Sleeping States, In The Gardens Of The North
Posted on 1st Sep 09 by Connor Moloney | 
0
The music of seventies English folk legends John Martyn and Nick Drake is often perceived as traditional and even rather twee. Which, for those unfamiliar with the canons of each, is a rather tragic misconception, as there was more to it than that. Far removed from the bland niceties of today’s batch of singer-songwriters, these men were boundary pushers; their music informed as much by jazz, rock, avant-garde and even funk as by traditional folk. It is a credit to Markland Starkie, aka Sleeping States, that he manages to make music which is indebted to both, yet maintains the duo’s pioneering spirit.
The music of seventies English folk legends John Martyn and Nick Drake is often perceived as traditional and even rather twee. Which, for those unfamiliar with the canons of each, is a rather tragic misconception, as there was more to it than that. Far removed from the bland niceties of today’s batch of singer-songwriters, these men were boundary pushers; their music informed as much by jazz, rock, avant-garde and even funk as by traditional folk. It is a credit to Markland Starkie, aka Sleeping States, that he manages to make music which is indebted to both, yet maintains the duo’s pioneering spirit.
Sleeping States, In the Garden of the North
In The Gardens Of The North, his third album under the Sleeping States moniker, is a delicate, stark, yet richly textured and surprising record. Living up to its title, opener Rings of Saturn is wonderfully atmospheric. Starkie’s vocal, a honeyed Drakeian croon, cascades loosely around a lone bass figure, before intermittent harp-like guitars slowly build the song to a feedback-drenched climax.
The Next Village builds to a similar crescendo, as layered solo acoustic guitars and drums gather pace under a mournful lyric themed on loss and displacement, finally breaking into a widescreen chorus.
While the vocals and pastoral feel of Sleeping States’ music recalls seventies British folk, Starkie’s use of more diverse influences pushes the songs in fresh new directions. Gardens Of The South’s looped vocal and drum machine backing twists the song’s Burt Bacharach-feel into new shapes, while the more uptempo Red King and The Cartographer echo the articulate indie-pop of The Shins. Most adventurous of all is A Spiral Not Repeated, an intense psychedelic tome grafted onto a fittingly ominous post-rock soundscape.
In The Gardens Of The North is a slow burning offering, and admittedly can seem to meander on first listen. Persevere however, and your reward is an album that continues to reveal new dimensions with each play. While there’s nothing here to compare with River Man or Solid Air, Markland Starkie has made a record that captures some of the magic, and the cavalier spirit, of Martyn and Drake. He deserves the compliment of being mentioned in the same breath.
Drop-d Rating: 8/10
Tags: burt bacharach, In The Gardens Of The North, John Martyn, Markland Starkie, Nick Drake, Sleeping States, The Shins