Craig Armstrong - Piano Works

scoundrel, Aug 12, 2007

Craig Armstrong, who's lent his melodic sensibilities to soundtracks and trip-hop bands alike, strips several of his compositions down to their core -- a simple piano tune. But to call them simple understates how powerful they can be. "In My Own Words," for instance, packs in plenty of melancholy in a running time of under three minutes. To be truthful, several of the tracks have been electronically rendered -- the reverb on "Hidden" or the sudden cuts on "Gentle Piece," for example -- but that doesn't negate the essence of the instrument (the liner notes insist that all the sounds originated from the piano, which makes you wonder how he extracted the lovely resonances on "Diffuse" or the sprightly plucks on "Fugue"). It's not an album that fully commands your attention, but then again, I don't think that was the intent. This is an album for Sundays, for when you want the space to hear yourself think.

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