Neal Heppleston
Plankton and the Whale Shark
Hopton Data
25 November 2022
West Yorkshire-based bass participant and double bass maker Neal Heppleston’s first album, People Songs for Double Bass, contained eight conventional tunes organized by Neal for double bass. For his second set, Neal has carried out a U-turn and constructed a seven-song soundscape impressed by the ocean and constructing sound utilizing quite a lot of devices and a bunch of contributors. All however eschewing typical genres, the album focuses on delivering an immersive listening expertise, with gamers dipping out and in of the music: Take the title monitor; Graham McElearney’s arpeggiating harp traces are the plankton right here, ebbing and flowing whereas being softly smothered by Robert George Saull’s fuzzy electrical guitar.
The primary monitor, Siphonophore, is performed at a equally leisurely tempo, however Man Whittaker’s drums, together with Heppleston’s bass and Saull’s flute, lend this one a simple, minimalist jazz character. Ghost Ship, alternatively, is available in with a depraved bass line that’s joined by a driving drum beat and glistening electrical guitar. Add to that synths, ghostly, screaming digital distortion and shards of sax, and the result’s a twisted carnival of a monitor, nonetheless with components of jazz however extra acid and free than the unfastened, ethereal nature of the primary two songs.
Shifting issues even additional is the beautiful, woozy Salt Canine, a music that swerves and sways as a lot as a ship at sea. Right here Neal’s bass blends together with his Casiotone, whereas Whittaker’s scattered drums and percussion and dbh’s uneasy violin add an eeriness and fairly trippy, drunken really feel to the music. In Fathoms makes use of clear piano notes to underpin the piece, however behind that, Nick Jonah Davis’s lapsteel and Jim Ghedi’s harmonium mix with Amelia Baker’s violin to create a swirling, superbly unusual and natural backdrop. Better of all is the closing monitor Ebisu, a music related in character to Siphonophore in that it makes use of a flute to create the temper, however the sound is even looser right here and fairly magical in its light-as-air construction. Neal’s bass strikes splendidly with Hayden Berry’s clarinet and the great Sharron Kraus’s bamboo flute whereas delicate digital sounds drift previous. This glorious music ends an album that’s mesmerising in its bizarre magnificence; a wierd, hypnotic soundscape that can magnetise and bewitch.
“Plankton and the Whale Shark” will probably be launched by Hopton Data on 25th November 2022 on Vinyl and Obtain. https://nealheppleston.bandcamp.com/album/plankton-and-the-whale-shark
