Gazpacho - Night (2007)

Artista: Gazpacho

Álbum: Night
Año: 2007
Género: Crossover Prog
Duración: 53:21 + 33:51
Nacionalidad: Noruega

Lista de Temas:
CD 1:
1. Dream of Stone
2. Chequered Light Buildings
3. Upside Down
4. Valerie's Friend
5. Massive Illusion
CD 2 (Live):
1. Dream of Stone
2. Chequered Light Buildings
3. Upside Down

Alineación:
– Jan Henrik Ohme / vocals, backing vocals
– Thomas Andersen / piano, keyboards, programming
– Jon-Arne Vilbo / acoustics, guitars
– Mikael Krømer / violins, programming
– Kristian Olav Torp / bass
– Robert Risberget Johansen / drums, percussion

Quizás Gazpacho, banda noruega con un marcado estilo que fluctua entre Radiohead y Marillion, sea uno de los puntos más altos en lo que respecta al progresivo que apuesta a la intensidad emocional más que a la destreza instrumental. Con un estilo apacible, moderno e inteligente, ellos desarrollan su propuesta profundamente dulce, creando grandes discos como éste que nos ocupa... escúchen esta cancioncita de 13 minutos, pero por favor escúchenla hasta el final porque la sección de violín y piano es completamente hermosa...

Un disco conceptual que trata sobre las distintas fases del sueño y estados de consciencia, desde distintas perspectivas, "Night" trata sobre la vida y las distintas formas de interpretar la existencia. Con esa complejidad sutil que caracteriza a la música bien escrita, y un ambiente que cautiva, en mi opinión uno de los mejores discos que salieron a la luz en el año 2007. Sensibilidad y riesgo para un disco superior.

Carlos el Menduco descubrió a éstos noruegos y se le ocurrió campartirlos con ustedes, eso me obliga a escribir algunas líneas en referencia e éste discazo...

Gazpacho es una banda noruega que sin haber firmado con ninguna discográfica grande en su carrera, se ha convertido en una de las bandas más "grandes" de la nueva camada progresiva, y que ha utilizado a Internet para promocionar sus trabajos, consiguiendo así el control total sobre sus trabajos y composiciones. Un grupo marcado por sus influencias inequívocas de Radiohead y Marillion al mismo tiempo.

Somos una mezcla muy improbable de personas, no lo que esperarías ver en una banda. Por eso, pensamos que Gazpacho, la cual es realmente la sopa más bastarda (con vegetales mezclados, servida fría), era el nombre perfecto para nuestro grupo(...) Con Gazpacho te encuentras con una sorpresa, con algo inesperado, algo fuera de la norma, una contradicción positiva. Sentimos que esto describe muy bien a nuestra banda

Gazpacho

Hasta antes de éste disco la banda presentaba propuestas musicales de rock y pop convencionales, pero en este disco conceptual rompen con los viejos esquemas y nos regalan una excelente obra.

Con muchos tintes de sonoridades a lo Radiohead, nos involucran de lleno con la trama del disco, "Night" es un álbum influenciado por tradiciones post-rockeras, canciones enormes, no solo en duración, manteniéndose apacible y nostálgicamente sentimental.

"Night" es su quinto trabajo, el concepto del disco corresponde a la descripción musical de un sueño o de una conciencia interior. El disco explora la cuestión de dónde terminan los sueños y comienza la realidad y de la mente como herramienta que decide que debe creer. El personaje viaja a través de varios recuerdos reales e imaginados y ve el mundo desde la perspectiva de varias personas. Él viaja a través del tiempo y visita lugares a lo largo del mundo y antiguos bosques dónde tienen lugar rituales paganos.
Los riff de guitarras, acompañados de sonidos mas sinfónicos y a veces espaciales son una combinación muy efectiva para cautivar al oyente. Tan sólo cinco temas, entre los 6 y los 17 minutos, conformando una obra unitaria. En realidad un solo tema dividido en cinco partes. El álbum que definitivamente les va a catapultar a la fama dentro de la escena progresiva. Hay una unión y una profundidad que se escucha y se siente, una única combinación de instrumentos y una armonía perfecta.

