Michael Scott Dawson – Nowhere, Middle Of

We Are Busy Bodies

Library Voices member and sound artist Michael Scott Dawson has turned an unexpected bout of vertigo into the impetus for this series of stunningly minimalist vignettes that use generative synth tones to form slow moving cascades of ambient sound.

Over these unfurling soundscapes, a layer or two of found sound or carefully selected guitar notes are placed to realise a dreamlike, pastoral idyll that drifts past the listener. These extra textures on Nowhere, Middle Of, be they the sound of birds or of the wind in trees, prevent the pieces from descending into formlessness.

The bout of vertigo and the sensations that it would have caused in Michael go some way to informing the pieces detailed here. There is a natural sway and movement to them that takes them outside the studio and firmly plants them in the outdoors; the kind of pastoral exterior that is infused with wan sunlight, all browns and creams and pale golds. The space that Michael uses across the pieces is expansive. The notes stretch like supple saplings in a strong breeze and the guitar notes when used throb with gentle reverb. It is liminal and gossamer and evokes nature in all its hidden glory; the kind of glory that is only experienced by the intrepid or those seeking lonely treasures in a beckoning landscape.

There are some similarities with Harold Budd and Brian Eno‘s albums; but here things are even sparser, with the found birdsong and a noise that could be the babbling of a brook or wind in the trees leading us through glorious but muted vistas. Each piece offers a different perspective on a similar theme, but these extra elements are enough to differentiate them. It feels a little like taking a long walking trip across a flat but changing landscape, with each day adding something fresh to the ear while losing something in its place. The unfolding wave of the generative synth is reverie inducing, but these extra textures prevent torpor and allow the listener to be drawn further in.

Some of the pieces are given a little more dynamism by some unexpected series of sounds; they aren’t necessarily recognisable, but are supposed to be there as if something unknown is taking place over a hedgerow, invisible to you but perfectly in its place. At other points, the twang of an electric guitar and a slow and steady drip send us a little further under the cover of a cool, shadowy place, light blocked out temporarily, but not such that we could lose our way. In other places, it is hard to focus as sounds become blurry, with slightly distorted tones lending an unusual edge to the descending background.

However Nowhere, Middle Of is experienced, via headphones or blasting through a light filled living room, the album will take the listener on an evocative and sun-dappled journey through imaginary vistas. It leaves a lot of space for the listener to add their own images and it works beautifully for that reason. Michael has an intuitive way with these subtle pieces, and allows them to work on the listener as they imbue their own magic.

-Mr Olivetti-