Uploaded July 2012 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Lovely new LP from Alex Smalley and Simon Bainton's UK based drone project, their second full-length for the Barge imprint. Pausal's sound is a sprawling, cinematic one, perhaps closest to "Choral"-era Mountains, were one wanting of a sonic referent. Pads, computer processing, field recordings and strings ebb and flow with a richness that is often absent from contemporary in-the-box ambient music. Portions of "Forms" remind me of private New Age works from the 70s- with zither-like tones set against cycling, rapturous guitar loops and soaring synths- but decidedly rooted in the now. These recordings take the romantic minimalism that characterized their debut for Barge (and the cassette only album, "Autumnal," that I released last year on Students of Decay) to dizzying new heights. Really superb and quite striking compositions. Definitely recommended. ...
Lovely new LP from Alex Smalley and Simon Bainton's UK based drone project, their second full-length for the Barge imprint. Pausal's sound is a sprawling, cinematic one, perhaps closest to "Choral"-era Mountains, were one wanting of a sonic referent. Pads, computer processing, field recordings and strings ebb and flow with a richness that is often absent from contemporary in-the-box ambient music. Portions of "Forms" remind me of private New Age works from the 70s- with zither-like tones set against cycling, rapturous guitar loops and soaring synths- but decidedly rooted in the now. These recordings take the romantic minimalism that characterized their debut for Barge (and the cassette only album, "Autumnal," that I released last year on Students of Decay) to dizzying new heights. Really superb and quite striking compositions. Definitely recommended. ...