Vamos con algunos comentarios en inglés, no todos los que encontré pero si algunos. Igual léanlos si quieren, todos dicen lo mismo: este es un discazo que no podés dejar de conocer.

"The best unsigned band in the world" exceeds expectations.
As stated in the summary, Gazpacho has been dubbed “the best unsigned band in the world” by some critics. This is a pretty impressive claim, and anyone who has read this statement without listening to the band must imagine that there is some good reason why they haven’t been signed; they couldn’t possibly be that great. Anyone who has read this statement and then has subsequently listened to the band must think that there is no good reason why this band isn’t signed; they’re really, really great. With that said, let’s get to know Gazpacho a little bit better.
Hailing from Oslo, Norway, the original five members of Gazpacho came together a decade ago just to write and record music for the sheer pleasure of it, with no real intentions of releasing anything. Half a decade later, however, their intentions must have changed, as they have added a sixth member and have been releasing albums at a rapid-fire pace ever since. Since 2003 they have released four records, getting better and better with each new offering. Their first three: Bravo, When Earth Lets Go, and Firebird all share a similar sound, heavily influenced by the slightly progressive alternative music of Marillion and Radiohead. 2007’s Night, however, is a concept album that shows the band making huge sonic strides.
The album deals with illusion vs. reality, specifically while dreaming, and the music they have made is appropriate for the subject matter. Gone are the four-minute-long songs that filled their previous albums, and in are five sprawling epics, ranging from six and a half to seventeen minutes in length. The music is atmospheric and dark, violin and pianos abound, with the occasional noisy sections just to keep things interesting; this is their most progressive recording to date, sharing more similarities with Pink Floyd than Radiohead. These similarities are no more apparent than on the opener, and aforementioned seventeen-minute-long song, “Dream of Stone.” It is soft and slow, building at a snail’s pace, possibly capable of inducing sleep if the listener wasn’t paying attention to its haunting beauty.
“Chequered Light Buildings” calls to mind Radiohead and Jeff Buckley more than its predecessor, mostly because singer Jan Henrik Ohme sometimes sounds uncannily like Messrs Yorke and Buckley. This song is like a condensed version of “Dream of Stone,” as the guitar and violin slowly become more and more prominent, but unlike the opener, it doesn’t go through several movements. Its structure, which is much more “normal,” also adds credence to the Radiohead and Buckley comparisons. This song flows seamlessly into “Upside Down,” which is arguably the best song on the album. Softly sung female vocals occasionally add some of the catchiest and most beautiful moments of the entire record, and some prominent keyboard work from Thomas Andersen combined Ohme’s own hypnotizing vocals drive the song forward until violinist Mikael Kromer gently closes everything out.
“Valerie’s Friend” is the most accessible song on the record, sounding almost like a Dream Theater ballad. Typically “Dream Theater” and “accessible” aren’t used in the same sentence, but “Valerie’s Friend” isn’t overbearingly accessible, so I’m not crazy. The song goes back and forth for five minutes between calmer, acoustic sections and heavy, electric sections, before another orchestral-sounding outro. The outro connects it to the album’s closer, “Massive Illusion,” thirteen minutes of brilliance. Things border on typical for the first two minutes and forty seconds, before the song turns... folky, with acoustic guitars, vocal harmonies, and handclaps overpowering the ambience. Things straighten out eventually, almost sounding like a grander version of their earlier work, until the nine-minute mark, where everything drops out except for the violin and piano. This duo provides a wonderful conclusion to a wonderful album, until even they exeunt, leaving us with a minute of peaceful street traffic; the night is over.
If I were in charge of a major record company I would be in contact with this band immediately, it’s no wonder how they have sold thousands of records and gained a decent fanbase through just word-of-mouth and the internet. They could probably become one of the best signed bands in the world if they are given that chance; I think they’re that good. Now go listen to this.

