01. candlescape
02. Moonlight Shadow
03. common colors in the air
04. sampling atmosphere
05. On the Summer Solstice
06. porcelain sky wink
07. sui
08. Endless Dreamless (+ haruka nakamura)
09. 花火

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「i hold a wish for you」 reviews

"i hold a wish for you, the first full-length from April Lee (voice, computer, acoustic guitar, harmonium, glockenspiel, music box) and Ricks Ang (guitar, computer, piano, melodica, percussion), flows like a stream of unused and detached energy, a surplus sensuousness that is not absorbed by any end, practical or otherwise. The album first sets its sights to a northern lights display of cascading harmonics on “candlescape”. A frottage of spindly guitar then plods through an islet of slow-moving textures as Lee’s voice, light and shifting, weaves romantic and elegant streams of spells.

As it progresses, the work is saved by the spare yet steady stitching together of songs and beautiful, tiny sounds and almost subliminal textures. The prevalence of this aspect in the duo’s approach moves the record well into an intimate and ambiguous space where, by and large, the proceedings are neither too soporific nor florid, neither too habitual nor scattered. Far from it, in fact, as no small number of moments achieve a spontaneous vitality in the spatial placement of discreet and amorphous sounds and in the timely shifts brought about in the color and shading of these expansive backdrops.

Particularly in the later stages, when the two of them skirt from the heady piano melody and rich drone of “porcelain sky wink” to the whirling sonic ornaments and digital hiccups of “sui” and finally come to rest in the comparatively rough, earthy expressionism of “Endless Dreamless”, led by Lee’s roving voice, the work is able to build much anticipation and coincidence. Refined and robust, these well organized aural assemblages give ample animation and seriousness to the light and prosaic elements of the everyday." - Cyclic Defrost (Australia)

"Its not easy to pin down aspidistrafly’s music into a specific genre, which of course is a good thing. Can you imagine Taylor Deupree or Richard Chartier playing dreamy pop music? With some female vocalist? Well, there you go. I’d say aspidistrafly is microsound and pop. Underneath the laptop boils the kettle, cracks the hum, in order to make this album definitely aside from the world of real pop music. A well made release, both the music and the package, very refined" - Vital Weekly (Europe)

"Everything is worked out into the smallest details. With field recordings and microsounds they sculpture songs to accompany dreamy vocals. With an eye for details like Taylor Deupree, it's in the vain of the Japanese musician Piana. "i hold a wish for you" is an overall a nice album which with the amazing artwork becomes something not to miss out on." 8/10 - Earlabs (Europe)

"Full of dreamy post shoegaze soundscapes, ethereal female vocals & lullaby folk textures. It kind of reminds me of the pastures between Sigur Ros & Cocteau Twins, the voice fluttering & hovering around tantalisingly between absorbing passages of crisp acoustics, subtle found sound samples, gentle ambient/drift textures and blissed laptop glitch. It's definitely of a high pedigree, lovingly produced and a delight to look at as well hear." - Norman Records (Europe)

"a beautifully crafted record that communicates on varying levels of consciousness, it pieces together fragments of meticulously arranged field recordings and lovingly sculpted soundscapes in what emerges as an evocative, otherworldly experience. the partnership of ricks and april is held in delicate balance, and likewise the ongoing dialog between the processed and the organic. in “moonlight shadow”, that dialog proceeds through a seemingly endless overlapping of various elements that drift in and out of each other like waves continuously reshaping a shoreline, making for an immensely rewarding listen." - i'm waking up to...

"aspidistrafly's 'i hold a wish for you' showcase the verbal equivalent of crystal clear running water; Subtle is a great description for much of the album. If you have the patience to let the album settle into you,  you’ll notice over several listens how the quiet minutes are very much like the necessary back story that supports a series of brilliant action scenes in a thoughtfully storyboarded film." - The Silent Ballet (North America)

"In their gentle atmospheres I can breathe connections to the music of Japanese artists in the likes of Akira Kosemura, Piana...electronic music related with ambient with hints of pop, field recordings taken from nature and everyday life give this album an aesthetic character." - Loop (South America)

"taylor deupree meets haruka nakamura なんて言葉を思い浮かべてしまう、淡い電子音を纏ったメランコリックなサウンドとaprilちゃんの歌唱力＋表現力を兼ね備えた素敵なボーカル。エレガント" - masami shimomura (p*dis manager / buyer, Japan)

"宝石のように輝き、木漏れ日のように優しいアルバムがマレーシアより到着。ノンビートな音の流れにふわりと乗っかるピアノの旋律が、体内に心地良く溶け込んでいく。haruka nakamuraなどを擁する人気レーベル＝schole周辺のアーティストにも通じる、リアルで温かい日常風景を描いた素晴らしい一枚。ありふれた生活のなかにある美しい瞬間を切り取った写 真が満載の、アコーディオン式特殊パッケージにも注目を!" - Bounce Magazine, Tower Records (Japan)

"12k ～ Taylor Deupree風のミニマル・アンビエントなインスト、haruka nakamuraがギターとピアノで参加している８曲目に象徴されるようなscholeレーベル風のアコースティック・エレクトロニカ～女性ヴォーカル曲で構成された美しく優雅さに満ちた作品集。ちなみに、マレーシアの人気アーティストflicaのアルバムをマスタリングしたのもこのaspidistraflyです。美しい写真を納めたアコーディオン式ブックレットの特殊パッケージ" - Art Rock No.1 (Japan)

"他們全心全意打造出一張滿載追憶與情感，卻跳脫文字，純粹以深思熟慮的聲音設計營造出獨特氛圍的專輯,「i hold a wish for you」每個細節都盡見aspidistrafly對他們心血結晶有多麼的重視！" - Node Culture (Taiwan)

"仿佛一串追忆中的片刻清醒，一次长途迁徙中的短暂停留，安逸、和煦，点缀着自身的优雅和aspidistrafly式的消匿，就像天高气爽的时日，从空气中踱出一位诗人，他无声无息地握住另一位诗人微颤的双手――aspidistrafly也曾这般仁慈――然后，指缝间渗出一道明锐的光" - - 通俗歌曲·摇滚 (China)

"整张作品仿佛带我们找寻那些我们丢失的一切，或草丛中，或公路旁。不经意间，太多太多，转瞬即逝.《i hold a wish for you》就像是一场追忆之旅，旅途结束，新的生活开始，无限的生机，无限的希望。但或许终有一天我会回去，带走那些回忆，那些梦想..." - renascence (China)

"東南亞音樂新浪潮aspidistrafly今年發行首張專輯《I hold a wish for you》，從音樂、包裝、行銷、品牌建立全部一手包辦，九首歌曲融合樂器演奏、溫暖人聲呢喃與柔和聲響採樣，成就一張美不勝收的音樂詩篇" - 澳門日報 (Macau)