CLOUDS

"Clouds" is an EP release by Italian progressive rock act Nosound. Clouds was released though Burning Shed in 2007 between the release of Nosound´s debut full-length studio album "Sol29 (2005)" and their second full-length studio album "Lightdark (2008)".

There are three tracks on the EP which features a total playing time of 22:32 minutes. All tracks are exclusive to this release. The EP opens with "Cold Afterall" which is a great atmospheric and melancholic track with vocals. It´s the only track on the EP with vocals. "Cold Afterall" is in the trademark Nosound style somewhere between the spacy atmospheric rock of Pink Floyd and the melancholic and ambient pop/rock of Porcupine Tree (their most laid back and psychadelic tracks). The next track "Like the Elephant?" is a bit of an anomaly in Nosound´s discography as it features quite a heavy riff and some toying with dissonances in the guitar solo. Nosound are usually very streamlined, melodic, and atmospheric. I enjoy the difference in sound on this track which shows that there might be a little more to Nosound than what you might think if you´re familiar with their regular sound. The last track is the 10:34 minute long "Clouds". It´s an ambient track with only floating sounds made by synth. It´s a very atmospheric track and while I probably wouldn´t enjoy a full album that sounded like this there´s something special about the way Nosound create their most ambient tracks that make them enjoyable even to someone like me who usually don´t have patience for anything this ambient.

The sound production is majestic as we´re used to on Nosound releases. I greatly enjoy their clean sound which sounds like it´s recorded on top of a mountain or something like that. Just grand. "Clouds" is all in all another excellent release by Nosound. Fans of melancholic and atmospheric pop/rock with a grand sound are adviced to check this out. "Clouds" is as good an introduction to Nosound as their first two full-length albums are (even though it´s slightly more experimental). A deserved 4 star (80%) rating.

Nosound is a psychedelic/space rock band from Italy. This EP, named "Clouds" is made up of 3 tracks that are meant to bridge the gap between their debut album and their 2nd album which moved them from an ambient sound to a fuller sound. The 3 tracks span a run time of 22 minutes. The songs were originally exclusive to this album, but one of those tracks, "Clouds", later became a bonus track for their 2nd album.

The first track, "Cold Afterall" starts with a field recording surrounded by a strumming acoustic guitar and a synth playing sustained chords. Vocals joins in and the track continues in a smooth and layered style. On the 2nd verse, the drums come in and continue in the moderately slow tempo. The track continues with it's palatial sound with harmonics added to the laid-back vocals later. After a build up in intensity, it mellows out again, and then explodes suddenly with an emotional dual guitar passage.

"Like the Elephant?" is an instrumental that starts immediately quite upbeat with an electronic tone flitting quickly along. Heavy guitars are brought in making this contrast quite a bit from the previous track. After a while, the heaviness falls back and there is a nice synth solo that sounds a bit brassy that gives a gaelic sound. The rhthym becomes more complex after this solo as heavy layered guitars continue to build intensity, and then drops off to a nice guitar solo which becomes even more intense after a while.

"Clouds" is a long and atmospheric track that utilizes sustained notes from synths and guitars to create a more ambient atmosphere more like on the bands first album. The track is quite special with no distinct melody, but with a more drone like quality from the long sustained notes. It is a relaxing track that suggests floating among the clouds. This track is now available as a bonus track on the "Lightdark" album.

These are 3 distinct tracks that almost sound like 3 different bands showing the different styles the band is capable of. The EP is quite short, but fans will be interested in it because of the exclusive tracks and it combines the styles in one short EP, The music is nice, but is only an introduction to the band. 3 stars.