Andrew Stocker

Fan of emotional prog? Add another half a star.
Gazpacho is a relatively new Contemporary Progressive Rock group coming from Norway, presumably named after the delicious Spanish spicy soup. Quite a few progressive rock fans got acquainted with this promising ensemble owing to their presence as a supporting act for the definitive neo-proggers Marillion during their tour. Coincidentally, the latter also have a track sharing the name of their Norwegian colleagues' creation, which could be another possible source of inspiration, especially seeing as how the two do indeed share some aspects of their sound in common.
The 2007 release Night can be seen as the group's most ambitious effort yet, in addition to being one that would attract a myriad of progressive hordes with its appealing elements and an extremely adventurous approach to songwriting. What separates the release from its predecessors is that it is a concept album based around reality, dreams and the manner the two are interwoven. Although the album consists of five tracks of formidable length, Night is essentially a single epic composition formed by a greater amount of fragments than it is presented on the record for our convenience.
The record surely deserves more than a single listen to be appreciated truly, however, one will know whether this will appeal to him or not, as it is 'that kind of music'. As banal as the phrase 'don't try to get it, feel it may sound, this is the type of music that you will have memorized owing to the feelings experienced during the listening session, rather than its melodies (although one will admit to remembering more than a plenty of nuances after subsequent listens). The concept obviously allows many emotions to be implemented in the album, and the group more than just succeeds here. The compositions flow comfortably, in a way similar to the way post-rock compositions tend to progress, and are a pleasure to follow with your senses. The delicate and ethereal moods are very well complemented with Jan Henrik Ohme's expressive voice and the tasteful, appropriately used instrumentation. Orchestral fragments, found in the opening and closing tracks, are no less fitting.
Although one could say that Gazpacho are quite similar to Radiohead (partly due to the ambiances they create, followed by Ohme's deep vocals) or that they are in the league of their own, adding that devotees of music along the lines of Porcupine Tree, Pure Reason Revolution, Marillion, later era Anathema and Novembre would all find something for themselves here, however, to this reviewer's mind it all comes down to this: Night is a successful, sincere creation by a promising group and needless to say it should be compelling to a sentimental intelligent progressive listener.
One of the 2007 releases that definitely deserve to be heard!

Ivan

Reading the reviews and looking at the posts in several threads on Prog Archives, this is a killer CD that will be one of the highlights of 2007! Well, here is my analysis, track by track.
1. Dream of Stone (17:00) : This long composition sounds very compelling featuring a hypnotizing rhythm-section, melancholic vocals, a wonderful strings-sound and beautiful acoustic guitar. The contrast between the mellow, moving and bombastic parts creates a lot of tension in the music, as I stated earlier: very compelling! The final part is great with first a dreamy atmosphere that contains violin and piano and then a moving climate with a propulsive rhythm-section and howling guitar runs, awesome prog! Gazpacho their sound in this song reminds me both of fellow Skandinavian bands Anekdoten and early landberk as progressive pop bands like Radiohead and Coldplay.
2. Chequered Light Buildings (6:34) : This track starts and ends with mellow organ waves, fragile piano play and melancholical vocals. In between we are carried away by a sumptuous eruption and a compelling atmosphere.
3. Upside Down (9:41) : The first part contains dreamy vocals and piano, then another compelling climate with strong melancholical overtones. Suddenly a break with sensitive electric guitar solo and finally a wonderful conclusion featuring sad sounding violin work and warm twanging guitar. Breathtaking!
4. Valerie's Friend (6:29) : After twanging acoustic guitar and warm vocals, we hear the surprising sound of a mandoline. Then a sumptuous eruption with sensitive guitar and dramatic vocals, culminating in a compelling, quite bombastic atmosphere with howling guitar runs. The final part sounds like ambient electronic music, quite a contrast with the mandoline in the first part!
5. Massive Illusion (13:37) : This final composition sounds very alternating and moving featuring the distinctive sound of the tin-whistle, majectic violin-Mellotron waves, twanging acoustic guitars and howling electric guitars. The dramatic vocals give this song a melancholical undertone. The end is again breathtaking with intense violin work and fragile piano play, how emotional!
If you don't have a problem with dark sounding prog with lots of emotion and melancholical vocals, this is a great CD to discover: the Fifth Of Gazpacho, a classic?

