Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Tape

Luminarium

Label: Release Date: 23/06/2008

39556
LunchboxOneupmanship by Dan Cooper-Gavin July 3rd, 2008

If you’re looking for moody, glitchy instrumentalism, you’ve come to the right place - Stockholm, to be precise, for the fourth full-length release from Swedish three-piece Tape. Luminarium sees them weave contemplative, loosely structured tapestries of sound, where electronics meet delicate guitars and sparse organs in a convincing entanglement of the traditional and the experimental.

Opener ‘Beams’ sets the tone, the recurring meandering guitar motif leading the pulses and throbs through an early demonstration of the trademark Tape sound. The use of electronics here and, indeed, across the entire album is most adept, never explicitly tying in with the melodic elements, yet never upsetting the balance of the piece, even when at its most intrusive.

While the remainder of Luminarium doesn’t deviate in any major way from this opening track, that’s not to say there’s no variety on offer. ‘Reperto’, for instance, is a relatively jaunty number, evoking hazy images of old-world sea voyages. ‘Dripstone’, meanwhile, sounds like a morose pianist sitting at an expiring pinball machine. It all builds towards the seven-minute ‘Illuminations’, which works itself up into something of a frenzy (albeit the most mild-mannered of frenzies) before processed noises enter to watch over the calming of the storm.

It’s all executed with great poise and skill, yet one comes away from the experience slightly unsatisfied. Luminarium is an extremely dry record, an out-and-out chin-stroker, which in itself is no huge problem, but it's not quite clever enough, not quite original enough, not quite inspiring enough to completely get away with it. It’s a good album, for sure, but you’re left with the feeling that you can hear this sort of thing better elsewhere.

  • 7
    Dan Cooper-Gavin's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing



Left-arrow

The Notwist

The Devil, You + Me

Mobback
38607
38638

My Bloody Valentine at ICA, London, Fri 13 Jun

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025

  • 106149
  • news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145

    news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143
  • news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141

    news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139
  • Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
MORE


    feature


    DiS meets Lauren Laverne

  • 43395
  • Interview


    From The Basement On A Television: DiS talks to...

  • 50010

    feature


    A Month in Records: August 2008

  • 33467
  • Interview


    DiS meets Joanna Gruesome: "Misogyny in music i...

  • 91610

    review


    The Blood Brothers - ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn

  • 3517
  • Column


    Lost Albums 2000-2015

  • 101481

    Interview


    Person of the Year 2014: Meredith Graves - Inte...

  • 98657
  • Interview


    Neko Case: "You would never deny that a lioness...

  • 92081
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND