Mark Templeton made quite a splash back in ’07 with the release of his solo debut, Standing On A Hummingbird, on Anticipate. That album, with its richly textured guitar drones and warm atmospherics, gave Fennesz a run for his money. Templeton may have kept quiet last year, but it wasn’t on account of laziness as he’s kicking ’09 off right with the release of Acre Loss, a lush multimedia collaboration with filmmaker Aaron Munson. Featuring ten short films that pair Templeton’s electro-acoustic ambiance with Munson’s abstract visuals to hypnotic effect, Acre Loss is another shining gem in Anticipate’s impressive catalog. Sonically speaking, the album sits between label boss Ezekiel Honig’s downtempo constructions and Klimek’s fractured orchestral odes, while Munson’s film work, which relies heavily on the oversaturated warmth of a vintage super8 camera, sits somewhere between the sunkissed aesthetics of Boards Of Canada and the bucolic majesty of Jon Wozencroft’s photography. All in all, Acre Loss is one of the most gorgeous releases to cross my path for some time and a worthy diversion from the doldrums of winter as well.
Carl Ritger
File under: Fennesz, Taylor Deupree, Ezekiel Honig