Erik Neuteboom

OK, I've changed my mind. This is natural, since I'm a human being and my tastes can change from time to time. The whole year into Post-Rock and Indie made me re-listen to some bands, and the first one I liked was GAZPACHO and their 'Night' album. Uneven and sometimes too RADIOHEAD-influenced, it's a good and enjoyable record in general, with epic 'Dreams of Stone' being particulary magnificient. Some late TALK TALK thrown in, some hooks that THE AMBER LIGHT' and PINEAPPLE THIEF' fans will definitely like, and this wonderful sense of melancholy attached to every note in this LP. H-era MARILLION shouldn't miss this one either. Recommended

Igor Sidorenko

5/5 stars GAZPACHO's "Night" probably is one of the best releases of 2007!
Not being familiar with the band GAZPACHO, but after reading the very positive reviews on this site, I decided to buy this album instantly. Supposedly GAZPACHO toured together with PORCUPINE TREE and one might compare GAZPACHO to bands like PORCUPINE TREE and RADIOHEAD in the way that these bands are all quite difficult to be "boxed".
The album kicks of with the 17 minute long track "Dream of Stone". Out of nowhere pounding sounds are fading in and it sounds like a train moving in closer and closer. This sound is accompanied by a deep bass and drums about a minute later and one minute after that we are treated by Jan Henrik Ohme's warm vocals. I would almost say he sounds a bit Thom Yorkish and the music a bit Radioheadish, but that would be rather unfair to GAZPACHO, because they prove that they are a very competent band, maybe even better than Thom York and consortium. Towards the end of this track the music fades out and a delicate piano links the first two tracks seamlessly.
The second track "Chequered Light Buildings" is a very warm and delicate track. The lyrics remind me a bit of "Perfect Blue Buildings" by Counting Crows. This track also breathes the same depressing atmosphere as "Perfect Blue Buildings" does. The midsection of this track is solely instrumental and sounds wonderful. Towards the end we hear the same piano tunes that the song started out with. Again track 3 and 4 are blended into one other.
The third track "Inside Out" is probably my favourite track of the album. Wow! What a great melody and did I already mention Jan Henrik Ohme's warm vocals? This is it! Pure indulgement. Words cannot describe the way I feel about this track. Simply wonderful! No wonder the 10 minutes of this track only seem to last only 5. To make the whole complete we are treated by some delicate violins near the end of the track.
Track 4, "Valerie's Friend" is another atmospheric, yet very dramatic piece. Jan Henrik Ohme sounds like he's carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. Beautiful once again.
The final track "Massive Illusion" lasts over 13 minutes as well. The wonderful opening sounds of this track are coming from the tin whistle played by Kristian Skedsmo. He is the big guest artist on this album also playing low whistle, accordion, didgeridoo, mandolin and banjo! In the liner notes the band expresses their appreciation towards him: "Our idol and well trusted mad genius wizard; Kristian "The Duke" Skedsmo. To him we owe it all." The middle piece is a bit more up-tempo and contains some fine hauling guitar work. The outro of the song contains some great piano and strings and this could be a wonderful emotional classical piece.
So how would I rate this album? I wonder between 4 and 5 stars. Maybe it isn't a masterpiece to anyone, but it surely is to me. This could very well be the best album of 2007! Yet it will have quite some competition of albums have already been released like "Blackfield II" and Sylvan's "Presets". And keeping in mind that Porcupine Tree's "Fear Of A Blank Planet" will be released at the end of April '07 and Riverside's third studio album coming out somewhere near the end of this year, 2007 will be a very interesting Progressive year!
I think I owe this album a 5/5 star rating.

