Search - K. Leimer :: Land of Look Behind

Written as a soundtrack for Alan Greenberg's documentary on the death and funeral of Bob Marley, the music for Land of Look Behind was produced in a little under two months. The music draws extensively on location recordings made for the film, using the voices and place sounds of Jamaica to frame rhythm patterns and cadences. The sound sources range form urban to rural and are applied in both literal and heavily processed forms. The ensemble of musicians assembled for the recording include Steve Fisk and Kevin Hodges, both working on differing extremes of the percussive spectrum. Digitally remastered release of the 1983 vinyl. "It's ironic that the modern recording studio, with its gleaming banks of high-tech devices, is the birthplace of a radically new kind of music whose most salient characteristic is a kind of murky organic flavor that is distinctly non-technological. The guiding light of this genre is Brian Eno, whose new album, Ambient 4: On Land, goes further than any of his previous work in the direction of virtual motionlessness. On first listening, there seems to be almost nothing happening on the album musically, just a wash of vague sound. But gradually the details of a profound musical vision reveal themselves. Synthesizers are used for insect-like twittering as well as sustained tones, though it's often difficult to tell just what instrument is making a specific sound because of the heavy reverb and the almost obsessive subtlety with which the elements of the texture are woven together. K. Leimer takes a similar esthetic stance in Land Of Look Behind, with sustained synthesizer chords that float in and out of view, decorated with a mysterious jungle of half-heard voices and electronic effects. The main difference between the albums is that Leimer uses much more percussion, creating strong, primitive rhythms that carry the music forward. Both Leimer and Eno have faced up to the challenge of creating exotic sonorities that are not only novel, but meaningful, and this makes their albums well worth hearing." ? Jim Aikin, Keyboard