A sad story greets the listener to this brilliant debut mini-album from

Cambridge band Gwei-lo - their first is also their last recording. A

decision was made to release the album bearing testament to the musical

skills of guitarist Al Brooker, who collapsed and died on stage earlier this

year. As such the album's intense atmospherics echo with lost potential, and

the translation of their Chinese band name, ghost-walker, has a sad irony to

it.

The music itself justifies all the sadness-tinged hyperbole surrounding the

band's debut. In the best traditions of post-rock it creates unusual,

unconventional yet beautiful sounds from little more than a standard guitar

band setup. The musical agenda is made clear by the first track, U.R.R. - a

fierce, energetic bout of guitar atmospherics, layering contrasting riffs,

melodies and noise to create an overall texture of sound with an unusual

melancholy dreamy dynamic to it. A huge puslating bass sound and intricate

expressive drumming add just as much to the songs as the original guitar

work. "Cell song" comes closest to the more standard chords and melodies

form that the album largely bypasses, starting with a simple riff and adding

fast drum patterns and layers of haunting echoey samples between more

melodic bursts of sound. All the stops are pulled out to create sounds that

feed a unique atmosphere - the songs are awash with harmonics, echoes,

subtle samples and electronic effects, swathes of noise, quiet riffs and

dissonance, lots of bass, and drumming that at times wouldn't sound out of

place on an experimental dance record. When they all come together, in the

climax of 7-minute track Corona, the sound is magnificent. And it all fits

together to form a coherent whole, at times sad and intense, at times

pulsing with rhythmic energy. A brilliant debut, which leaves us to wonder

what heights the band could have reached with this potential.