Review of Jasper Leyland 'Margin' album from Gaz-Eta website:

It's difficult to pin-point exactly what Jasper Leyland [aka Jonathan Brewster] is attempting to pen on his debut release, other than to say, the guy adores drones. Luckily, I do too, so being fair with his music is difficult. Minimal in extreme sense of the word, Jasper manipulates guitars, percussion and synths to his benefit in order to come up with these stark and barren landscapes that float in mid-air. Literally all of the music on this release is constantly in a state of rest, as it is in a state of constant, though barely audible motion. Movements develop slowly - from the gentlest ticking of bells to processed sound of what appears to be water drop - everything is done at a turtle's pace. Even the crackling of radio static at the beginning of "Riseholme" is refreshingly slow to get going. Gentle hums of feedback and reverberating acoustic [and electric] guitars are constantly heard but what's most crucial is the apparent organic quality. For some unspoken reason, even though machines were involved in producing the record, every sound that ends up on the record sounds as if it were plausibly found in nature. Structurally dense and pulsing with great sonic ideas, "Margin" is a calming little release that is guaranteed to put your head in a constant state of loop.

Tom Sekowski

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