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Aim - Flight 602 (Atic)
UK release date: 25 September 2006
4 stars
Aim - Flight 602

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track listing

1. Intro 3
2. Walking Home Through The Park
3. Northwest
4. Puget Sound
5. Pier 57
6. Smile
7. Landlord
8. Aberdeen
9. Birchwood
10. Flight 602
11. Interview
12. It's Later Than You Think

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A lot has changed for Andy Turner since his last studio album as Aim, 2003's acclaimed Hinterland. What remains, however, is the unlikely juxtaposition of North-West England and North America.

The broad soundscapes he conjures up capture the brooding peaks of his home county Cumbria, but they come dressed in a hip hop clothing that lends them a distinctive edge much of the way through.

Since Hinterland, Turner took the decision to leave Grand Central, the label that gave him initial success with Cold Water Music, as he was unsure of its direction. He set up his own Atic label primarily as a vehicle for his own material, but intends in time to take on new acts. And with Flight 602, he's made an auspicious start.

Turner has the ability to produce music of exquisite orchestration. With the hip hop rhythms pushing forwards, he weaves snatched samples, short riffs and atmospheric bursts of sound that drift in and out of the listener's perception. Walking Home Through The Park finds him beginning the album in tender reflection with a luxuriant progression of string chords. Tracks like Birchwood go in the other direction however, with an urgent groove and weird growling noises round about.

It's this flexibility that keeps the record alive, and Turner's fascination with organic, acoustic lines from a flute here, a xylophone there, consistently reward close listening.

Once again Turner enlists the vocal talents of Niko, with her first contribution to the wonderful Northwest. Here a loping hip hop rhythm sets the scene for an edgy yet beguiling vocal, refreshingly untempered in production.

Occasionally the music gets just a little too sweet, as in the twee Smile, where birdsong and flute mix easily. Much better is the contentment found in Pier 57, whose consonant harmonies and easy-going riffs are perfect late night material. The spacious Interview is a widescreen treat, and the gently lapping It's Later Than You Think ties things up perfectly at the close.

As would befit someone recording on their own label, Aim now sounds totally at ease, free of the constrictions of anybody else's decision making. And yet that ease rarely translates to total relaxation, as the odd edgy rhythm or melodic figure keeps the listener just on their toes.

So while Flight 602 is an essentially peaceful one there's just a hint of turbulence, and it works wonderfully well.


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