Modern Ambient Music Lovers Must Check Out New Nathan Speir Recording

Lillian

New member
Nathan Speir is a multi-instrumentalist who plays everything on his albums including his latest, Part of a Kindly Plan. As on his previous eight albums, he plays piano the most, but he is equally adept on acoustic guitars (both steel-string and nylon-string). He also adds, on various tracks, some long-bowed cello lines, Native American wooden flute on a couple of numbers, harmonica on one piece and little-highlights of tapped Tibetan singing bowls here and there throughout.

I am partial to his guitar sounds, shown off especially on “Good Seasons” (which also has synth strings and a little cello in the background) and “Praxis” (including a little dueting with flute). But his forcefully-played piano on “Passing Charcoal Clouds” and “A Taste of Solace,” and his serene piano performance on “Serenity in This House,” are also noteworthy.

This music is on the ambient-side of new age music. It is mostly acoustic (just a few moments of synth-strings hidden in the mix on a few of the instrumental songs). The music tends to be slow and floaty with few definitive melodic themes (as with most ambient), but lots of soothing, caressing, gently-propelling passages that have a feel-good quality to them. This is definitely a recording for modern-ambient-music lovers to check out.
 
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