STILL

Marc Carlton is a man who appears to have his work/life balance just about right. Although he is a serious professional musician, he records his music in his spare time away from his real job. For obvious reasons, this means that he is able to record the sort of music that he feels he can be genuinely proud of, immune from the pressure of satisfying a commercially driven record label.

While this makes it less likely that he will ever get filthy rich from his musical output, it also means we can be confident that what we hear has been made with passion and total commitment.

Carlton wears his influences on his sleeve. The prog giants of the 1970's are clearly as much a source of pleasure for him as they are for many of us here. One artist in particular though, Mike Oldfield, has been more influential than any other over the years, perhaps due to Oldfield's status as the pioneer of multi-tracked "home" recording.

Released in 2004, "Still" is Marc's fourth official release. It finds him rapidly maturing technically, while immersing himself in progressively new age concepts ("Waiting and immobility", "Time and routine").

The album opens with "Beyond surprise", one of its the longest tracks. Beautifully clear acoustic guitar backed with barely audible soft keyboard washes set the mood for the piece. There is a passing Mark Knopfler ("Local hero") feel to the opening section before harsher lead guitar sounds attempt to pull us in a more rock orientated direction. Carlton works the balance between a calm, almost ambient mood on the one hand and something altogether more edgy well, the track retaining one's interest throughout.

The first of the "True wilderness" tracks is relatively brief symphonic number with waves of synthesiser supporting a soft melody. "Vista" is the other lengthy piece on the album, running to almost 9 minutes. The diversity of instrumental sounds here is testament to Oldfield's influence, with intricate lead guitar mixing freely with violin like orchestral passages.

"It never happened" opens with some atmospheric ambience, the piece as a whole having something of a Tangerine Dream feel to it. Here Carlton places a greater emphasis on repetition, a point emphasised by the hypnotic synth rhythm. "A future, already a memory" captures Marc's aspirations in the field of film music, the slow, considered acoustic motifs being ideal for some scene setting in a Hollywood blockbuster.

"Meanwhile" is arguably the most chilledtrack on the album, a soft Farfisa organ sound backing a gentle melody. The track is reminiscent of the slower section of "Hergest ridge" part 2. This segues into "True Wilderness II", a less structured affair which relies on waves of sounds. "Epos" is a pleasant but unassuming piano piece with classical overtones, while "He runs at night" is a more spirited classical guitar outing. The album closes with the brief "the far tide", a short piece of symphonic string synth.

In all, an album where the strongest and most interesting material is largely up front. Things tend to tale off into more prosaic areas towards the end, but overall "Still" makes for an enjoyable listen.

Since recording this album, Marc Carlton has continued to develop his talents both technically and musically. This is though a fine representation of where he was at in 2004, and is in itself a highly enjoyable album.

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