The More They Tell Me About You, The Less I Believe Them (Album Review)

Thanks, @notransmission for your thoughtful review. It’s not easy for this genre of music to get noticed, so I am very grateful when anyone can feel moved by it. ❤️

“Radagast the Brown is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, but also the moniker of ambient composer and producer Ezekiel James Hampton from Napa, California. The godfather of ambient music, Brian Eno, once described that genre as being "as ignorable as it is interesting.", yet the beauty present across Radagast the Brown's latest album "The More They Tell Me About You, The Less I Believe Them" is far from ignorable. Instead, piano, synths, guitar, and field recordings combine across six epic tracks of cavernous depth and daredevil experimentation that explore the limits of time and space.

On the opening title track, a piano refrain loops around diaphanous vocals, guitar, and odd-sounds swirl before falling into the expansive mix. The repetition, a common component in ambient and neoclassical genres, is somewhat reminiscent of William Basinski, though where Basinski's recordings are highly conceptual, Radagast the Brown is concerned with literal beauty. There is no haughtiness to this music, and one can simply get lost in the art.”

The whole review lives here: https://www.notransmission.com/2022/06/radagast-brown-more-they-tell-me-about.html?m=1