Eluvium

Eluvium’s Similes is a distinct departure for the iconic, Portland-based ambient act: For the first time since assuming the Eluvium moniker in 2003, core member Matthew Cooper has made an album incorporating traditional pop song structures, percussion, and vocals. Cooper isn't following up the orchestral soundscapes of 2007’s Copia with his version of Lady Gaga's The Fame though. Similesremains grounded in droning guitars and pianos caught in rippling, Steve Reich-esque loops. The record owes much to past pop-dabbling minimalists, with Cooper’s vocals conjuring an image of Ian Curtis minding his prescription for Zoloft, and the whole record sounding like peak-period Brian Eno, stranded in a world without synthesizers. 

Updated 05/20/2010