In May 2011 I was given the opportunity to rework one of my favourite songs by Nathan Lawr. In it's original form, Crystal Cave (from the 2010 album, The Thing) is a song set firmly in the Moon tradition of desperate words delivered calmly. It smells of southern air, shimmers amid strings, and at times is bolstered by thunderous drums.
It was my intention to carry the song through various settings, while maintaining its original spirit and mood. The settings are determined by Nathan's words, which are painted and accented as they come. The result is an adventure trail of mystery objects, left largely in shadow, and lit intermittently by wallops of lightning light.
The loose, roomy feel of the original is replaced by a tight and close Spook treatment featuring the sharp percussion-synthesizer of Tadao Kikumoto, a Starry Night celeste, and an FM bass-synthesizer cuing Michael Jackson's Thriller. Other elements, including a Forest synthesizer and the winds of Rebecca Woods are set back against the dark. Nathan Lawr's plaintive and pure vocal performance remains forefront, and Gavin Gardiner's excellent accompanying vocal features prominently.
You can support the good work of Nathan Lawr's Minotaurs by purchasing this mix, as well as other reinterpretations of songs from The Thing by Shaw-Han Liem (I Am Robot And Proud), Kevin Lynn (The Straggler), and Jim Guthrie, here::
http://minotaursband.bandcamp.com/album/fink-ployd-the-thing-remixed
Thanks for listening,
Ryan