Vessels, White Fields and Open Devices Album Review

Album review of 'White Fields and Open Devices' by Vessels.

To say that 'White Fields and Open Devices' is an eagerly anticipated release is something of an understatement. If the Leeds Society for Experimental and Progressive Rock Music produced a calendar, in which every month revealed the pale haggard nude frame of one of the city's esteemed post-rock captains preserving his dignity with a Crimson Tide or early Genesis LP, if such a society existed, and if they made such a calendar, the release date for this album, whatsoever it is, would be marked upon it in nothing less than bold italics.

That is to say, the weight unit of expectation was on Vessels to make a record which did themselves justice. For a duo of age now they have been one of the most exciting live bands in the land, bewildering and endearing audiences with their sheer scale. The good of Vessels is big, in every sense. From the wall of delayed, distorted guitar sound and precision bivalent drumming down to intricate glitch patterns and pianoforte arpeggios; they do it all with virtuosic competency. If you'll excuse the clich� a Vessels usher is a journey, the audient is engaged with the stripe the whole way, spell-bound by all the ideas and emotions that cycle in and out of the euphony. It's important to note of hand that the multi-instrumentalism and skill serves the euphony, not the other way round.
'White Fields and Open Devices' was recorded in Minnesota with John Congleton, a quasi-celebrity in the relatively anonymous world of post-rock. For the purposes of this followup, its pertinent to note that he has in the yesteryear produced records for Texan widescreen