Soundtrack for a Foggy Evening
Bryan M. MCNEELY | Fort Wayne, Indiana United States | 10/25/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Fans of former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder and his personal project, "Recoil," should enjoy this haunting album. While Recoil's album structure relies on spoken word vocals to tell a story, "Little Lost Souls" does it without having to say much. If there ever was an album to keep you on the edge of your seat while driving in backwoods country during a crisp, foggy evening, it's this one. 3EF (Third Eye Foundation) carefully constructs eerie ambient soundscapes without ever sounding tired or uninteresting (a problem with some trance-based atmospheric artists).
Atmospheric music can easily be ruined by the overusage of vocals if they dominate the ambience. On "Little Lost Souls," 3EF carefully adds them to give the tracks a more "humane" sound. Never does any track feel forced, nor do they sound typical of the genre. Aphex Twin, who may be a distant cousin to 3EF, can sometimes come across a little weak and "thrown together" as to meet an apparent deadline.
It's an excellent album and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys "intelligent" techno and/or dark music that could very well appeal to electronic music fans who don't care much for the bright lights of clublife."
Eerie and Melancholy Soundscaping.
completefigments | Ohio | 03/08/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"When I listen to music, I like to see what is being conveyed. I like to be swept into an aural world that engulfs my mind. This album does exactly that. This and "You Guys Kill Me" are easily the most assessable of Third Eye's work, and in many ways the most visceral. "What is it with you" is a wonderful track that brings to mind Alien/Native American cries to ancestors long since gone from this world. "Lost" stands out as one of the most emotionally wrenching tracks I have heard. It conveys a beautiful, intense and eerily melancholy stance that reminds me of a lovechild between ELpH era "Coil" and "Godspeed you Black Emperor". This whole album has a weird quality to it that makes it seem like a musical soundtrack to a spirit's search for home. It is because of this quality that the album is so affective and selective with its listeners. Some people will not "get" this album, but for me, it is one of the most unforgettable albums I have ever heard. 4 ½ rounded to a 5."
The best yet from Third Eye Foundation
Bryan O'Sullivan | CA, United States | 02/15/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Matt Elliott's third full-length release as "The Third Eye Foundation" returns from the edgy screeches of his last album towards a more melodic, but still twisted, base.As in his first album, "You Guys Kill Me", Elliott makes much use of detuned instruments that sound mournful and lost. He adds to this rhythms that range from low-key pattering breakbeats through drilling assaults that prove surprisingly pleasant to the ear."Little Lost Soul" makes restrained use of samples of overwrought opera singing; this fits into the music much more cleanly than I had expected, as I am now sadly too used to djs slapping some random qawwali singing into a dance track and calling the resulting egregious mess "world music".I've been playing this album repeatedly for several weeks, and I love it. It's great to come across an English electronic musician once in a while who is not in huge debt to Aphex Twin, and who is willing to eschew the current fascination with "jazz and drum and bass" fusion in favour of darker shores."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1