Longplay 2

Do you ever struggle to find something to listen to late at night when the day is winding down and you just need something really slow and dream One of the most striking aspects of the album is how Pacific UV manages to keep it from becoming too repetitive. Styles of ambient music such as this typically rely heavily on electronic instrumentation and there is a great temptation to let catchy beats and melodies loop several times over within a song while occasionally switching patterns up here and there. This adds a severe amount of redundancy and length to a lot of electronica songs. Just think of the stereotypical techno song and how ridiculously repetitive it is. However, Pacific UV uses typical electronic techniques infrequently on Longplay 2 and relies more on clever composition to evoke a sense of ethereality while providing sonic variation as well.

The first track, “Alarmist,” is a perfect example of Pacific UV’s style. It uses repetition as an element of the song, but is not a tiring kind of repetition that makes you become bored with the song. It is a repetition that at first builds up to create a melodic theme and then uses variations on that theme later in the song. As I said previously, it shows the use of creative composition reminiscent of classical music rather than simply pounding away the same looped samples over and over again.

However, the best song on the album by far is the final track “Ljiv,” which is the most likely song to be appreciated by those who aren’t fans of the space rock genre. It makes use of repetition in order to build up to a sonic theme as I mentioned before, but does so to a more effective end. The song consists of an ever-growing number of classical strings and gentle piano strokes that eventually weave into each other to form a melodious gossamer of sound so overwhelming that it sends shivers through your body. It’s almost so gentle as to be sad. It may cause tears to start to well up in your eyes if you are one who is easily affected by the evocative power of music.

I highly recommend Longplay 2 for those of you who need an album that is more calming than what you may already have in your collection. Even if you don’t want to get the whole thing, then I suggest that you get your hands on “Ljiv” via iTunes or some other source once we take it down from the site. It will be well worth your time.

Purchase Longplay 2 by Pacific UV at iTunes and Amazon.
Pacific UV – Alarmist
Pacific UV – Ljiv

For more information about Pacific UV, visit their MySpace page and Warm Records.