Lorna Irvine reviews a 'stunning and moving beyond words' performance.
Pale creatures line the CCA tonight, hushed into silent submission.
Brussels based A Winged Victory for the Sullen, usually a duo consisting of pianist Dustin O' Halloran and Stars of the Lid musician Adam Wiltzie (often nicknamed The Dead Texan) are performing as a full quintet.
Huge ebbs and flows of keyboards, synth and cello are pierced by occasional shards of feedback, frequencies or drones.
The sound is lush, cinematic and absolutely incredible, building in texture, whether funereal or romantic. ‘Atomos VII’ swoops in and out of the audience's ears like something airborne; ‘A Minuet for A Cheap Piano’ is vaporous and barely there. All tracks melt into each other like a classical concert.
It is too easy to draw comparisons with ambient pioneers like Eno and post-rock acts Godspeed You Black Emperor or Mogwai (indeed, a beaming Stuart Braithwaite gets a dedication), but they exist in their own zone, rising above easy genres.
Stunning and moving beyond words, the packed room only exhales at the end.
Touring Britain and N Ireland
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