GILMORE, SCOTT - Two Bedroom Motel (Sealed) (CD)

In the heart of the suburban curiosity of San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles, Scott Gilmore produces his own version of dreamy, bewitching pop music. His debut album Subtle Vertigo has received much press praise. He was compared to artists and bands like Air, Stereolab, Italian film music of the 1970s or eccentrics like R. Stevie Moore and Captain Beefheart. Scott Gilmore's songs usually start with keyboards or drums. Sometimes he simply lets his hands fall on the keyboard key traps and reacts to the random sounds. These chord changes and drum patterns form the first song sketches. The way from these sketches to the finished pieces is later lined with extensive revisions and experiments with different sounds. Gilmore often lets vague ideas for pieces run through synthesizer filters or external effect devices: "To write out the various parts, I'll hum into amicrophone as I sing along to the chord changes. I'll sing the bass part, themelody, new rhythms for the drums, etc. I'll then listen to those original improvised takes, learn how to play them and re-record them on the irrespective instruments." These are mostly guitars, bass, synthesizers and drum machines. The album title Two Roomed Motel is quickly explained: Gilmore began by composing the title track for the new album in a motel with only two rooms on his travels. All subsequent work processes he later followed in his home studio in the wide suburban belt of the San Fernando Valley, woman very far from Los Angeles. There is no distraction whatsoever and so he also finds his recordings a pastime in the wasteland: "Many nights I'd like to go see live music", says Gilmore, "but because of the sheer distance, I'll stay at home and record instead.