. Wish
8. Overcast/Sorrow
9. Glacial
10. Kenotic
11. Stars in the Rearview Mirror
12. You May Emerge from This More Dead Than Alive
13. What Heaven Allows
14. Silence
15. Dawn Begins to Creep
16. Rising Tide

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129416 in Music
• Released on: 2005-03-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

Americana with loads of reverb
Wow, this is pretty. If one had to assign a genre here, "instrumental atmospheric post-rock" might do. Heavily delayed and effected guitars form soothing soundscapes, with low-key bass and drums accompaniment. Occasionally female vocals (mixed way back a la My Bloody Valentine) and cello add color. Some musical reference points might be the Cocteau Twins or the Verve's first album as covered by Bill Frisell. Like Frisell, Hammock expertly convey the quiet openness of rural America, though with fewer quirks and more bliss. Despite the stubbornly diatonic harmonies, there is much skill and subtlety here.

writing music to clouds in the sky

From the first to the final fade, the music is a whisper. Each piece washes the dust from the bed sheets, It's as though the band is literally writing music to clouds in the sky. If that were the case, it could end up as a form of environmental music. Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson are the brilliant minds behind this great album. They both helped write one of my all time favorite albums, "The Inbetween Time", By Common Children.

When your music is light and airy, you need to make sure it's compelling.This effort is not short of compelling. While Hammock aren't exactly breaking new ground. "Kenotic" rumbles by like a cold draft coming in through a slightly open window, or like a tiny shift in the atmosphere. Each song feels like it's attempting to bring peace to the soul. Hammock has succeeded in crafting a remarkable debut album, both in terms of songwriting and in sonic architecture. It's albums like this one that make me wish I was an artist. I wish I could bring myself write in detail about each song. But in doing so this review would drag on for days.

This isn't really anything we haven't heard from Marc and Andrew in the past. It's really just an extension of the backdrop of alot of what was heard on "The Inbetween Time." Except it's pretty much all instrumental music. But in saying that, you would crazy not to pick this one up and give it a whirl. You won't be sorry.

Music this good is oh so rare
This album does what very few instrumental albums manage: the music moves you through a progression of powerful emotion without ever breathing one word of a story. There is an incredible atmosphere to these songs that truly can't be matched no matter who you look to.

I just wish that the songs were streamed here on Amazon.com so that people could listen and found out how amazing Hammock really is. Thankfully you can do yourself a favor and stream the whole album from their page at www.hammockmusic.com

Trust me, you'll be back here to make a purchase in no time.