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Fallen from the void, this promo came to me through untypical ways when Nathanaël Larochette, the man behind this musical project, contacted me via e-mail asking for a review of his material, featured under the name of Musk Ox. A musk ox is a large bovid with heavy fur and big horns which lives in Canada and Greenland, and this creature is depicted in black and white on the CD cover art. This minimalist expression is accurate enough to introduce the music inside; here we can listen to songs in the vein of Ulver (Kveldssanger album) and Empyrium's most mellow passages. Some Sigur Rós can be suggested, too. Self-released and self-promoted, this album sounds quite clean and professional, though. All in all this is very reflective and tranquil ambient music mostly organic, based mainly on accoustic guitars, inspired by nature and played quite straight in the sense the arrangements are heartfelt and have nothing to do with complex structures and layers of sound. There are no sudden changes nor a wide variety of moves; it's rather a musical background to express a particular mood, an ambient album in the strict sense of the word, but not in the vein of Mortiis, luckily. Far away from easy chords, Mr. Larochette carves on evocative note sequences, used to describe a variety of moods emanated from introspections under the sign of Canadian landscapes, I presume. Strings and keys unveil naked notes; relaxing and anti-urban. Vocals are just the choir type, and this fact is linked to something I missed during the listening: real vocals. I suppose the artist concentrated on sonic descriptions of nature, and due to this he preferred to include nature samples or ambient choirs instead of words. Anyway, some verses could have given a more solid appearance to the songs, albeit the choirs don't sound bad at all.
The young musician behind this act demonstrates a huge potential and with this release he's nothing but putting the cards on the table and paving the way for a luring course for Musk Ox. Some things here and there could improve the overall result and make it more convincing, but future is vast as hell and there will be time for that and many more things. The foundations seem to be set; in the times to come, Musk Ox will have to confirm expectations risen. Keep up the good work.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Un Jardin Au Bout Du Monde |
| 2. Sur Une Infinie Route De Terre |
| 3. Entre La Terre Et Le Ciel |
| 4. Les Plus Beaux De Nos Jours |
: 42:47
| Buy other Musk Ox albums |
