Reviews

Wall Of Ambient

Greig Baird has steadily been releasing music under the moniker of Moss Covered Technology for around 6 years. In that time he has traversed a wide range of sonic landscapes, from the blissful melodic synth work of 2021’s ‘Seafields’ and the undulating drones of 2020’s ‘Quiet Loops’ to the rich evocative landscapes of 2018’s ‘And His Many Seas’. Greig has consistently pushed the envelope of his unique approach to the ambient genre. His work is always exploring new territories, each release striving to take you somewhere new, somewhere exciting, a place you can explore together as musician and listener. 

His latest offering ‘Brick and Air’, released on the wonderful Audiobulb Records (UK), is no exception. There is a real sense of maturity in this release, a more deft approach to the sounds we have come to associate with Moss Covered Technology. The album feels like it is moving deeper into the macro realms of his sonic pallet, subtle textures are brought to the foreground giving them room to breathe and expand, allowing the melodies to lightly thread between the rich sonic tapestry of each piece. All the elements you expect to find in a Moss Covered Technology release are there but they feel like they have been slightly distorted, moulded into some amorphous shape that swims around in your subconscious.

‘Brick and Air’ continues to explore many of the themes present in his 2021 album ‘Sodium Light’. Based around a series of walks where Greig was allowed to explore a relatively unknown urban environment he had just moved to, ‘Brick and Air’ explores the darker side of the Moss Covered Technology sound. Images of dimly lit street corners, the smell of thick city air and the low rhythmic hums of city traffic are embedded deeply into the soft melodies and pulsating synth lines that dominate much of the album. Ominous undertones flow throughout, crashing like waves around the listener, slowly giving way to moments of beautiful melodic serenity. Arpeggiated synth lines flicker in and out of the deep hypnotic drones that lead the listener through darkened passageways into the unknown.

The album seems like a very reflective piece of work, with less narrative than many of his previous albums — the sense of atmosphere and place are definitely the driving forces of this album. Dripping in lush reverberation and ghostly echo, each track draws you into this very personalised world, painstakingly created layer by layer, sound by sound. The album seems very familiar but at the same time very foreign, a rich world of the mundane and the supernatural. Each listen reveals new layers of texture, tone and melody that bubble up into your ears, revealing more and more complex sonic threads that slowly fade away into the night. Perfect listening for the coming Autumn months.

‘Brick and Air’ is available via Audio Bulb Records on the 28th of September. You can pre-order the album from the link below.

https://ab-mosscoveredtechnology.bandcamp.com/album/brick-and-air

Original review > Here

Musique Machine

Moss Covered Technology is the minimal electronic/ambient solo project of UK-based Greig Baird. My first encounter with the project was its second release 2018’s And His Many Seas (Fluid Audio)- with this album I greatly appreciated the way Baird used and structuring field recordings with electronics. Seven albums later, and in 2022, Brick And Air is released; and it's a step further in the Moss Covered Technology voyage. 

Brick And Air is heavily based on the aesthetics and formality of ambient music. Moreover, there’s an apparent delicate rawness to the materials used, something common throughout Baird’s work. This transforms the whole output into a naturalistic sonic soil upon which the music is evolving. A carpet of ideas for us to walk upon and enjoy. Slow-paced, eerie and serene recordings, with a true-to-life approach, involving a detailed representation of what generated them, with zero distortion/ loss of clarity. As for the field recordings or captured sounds being utilized, between a children’s toy with a chunk of a dialogue between a child and an adult on “Brick And Air II” and thunder combined with urban ambience on “Brick  And Air V” - the later was provided by Liam Hawe. Probably such sonic elements can be found elsewhere; if so, they are very well concealed under the thick veil of electronic flow.

Conceptually the album is an interpretation of the process of exploring a new living area, a new urban habitat- where the artist and his family moved to. From a diary-like mapping to full-scale cartography, the artist tries to comprehend the new location, using captured sounds of these places, along with minimal electronics, loops, and melodies, with everything oscillating around the main theme. 

Moss Covered Technology has been producing amazing work since 2016. With each album been a new piece added to the spectacular patchwork of the project’s discography. Baird is determined and focused on his creation of fully emotional and methodological sound art. To check this album out for yourself drop in here

Original review > Here

A Closer Listen

As befits the name Moss Covered Technology, Brick and Air is a love letter to suburban soundcapes, fed by “distant traffic noise and the hum of air-conditioning outlets behind shopping precincts” (Audiobulb, September 28).

Original review > Here

African Paper

“Following on from 2021′s Sodium Light, Brick and Air is another reflective and reactive collection of pieces that show an active engagement with the environments in which we live. In early 2021 Greig Baird moved his family into a new home in a relatively unexplored area of town and was immediately struck by the aesthetics of the location both in sight and sound. The work that followed was all a reflection of this urban space that Greig and his family found themselves. Inspired by countless walks, a few outside recording sessions and sessions of photographing the new locale, Brick and Air was almost diaristic in its evolution. An ode to distant traffic noise and the hum of air-conditioning outlets behind shopping precincts.”

Original review > Here

Rockerilla