Marshall Watson: Another Back Porch Lonely Day EP
Echospin

Look no further than the title of Marshall Watson's latest EP to glean some impression of his music's nostalgic and bittersweet character. The emotive qualities that distinguished his 2004 Highpoint Lowlife disc The Time Was Later Than He Expected permeate Another Back Porch Lonely Day too but the new material embraces techno to a far greater degree, the melodic dimensions of his style still present but now joined by the insistent burble of a dance pulse. Waves of billowing, densely dramatic string tones drape over an electro-techno base in “Unforgotten” while “Juno” weaves somber keyboard melodies with a clickety techno pattern; if anything, the delicately calibrated flow of “Under the Bed” moves Watson towards Kompakt territory. One song in particular harks back to the ruminative spirit of the previous disc, the glorious “An Evolution of Sorts,” where Watson alchemizes bright synthesizer gleam into melancholy, church-like ambiance.

August 2006