Tim Story - Shadowplay

01) map of the warm night
02) perhaps
03) flame and circle
04) intemperate
05) the daughters
06) slippery hours
07) hum
08) erstwhile
09) when all beyond was wild
10) melisma

Tim Story is one of those artists who exists in a natural state of repose, whose music is born from a point that is deep and still, gaining resonance and contour as it rises from the bottom of the well. Story has defined ambient chamber music since the early '80s, and Shadowplay continues down that path with music that hovers at the borders of darkness and joy. Story extends his keyboard-based palette with oboe and cello, giving his compositions an even warmer hue. What sets him apart from the likes of Kevin Kendle and Michael Hoppé is Story's resistance toward neoclassical nostalgia. With Story, there's always a sense that something ominous could be lurking around the corner, like a shark hanging at the edge of an intoxicating coral reef. That element of foreboding is particularly apparent on "Intemperate," as Dieter Moebius from the quirky German band Cluster adds subtle abstracted electronics. Like most Story albums, Shadowplay is as haunting as that first moment when one awakens from a dream–and just as elusive.