Asher - Landscapes Elsewhere (CONV, 2006)

1 Where The Blue Appears Not Quite Blue (20:08)
2 There's No Color Besides A Blue (6:29)
3 The Traveller Pierced By Arrows (6:09)
4 Last Rays Of A Painted Sun (20:09)

landscapes elsewhere is Asher Thal-Nir’s third release on netlabel Conv coming after “graceful degradation” (cd-r) and “invariably the blue” (mp3). It’s also the follow-up to “Directions” (cd-r) released by Leerraum. A noticeable difference in this newest album when compared to the aforementioned is the inclusion of more harmonious and organic elements. But Asher’s music is more than just about sounds - it’s also about images, perception, and emotion.

Having listened to landscapes elsewhere two things come to mind. The first is the soft chroma of a favorite color - grayish-blue - a diffused and pleasant hue, that I find very soothing. The second is the most enjoyable season to me - Indian Summer (actually an atypically stretch of temperate and sunny weather occurring in late Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere) - with its comforting warmth and subdued, hazy sunlight. Asher has said that he is reluctant to talk about his music and a little reflection on my part reveals why. The music that he composes is more than just about him and the sounds and the minutiae of their creation. More importantly, it’s about the listener and about how the sounds are interpreted and what affect they have on the listener.

On the surface level I can easily describe the music because all listeners will hear similar sounds although we might use different words to describe them e.g. soft, harmonious gently resonating above a layer of the light static pop-and-crackle of an old vinyl record coupled with field recordings of watery noises, birds, and other organic sounds and even traces of a subtle, but noticeable, high frequency droning whine. The album consists of four compositions: “where the blue appears not quite blue” (1) and “last rays of a painted sun” (4) both exceed 20 minutes in duration while “there’s no color besides a blue” and “the traveller pierced by arrows“ (2 and 3) are considerably shorter each being near 6 minutes in length. As is with much of Asher’s work, there is an unmistakable homogeneity between the compositions which gives the album a very coordinated ambiance, but concentrated listening reveals enough divergence between the compositions so that each stands on its own.

landscapes elsewhere has the quality of being variable relative to the listener‘s present state of mind. As I write this review, the weather is unusually pleasant here in the Midwestern United States for this time of year and life is good right now. The sounds as I perceive them from listening to these compositions in this existing moment are relaxing and emotionally reassuring. Were the weather more unfriendly or life more difficult, my experience of the music might be considerably different. How we perceive the music is partly colored by the present moment.

If you’ve enjoyed Asher’s other works, then landscapes elsewhere will not disappoint you. If you’ve found his previous work to be too minimal and abstract for your tastes, then you will be pleasantly surprised with the inclusion of more harmonious sounds and field recordings which make for an overall more organic release.
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