The Vinyl District review of At the Ends of the World
http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/the-tvd-record-store-club/2020/11/graded-on-a-curve-new-in-stores-for-november-2020-part-one/
NEW RELEASE PICKS: Lloyd Miller with Ian Camp and Adam Michael Terry, At the Ends of the World (FOUNTAINavm) Last year the Now-Again label reissued Miller’s Oriental Jazz, a very interesting excursion into what we’ll call global spiritual fusion with a Persian musical bent; Miller was a specialist in the region’s sounds, and for a fuller scoop please consult the December 5, 2019 edition of this column, where Oriental Jazz received a review. Miller recorded a whole lot more and has in fact stayed active, as this collaboration with multi-instrumentalists Ian Camp and Adam Michael Terry (the latter also the founder and operator of the FOUNTAINavm label) makes clear. Part of what raises my estimation for At the Ends of the World is the obvious disinterest in attempting to reprise the sound of Miller’s earlier stuff, either from the ’60s or of more recent vintage, such as his joint record with The Heliocentrics, which was released by the Strut label in 2010.
Slimming down to three players increases the intimacy and deepens the dialogue, which is quite welcome. Along with Camp and Terry, Miller is a multitasker, credited with piano, flutes, trumpet, Dilruba, Kamancheh, Santu and “various world instruments.” Indeed, there is a load of percussion from all the participants, as I’m pretty certain some overdubbing occurred. Camp’s upright bass is terrific, as is Miller’s trumpet, but of additional note is the warmth and clarity of the record, which is partly attributed to Terry, as he is cited in the promo description as producer. To elaborate on that role, he’s specifically credited with field recordings and “various ambient textures,” additives which strengthen the ties to what I’ll call rain-forest-style New Age. And that’s alright, as touches of psychedelia are also in the mix. And I’ll close by mentioning that “Dystopia Wind Dance” reminds me a little of Aussie’s The Necks (it’s that bass), which is a total positive. The same is true for the spots that suggest Alice Coltrane hanging out in a glade. A-