IRISARRI, RAFAEL ANTON — Daydreaming

"Originally released on CD by the Miasmah label in 2007, now available on vinyl. Championed by the likes of David Sylvian and Thom Yorke, Daydreaming is the stunning debut album from Seattle's Rafael Anton Irisarri. Released to great critical acclaim, Daydreaming is a collection of piano-led instrumental compositions of astonishing beauty. This sounds like a record written for piano, but it also incorporates an array of modern sound sources in its production. As the drifting synthesizers lap around the feet of a majestic piano part in the album's opening track "Waking Expression," it is startlingly clear that there is more to Irisarri than mere stereotyping. Rather, this is a carefully-constructed soundtrack to your most intriguing dreams, the dreams you might remember for a split second before losing everything, only to have images creep up on you some time later. Those of you left spellbound by Deaf Center's haunting and beautiful Pale Ravine album will be pleased to know that Daydreaming continues in the tradition of murky, theatrical and deeply imaginative music. Lines of comparison can be drawn between Irisarri's compositional approach and the work of artists as varied as Machinefabriek, Peter Broderick and Mogwai. This is rich, visual music showing a dark, melancholic side to American life and captured perfectly by an artist unafraid to bear his soul to the world. Daydreaming offers another chance to discover a highlight release from the Miasmah label's earlier days. On purple-colored vinyl." [label info]