Saul Stokes: Washed in Mercury
- We Found It At Io
- Deep in the Grass
- Tunnel Twins
- Zona
- Kasei
- Clearing
- Sweet Paraffin
Washingtonian Saul Stokes certainly exhibits his musical diversity with the
release of his debut album on Portland's Hypnos Records. "Washed in Mercury"
ranges from the ambient drones favored by experimental fans to more rhythmic
selections that share more in common with modern Industrial. The one thing
this album certainly doesn't hold a candle to is the darkness of both
aforementioned genres. In fact, most of the music on the album is starlingly
upbeat and almost happy. This is not to confuse the music with say such genres
as Synth-Pop, because it's not, but rather to state that chosen musical
elements contain a very bright, organic mood to them as opposed to a dark,
metallic sound favored by most Industrial artists. The album also contains
absolutely no vocals, instead Saul has chosen to work within the framework he
knows best, namely expansive instrumental compositions. One item unique to
this record is that each track on the album is of sufficient length to cross
many musical genres with it's time span. This allows each composition to flow
and wander into whatever direction it desires, which is something not seen very
often, but is a certain sign of talent. Hopefully Saul Stokes will continue
down the path laid out by "Washed in Mercury", because it certainly is a
stellar piece of work for a debut album.
Contact:
Hypnos Recordings
P.O. Box 6868
Portland, OR 97228
E-mail: mgriffin@hypnos.com
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