Here's an animated video for my song 'She Burns' from my album 'Melancholia'...
The video was made by Norwegian film-maker
Ulf Kristiansen'Melancholia' is available to buy
hereAshley Reaks...'Melancholia'A delightful surprise, as a former also ran of indie makes a damn-near perfect chillout album
Now here’s a fellow I don’t think any of us expected to hear from again? Ashley Reaks, former Younger Younger 28s member, returns with a solo album and it’s a rather charming surprise. A work of glorious bedsit pop - with delicious, at times tribal rhythms, Massive Attack etherialism and basslines that would make Jah Wobble drool.
A wealth of blissful rhythms, marked by Reaks’ artful insights and growling Northern accent make for an album of textures and colours, the perfect soundtrack to any late night vibe from toking to screwing. Absolutely splendid stuff.
More please!
Chris Merriman
www. myspace.com/subbacultcharawks
Ashley Reaks - MelancholiaArtist, musician, and comedian Ashley Reaks is a man of many interests, and this comes across on his album Melancholia - an interesting blend of ominous musical backdrops over African and Indian influenced beats, with a bit of punk thrown in for good measure. Imagine Nine Inch Nails if a mellow Trent Reznor took interest in world rhythms.
To keep things from becoming dull, Reaks has included a few tracks that go in unexpected directions. There are three instrumental tracks on the album that all sound as if they are drawing from different genres respectively, but are still excellent nonetheless. There are also the songs which would have to be likened to spoken word. On these tracks, Reaks recites prose eloquently, if somewhat perplexingly, over mesmerizing grooves. Amongst these She Burns stands out with its Indian-style trills erupting between Reaks' stanzas.
Melancholia is perfect for a person suffering from just that. Ashley Reaks has crafted an album of mellow, calming sounds, excluding I've Got Everything (That Nobody Wants), which blares during the middle as the most obvious example of his punk influences yet. If this album doesn't spur some sort of positive emotion, then it probably wasn't heard properly and deserves another listen.
Coren J. Cogdell
www.aloud.com