Last Thursday I had an interesting day. I woke up, got ready for work, and drove forty minutes in traffic. By the time I reached my building, I was in a very irritable mood after battling traffic. As I approached my building, something was off. There seemed to be fewer cars in the parking lot than normal, and the entire building was dark inside. Initially, I wondered “Is it Saturday? Did I forget I don’t have to be at work today?” My manager was standing at the front door with a smirk on his face. He yelled, “You can go home Kevin.” Great am I fired? “How come?” I replied. He explained  that a local transformer had blown out and the building wasn’t going to have power for the next eight hours. As a result, the entire company had the day off paid. As I walked back to my car, this feeling of happiness overcame me. It was kind of like the feeling you get when you’re a kid and have a snow day at school.

Driving away from the parking lot, I pondered what I was going to do with the rest of the day. I looked at my clock and saw that it was 8:07 A.M. I stared through my window, admiring my New England surroundings. It was a particularly warm and sunny day for the end of October, and I didn’t want to waste this rare event, so I decided to drive out to Bear Mountain (a Connecticut hiking trail about 40 miles away). As I pulled up to the trail, memories of my childhood began to run through my head. I remembered how my childhood friends and I used to come here and hike the trail. It was a whimsical feeling. I hiked up the trail, trenching forward through greens, oranges, reds, and amber browns. The fall colors of New England surrounded my field of vision. When I reached the summit, I stood there and stared at the glorious view in front of me; it is truly one of the most beautiful spots in Connecticut. Its one of the only views where you can see nothing but wilderness in every direction. I realized how wonderful this day became, and how much we take our natural environment for granted.

If I could record a soundtrack to this day, it would be Aspidistrafly’s The Ghost of Things. Aspidistrafly are an ambient duo from Singapore using electronics, guitar, and vocals to create wonderfully delicate songs. They play a style of music akin to Stars of the Lid covering Sumner McKane, weaving mesmerizing soundscapes of serene beauty. The first track, “The Ghost of Things,” is an ambient, slow moving melodic track similar to the hauntingly beautiful melodies of Tim Hecker's “Mirages.” In my opinion, ambient music is one of the few genres of music that needs nothing new to move forward and be interesting. Most ambient albums are glacial, densely textured, devoid of percussion, and often containing no vocals. Granted, a lot of ambient albums may sound similar to one another, but its one style of music that needs no change -- it’s gorgeous exactly the way it is.

But that’s not to say that Aspidistrafly aren’t original, as they certainly put their own stamp on the ambient sound. The addition of acoustic guitar and female vocals brings a nice touch to the album and an even more moving listening experience. Each track on the album oozes and flows from the speakers like watching a red tail hawk float through the air. It’s graceful, hypnotic, and ultimately irresistable. In general, Aspidistrafly aren’t ground breaking, but they do what they do so well that they don’t need to. This is an impressive EP and I look forward to seeing where these guys head in the future.

-Kevin Savo