Stylus - Pedwar

Pedwar is the latest release from Dafydd Morgan under the pseudonym of Stylus. I suppose Pedwar could loosely be described as ambient music, as it features much location recordings (sounds of sea, and the sound of a printing press, etc). Previous releases have been inspired by the Pembrokeshire countryside - one was even recorded within a defunct seaweed collecting hut. It's a pastoral effort combining environmental sounds with a colourful sound palette that varies between organic ambience and lightweight experimentalism. The music is rather low-key often adopting simple piano lines or as on 'Marbled White' it features electronic tones and electronic keyboard. Previous releases have appeared on Ochre a label best known for its "space age" releases. There are nice moments here but it's all kinda lo-fi and quite idiosyncratic. This lends Pedwar genuine charm but ultimately causes its weakness too. Pedwar traverses a lot of ground but I'm not totally convinced, as overall Pedwar feels incomplete and insubstantial. For more information go to www.adverse-effect.com