ANDREW WASYLYK Vinyl & CDs

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


We also heard from Andrew Wasylyk late last year when he offered up his second LP for the esteemed Clay Pipe Music label. Now it is to Edinburgh's Athens of the North for Parallel Light, another collection of sumptuous ambient sounds that are so much more than just background music. The album is actually an alternate mix of his 2020 long player Fugitive Light And Themes Of Consolation so offers a different perspective with plenty of moving spiritual-jazz and neo-classical sounds that help paint alluring musical landscapes.

Review: We also heard from Andrew Wasylyk late last year when he offered up his second LP for the esteemed Clay Pipe Music label. Now it is to Edinburgh's Athens of the North for Parallel Light, another collection of sumptuous ambient sounds that are so much more than just background music. The album is actually an alternate mix of his 2020 long player Fugitive Light And Themes Of Consolation so offers a different perspective with plenty of moving spiritual-jazz and neo-classical sounds that help paint alluring musical landscapes.

Review: Andrew Wasylyk completes a trio of beautiful albums with this latest reoccur don 'Athens of the North'. Across all of the music, he has concerned himself with unearthing, reshaping and conveying the rugged landscapes of Eastern Scotland with lush instrumental music that shimmers inventively. The influence of greats like David Axelrod, Alice Coltrane and Mark Hollis looms large, but never to the detriment of Wasylyk's own exquisite playing. Light often shines through his mellifluous piano chords and dreamy wind sounds. There are subtle spiritual elements and hints of library music also colouring this most accomplished of works.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


Andrew Wasylyk completes a trio of beautiful albums with this latest reoccur don 'Athens of the North'. Across all of the music, he has concerned himself with unearthing, reshaping and conveying the rugged landscapes of Eastern Scotland with lush instrumental music that shimmers inventively. The influence of greats like David Axelrod, Alice Coltrane and Mark Hollis looms large, but never to the detriment of Wasylyk's own exquisite playing. Light often shines through his mellifluous piano chords and dreamy wind sounds. There are subtle spiritual elements and hints of library music also colouring this most accomplished of works.

Review: Athens of the North takes a surprise turn, briefly eschewing their usual funk, soul and jazz in favour of something far more visceral and musically intriguing. It comes from Scottish writer, producer and instrumentalist Andrew Mitchell under the Andrew Wasylyk alias, and it is the result of a commission from a historic house in Scotland to create new music for their restored, 19th century Erard Grecian harp. While that instrument is an ever present, it rarely dominates; instead, Mitchell has served up a joyously laidback and atmospheric collection of compositions that variously draw on Bob James style jazz-funk, British library music, Eno-style ambient movements, homemade field recordings, drowsy jazz, brass bands, modern classical and Gaelic folk. In a word: spellbinding.