AMN Reviews: John Scott (Stereocilia) – Slow Motion (2015; Echoic Memory)

Bristol, UK based John Scott, recording as Stereocilia, recently released this EP that focuses on processed guitar sounds. Consisting of four tracks, the first three were composed, while the fourth was a live studio improvisation. Scott’s approach involve picked electric guitar chords, along with understated synth lines and loops. As such, there are usually at least one or two distinct voices, aside from the guitar, that comprise the foreground and background. The result invokes a post-apocalyptic landscape of decaying structures and haunted fields.

On the second track, Shadows, Scott lifts the mood a bit, with a subtle electric solo. Thus, Slow Motion cannot quite be described as ambient. However, it does resemble a soundtrack for an imaginary movie, perhaps in the horror category or a dark drama. A high point of the album is the third track, Refractions, where looped guitar overlaps itself in an intricate and evolving fashion.  The album is rounded out by the 14-minute Undertow, which has a heavier focus on the synths, and the guitar lines work around drones in a shoegaze manner.

https://stereocilia.bandcamp.com/album/slow-motion