This shard of the star of Black Moth Super Rainbow doesn’t take on the sound of synths ’n’ beats or distorto noise. Seven Fields of Aphelion (née Maureen Boyle) is the synth/piano player of the group and on her first solo record she delivers a pretty collection of reverb-hazed grand piano interweaved with squishy space-synths. The piano parts in many of the songs find a pretty phrase, focus on it and repeat, the delayed sound coming back and filling in the gaps between key hits. Some could say it sounds too similar, or needs more variation, but it adds to the dream-like atmosphere. Kinda like taking too much Nyquil and being blown away by everything while walking through your house. The best part is that, much like a Black Moth album, Periphery will find some weird memory in your brain and tie it to a song. Really. “Wildflower Wood” sounds like the kind of melodramatic music you’d hear on Sesame Street when one of the characters feels sad and their friends come by to tell them that everything’s gonna be OK. “Starlight Aquatic” sounds like a cut from a soundtrack to a futuristic serial you’d catch on ’80s-era BBC. “Cloud Forest (The Little Owl)” makes me think of when I watched Blade Runner all by myself in my basement with the lights out. The package is great too. Besides being a fine pianist, Boyle is a damn fine photographer. The disc comes with 14 dreamy, double-exposed photographs that you can swap out and use as an album cover. While that practice is hardly unique, those fuzzy pictures and these dreamy songs go together like horse and carriage. Highly recommended! (Graveface, www.graveface.com) Patrick Michalishyn
Winnipeg music & culture since 1989