Carlton Melton ‘Always Even’ CD/LP/DD 2013
Warmth has covered me; it is a lullaby to a lost age that Carlton Melton’s ‘Always Even’ displays here. We meander the space between the needle and the ear on the first track ‘Slow Wake’, the prelude to something bigger that is about to come. This is the heavenly sounds of what we already know about this band. They place themselves into the lost art of ambient guitar sounds and heavy dripping effects.
This is replaced with the sudden knee jerk of ‘Keeping On’, a true reminder of the krautrock moments we come to expect from a group like this. They are able to turn on a primal switch that awakens the centre of what we call the ID, as we dive, we are set on a trip, a trip into a psychedelic world.
This track has a heavy Tangerine Dreams feel to it without parodying them; I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying myself at this point. I lay here, eyes closed and feeling outside of my environment. I am lost within my head with only this cosmic spill that is Carlton Melton.
Then I’m dropped into ‘Spiders Web’, this is a low key and quite unnerving sound, even though the sounds smother and feel claustrophobic, it also jitters and fades in and out with the synth leads breaking through the wall of the guitar. It slows the pace down and we are floating down stream into the dark caverns of this album. It slowly builds up with the lead synth unwilling to hold back.
As we are plunged into ‘Sarsen’ it cuts in with a near dentist drill shriek and spasmodic drum beat that soon moves into Can territory. The guitar starts to bleed through again feeling more like astral feedback and the bass pummels in the background. Arp sounds seem to appear and break through, then they are dropped away leaving only the drums and bass which firmly plants you back to the moment. Then they reprise is a more serious affair, it has grabbed you and holds you up, I find myself unable to stop from moving my head back and forth as I am truly enjoying the time.
It is at this moment that I hope it never ends and luckily for me it doesn’t as I am about to witness how an album should end. ‘The Splurge’ is a monster of a track as you are being lead further and further from your reality and are peering through a veil into a unknown universe, and as it ends I am filled with a true love for this great, great record.
It’s a rare thing that a band that is known for their live space jams can create a lucid and well-structured album, Carlton Melton are that band, if they are unknown to you then this is as good a place to start than any other. I suggest you look out for this and buy it, as it is a true must have for me and should be for you.
Label: Agitated Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook
Scribed by: Guy Nolan
