Electroluminescent - "s/t EP"
(Unfamiliar Ceiling Music 2005, ucm005)
Electroluminescent - "s/t EP"
(Unfamiliar Ceiling Music 2005, ucm005)
From Aural Innovations #31 (June 2005)
Hamilton, Ontario's Ryan Ferguson, known as Electroluminescent, is a one-man tour de force. In live performance, he plays guitar, keyboard, and drum pads, often all at the same time, layering the sounds with sampling and delay effects to create mesmerizing, 40-minute long epics that shift and change through rocking, rhythmic passages, to ambient explorations, to distorted feedback freak outs.
This self-titled EP has three shorter studio recordings, the 4 ½-minute clb, the 3 ½-minute The Peeps, and the nearly 10-minute 5 Seconds More. clb builds slowly from spacey Klaus Schulze like electronics, with burbling synth sequences and layers of guitar slowly emerging, gently rocking through the mix, adding rhythm and fuzzed out soundscapes. I wish this one could have gone on for much longer! The Peeps is built around a lovely, airy, sunny summer afternoon guitar riff, while gentle layers of electronics and other guitar sounds float beneath it. 5 Seconds More really shows Ferguson's talent for layering multiple swirling guitar patterns with swells of deep space synths for a truly gorgeous ride through space that is cozy, warm and inviting, filled with shimmering sounds and flickering colors.
I, for one, will definitely be looking forward to hearing more from Electroluminescent in the future.
For more information, visit Electroluminescent at his My Space web site: http://www.electroluminescent.cjb.net.
Or write Ryan at: elecluminescent@hotmail.com.
Reviewed by Jeff Fitzgerald