Martijn Martens

An unexpected and delightful treat.
Few recent releases in any genre reach the heights of GAZPACHO'S 'Night'. Though labelled 'Neo-progressive', I feel the music offered here is art rock with strong ambient and space-rock sensibilities. Each segment of the overall concept drifts along with a solid backbeat, with carefully scripted variations and sparse but interesting fills. Likewise, the bass pulses a simple rhythm, only occasionally pushed forward in the mix. The real delight comes with the subtle keyboard and guitar fills which colour the music, giving it a strong ethereal feel, not unlike TALK TALK'S later work.
The comparisons with TALK TALK don't end there. Ohme's plaintive, emotive vocals recall Mark Hollis, as does the meticulous, rich engineering. Further, one gets the sense that, as with TALK TALK'S 'Spirit of Eden', not a single note or silence has been placed on this record without careful consideration and debate. Owls hoot, violins and cathedral organs segue from one track to the next, and distorted guitar notes cut off with no echo. The volume of the music is an important part of the mix, used in the first track to heighten tension, and in subsequent tracks to dampen a particular motif or to push it forward to prominence.
Perhaps this may render the music soulless to some ears. Certainly it's not music to drink lager by. But oh, there's certainly feeling there. Take a listen to the sample track provided by ProgArchives: if the vocals don't get you on side, particularly the motif at 3:30 (repeated throughout the song), if the guitar solo does nothing for you and if the music sounds too artificial for your tastes, then GAZPACHO is not for you. Though I'm a person brought up on DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH and LED ZEPPELIN, and this music is light-years removed from that, I find plenty in this record to draw me in; and, once drawn in, much to make me return. Every track is strong, with memorable vocal lines, and powerful sequences release the carefully gathered tension.
This is the best new record I've heard in a year. Just kick back and let the rhythm and soundscapes take you away in to the night.

Russell Kirkpatrick

First of all I want to thank Prog Reviewer "evenless" for sending me (in Canada) this cd all the way from the Netherlands. Unfortunately for me GAZPACHO's music is very difficult to find over here right now, and so it mean't a lot to receive this highly acclaimed cd. As the band says : " "Night" is a musical description of a dream or a stream of consciousness".So it is a concept album and when you hear the music it's not surprising that the subject matter is about dreaming as the music itself is very dreamy and floating. What we are treated to are slowly building and haunting soundscapes with a Post-Rock feel at times. The mood is often quite emotional and while RADIOHEAD came to mind first I was also reminded of SIGUR ROS, BAUER and FRAKTAL.
As "Dream Of Stone" starts to play you can hear the sounds rise quietly out of the silence. This is very atmospheric and drifting music that slowly builds, including the vocals.The slowly beating drums are mesmerizing and I swear I hear mellotron. There are mournful violin sounds with piano melodies later in the song. It actually gets quite heavy 15 minutes in with some great guitar as the drums pound away. "Chequered Light Buildings" opens with tender vocals and slowly played piano as they gradually grow louder including the tension until it all builds to a climax.
"Upside Down" is my favourite track. It has a good steady beat with piano and acoustic guitar. What I really like are the vocal arrangements on this one. Nice. More violin and piano before this one is over. "Valerie's Friend" becomes almost happy sounding. Gasp ! Powerful middle section with a terrific guitar solo and the song ends with violin. "Massive Illusion" has a slow atmospheric beginning. They start clapping to the beat at one point. Nice organ work and the guitar 8 minutes in is really good. More mournful violin to end it.
4.5/5 stars for this emotional and haunting record. Highly recommended.

John Davie

Sometimes paying too much attention to the previous reviews can cause the residual effect of losing focus and not grasping objectively the true gist of the music being projected , especially when the band is sonically unknown to the listener. This is the labyrinth I suckered myself into, much to my chagrin and it took a dozen or so spin-throughs to disengage from the web of expectations . I cannot comment on Radiohead or Coldplay because I crucified radio back in the 90s , fed up with the nauseating incompetence of formulaic , manufactured sludge (which persists until today). My fellow colleagues have indicated Ptree and Landberk tendencies, which I simply cannot identify, at least overtly. On the other hand, the Mark Hollis-Spirit of Eden influence is quite correct, as well as the David Sylvian touches, both spawned from the Bryan Ferry school of singing. As soon as the beacons were dispensed with, things became increasingly clearer, Yes, this is atmospheric music that requires the candlelight, turn off the lights treatment, unplug the TV-DVD-PC-Cell (now that's hard to do!) and just let the sounds overcome your defenses. The funeral lilt of the first piece really lays down the mood, an opiate-laden hallucigenic (not necessarily psychedelic) canvas where the vocals dominate center stage and the assorted instruments act as a backdrop. This is not always a succesful option but when it works, it shines (Hollis, Sylvian) , with a hint of This Mortal Coil (the proggiest of the New Wave crews of the late 80s) , what with gypsy violin snippets that add to the gusto. The keys, guitars, bass & drums are all very low-key, no nifty " Hey! watch me play" delirious solos to be found, all subserviant to the team concept. Hence, I can understand why some will fawn all over this (and rightly so) and annoint this with the highest praise ("Upside Down" is really great) but I can sympathize with those who feel this is all too soporific and artsy. You gotta be in the right mood , again context determining how much pleasure can be derived from this strange brew. I did, a lot! 4.5/5 night stars .

