Dollboy - 'Casual Nudism' (Arable) Released 20/11/06

Having started out with the humble aim of making music to bathe to, Dollboy's Oliver Cherer wooed Big Chillers and bathtimers with 'Plans For A Modern City' and tracks such the sublime 'Cymbeline & Celeste'. Dollboy's exploration of ambient sonics with acoustic instrumentation continues afoot on 'Casual Nudism' - producing a soundscape of 'harmonic convergences' where so many complimentary sounds are produced from clarinet, kalimba, glockenspiel, harpsichord, singing bowls, glass glock, space echo recorders and trusty Moog - a post-post-industrial urban-folk is explored as pioneered by Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Another Fine Day.

'Black Sun' features the African Kalimba that sounds like so many fluttering butterfly's with yawning instrumentation opening like an early-morning sun salutation. 'Odd Man Out' casts the spell using xylophone and xylomatic for deeply-rhythmic Philip Glass style-loops where mellow harmonics build and form lasting eddies in the mind (there's a magic portal quality to be found, like entering Mr Ben's wardrobe). The aquatic 'Dadgad' employs harmonics derived from guitar and cymbalom for chiming effects, and 'Aquasek' and the tremendous Plaid-ian 'Pauline's Shades' have an inate lazy/drifting quality associated with cumulus clouds. 'Bala' could well become a theme tune to a soap opera not yet conceived with it's trumpet/trombone/clarinet blowing like plumes of sunday afternoon chimney smoke.

Title track 'Casual Nudism' finds Oliver playful with scattering beats and loops from xylophone and balalaika, and 'Ringers' sounds like a classic folk arrangement chipper without a song but happy with popping anti-beats. 'Underground / Overground' explores hinter Womble-territory with a Tunng-style folkiness and ricochetting programmed-beats from hand drawn percussion and "...underground is overground is underground..." vocal like the axiomatic 'As above, so below', as well the Wombles knew. 'Kid Of Speed' evokes a haunted theatre where the ghosts of visitors are summoned by a melancholy pedal steel guitar, the album concluding with the short yet delicious peppered-with-space-dust 'Jungfrau'.

'Plans For A Modern City' possessed a futuristic sound whereas 'Casual Nudism' has a more organic and translucent quality that finds the juncture where the twain of ambient / acoustic meet with instrumental-harmonics. All references to ambient works begin and end with Brian Eno, and Dollboy proves to be the spiritual progeny with simple no-tempo arrangements - music to bathe in and much else besides.