No-Man: Schoolyard Ghosts

After a five year absence that saw Steven Wilson record two Porcupine Tree LPs and Tim Bowness release his first solo album, their genre exploding duo, No-Man has finally got around to releasing a follow up to 2003's Together We're Stranger. Mating their turn of the millennium era sound's emphasis on melodicism with the sprawling atmospheres of their last album, Schoolyard Ghosts continues their restless, yet rewarding growth. Despite A-list guests like King Crimson's Pat Mastelotto, flautist extraordinaire Theo Travis, and American Music Club alum Bruce Kaphan (besides the names you might remember from Porcupine Tree), it is Wilson's production that remains the star. For those of us who enjoy the subtle textures of an echoing guitar or a Mellotron choir, these songs are nothing less than sound porn. As Bowness narrates these mournful tunes in his breathy tenor, the guitars, synthesizers, and programming are vivid in their detail and near perfect in their arrangement.

Essentially, No-Man is ambient music for normal people, maintaining mastery of ebb and flow while they keeping the melodies and guitars at least close nearby. In "Wherever There is Light", simultaneously the most conventional and gorgeous of the eight compositions, the understated twang of a pedal steel guitar rests alongside an emotional Travis flute solo on a bed of synthesized strings. The centerpiece is the 12 minute "Truenorth" a ghostly slowburner based on distant piano and wispy guitar arpeggios. Occasionally the melodies can get too familiar, as in the closing "Mixtaped", where you could be forgiven for thinking the chorus is "Stars die in blinding skies" until the Fripp-ian guitar collage splits the song in half. Other times, one might wish that Bowness use smaller strokes with his voice to heighten the understated pleasures of the music and the appeal of his voice. Despite those gripes, the album is a remarkably cohesive and enjoyable whole which will reward repeat listens.

No-Man is back and everyone who's a fan of beautiful music should be glad.

Track Listing
1. All Sweet Things (6.47)
2. Beautiful Songs You Should Know (4.26)
3. Pigeon Drummer (6.18)
4. Truenorth (12.48)
5. Wherever There Is Light (4.21)
6. Song Of the Surf (6.12)
7. Streaming (3.32)
8. Mixtaped (8.36)

Added: October 1st 2008
Reviewer: Robert Short
Score:
Related Link: No-Man Website
Hits: 3354
Language: english

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