Thomas Szirmay

Gazpacho meets Radiohead ...
'Night' is an album on the border betweeen Art Rock and Neo Prog which sounds like a collaboration of GAZPACHO and RADIOHEAD. The songs are in a dark melancholic mood and there are also some references to MARILLION, not only because of the cover art which is similar to 'Holidays in Eden'. Jan Henrik Ohme's vocals sometimes are near to the voices of Thom Yorke and Steve Hogarth.
Technically not very complicated but with great feeling and heroically delivered. With the smooth transitions between the songs it looks like a concept album. Wonderful in any case for relaxing with headphones on and a glass of wine in reach.
Dream Of Stone is the cornerstone of this release with a hypnotic rhythm, a fantastic short violin/piano interlude followed by a heavy grooving part and a magnificent piano end a la TALK TALK. This is by all means a terrific song and 5 stars worth IMO. Chequered Light Buildings follows as a very melancholic ballad which evolves/explodes after 3 minutes to a dramatic song. Upside is mainly a continuation of the first song and Valerie's Friend contains emotional vocals, the excellent drum playing is to mention and we have a surprising ambient finale. Massive Illusion first of all can be catagorized as a Prog Folk song, very interesting with hands clapping and a much more happier flavour at first. Afterwards the song picks up again the melancholic violin/piano theme from the first song and spreads it out for some minutes.
For the summary it's not enough to be a masterpiece because of some unnecessary lengths. But in the whole it deserves 4 stars anyhow. Dedicated to fans of melancholic emotional Prog.

Uwe Zickel

In My Not So Humble Opinion:
"Night" by Gazpacho defines Neo Prog for me.
I know, they are considered Crossover by the Prog Archives, but in my thought, this is what Neo is all about. The lush keyboards, carefully thought out transitions, the layers upon layers of sound is done brilliantly on this CD. I can thank Franz Keylard of "The Dividing Line Broadcasting Network" for introducing me to this band, and also the belief that they're Neo. You see, my first introduction to Gazpacho was on a podcast of his radio program. If I remember correctly, he planned on playing "Upside Down" before moving on to something else. Almost a half hour he came back on, cursing them for being so good, he couldn't just play the one song. He ended up completing the album and made the comment, and I'm paraphrasing here, 'they do Marillion better than Marillion'.
Right or wrong, it was at that point that I defined the Neo Prog sub-genre in my mind; also, it's a great one line description of the album to the uninitiated. It's hard to highlight individual passages because everything builds from one point to the next. Each note leads to the next one and so on and so on through the entire fifty three minutes of the CD.
Jan Henrik Ohme's vocals are mesmerizing, so soft and fragile; it took me a few listens to realize that he was a he. Thomas Anderson builds a wonderful wall of sound with his keyboards, never sticking out like a sore thumb yet every note and sound is beautifully placed. Jon-Arne Vilbo does a fine job on the guitar, building from a minimalist place in "Dream of Stone" up to his personal crescendo in "Valarie's Friend" to finally add to the CD's most energetic point in "Massive Illusion". Mikeal Kromer adds some spine tingling moments with his violin, mostly to segue between the different movements of the CD.
If you like lush music, if you like subtle music with a thousand little nuances filling the many layers, then this CD is highly recommended. Five / five Stars.

Tom Wright

I was wondered by seeing here "Night" as crossover prog and as Norway's group. In fact, I used to know simple formula, Sweden = rock, Finland = metal, Norway = ? Now I know it, they can be also good. It's just they're not so well known country (in prog things). I was also thinking about this Radiohead connection, but only thing reminding me this is J. H. Ohme's voice. Magical, on the other side of unpleasant vocal type. Very strange one, maybe even reminding vocalist of Muse, but I'm not so sure in that. But similar to RH ? Total of 53 minutes, divided in 5 tracks, which makes average length about 10 minutes. Not so RH style though.
I see Night more like post-rock influenced. Few, long tracks with a lot of space to improvisation, tracks taking its time to present what they want to tell (few strange moments also, explained later). To be honest, I listen to this album, when I'm very tired physically (not psychically, because I almost never am), because of its softness, hypnotic flow (second time I imagine what would drugs do to me with connection to this album), but long passages can lead to idea that ""nothing's going on here"", which is of course not truth. It just takes time.
"Dream of Stone" sets the mood to entire album. Everything what will come later is quite similar, but I mean similarity as in post-rock, not that all tracks are the same, or clones of each other. As in matter of PR (this album is reminding me it more and more), you can't just wait for riffs, admire drums playing, or rock'n'roll style. I'm trying to practice unique approach to every album in its own way (if I like it, then I'm trying to find out how this all were meant to be). So I feel it. "Chequered Light Buildings" continues in unspoken story about poetic feelings (well, there are lyrics and Story of album, which is sometimes more important to me). And so on, describing each track here is extremely difficult, because I want to take this record as one track, one tale.
For me, important thing is that there's a deepness to which I can look and not see the end. That there's a unique combination of vocals with instruments (but voice is main instrument here at these times), which is very haunting. As I said at "Part 2 by MotW", ethereal beauty. And I feel it again. Every sound has its place and helps to form overall composition perfectly.
Five / five stars for not from this Earth record (maybe Moon, or Pluto Night)

Marty McFly

Gazpacho has a sound that is pretty unique. The closest band I can think of to compare them to is Porcupine Tree; but that is more in terms of the way that the music works on me, than the way it sounds or makes me feel.
The music here is definitely atmospheric. Contrast is used to great effect (listen to the build up on "checkered light buildings" as a perfect example, where vocals and piano slowly build into an explosion of electric guitar, driving drums, and epic strings, which then has acoustic guitars and more strings added on top before the vocals return hauntingly). The band makes use of each of their instruments, but they are never just "there"; when an instrument is being played, it has something to say.
That being said, instead of being melodic, this music is atmospheric. And while some melodies will stick to the memory after listening, it is always the way that the music makes one feel that makes this album such a rousing success.
It is hard to tell one track from the next. They flow into each other completely naturally, without any feeling of being forced. And while certain themes remain only within certain tracks (such as the "How small is your life?" chorus in Valerie's Friend), each of them has enough different themes that you could imagine the tracks being broken down even smaller if you wanted to. But truthfully, I can't imagine the tracks on this album sounding as strong without the context of the album. It is the way that ideas flow into each other; the road of emotions that the band takes you on that give this album its cohesiveness.
The instrumental work on this album is excellent. It is never dull, and always works perfectly within the context of the music and the lyrics. The singing is also great, in a style that is perhaps somewhat similar to that of Radiohead, although I find that I prefer Gazpacho. The singer has a bit more strength and power behind his vocals, I think.
The album ends beautifully, with an almost classical feel to it (in fact, I had to listen to some classical music after hearing this album the first time to get it out of my system). I find myself wishing that it would go on a bit longer, because it is such a beautiful album, but unfortunately, all things must come to an end, and I am forced instead to hit "play" a second time.

Stephen

Otro disco maravilloso y super recomendado por el blog cabezón. Otra de las joyitas musicales que no te podés perder. "Night" es un disco para ponerse cómodo, apagar la luz, y dejarse llevar por el sueño antes de que termine la noche.