DEPARTURE SONGS

Hammock's "Departure Songs" is an album I find difficult to rate. On the one hand it accomplishes everything it sets out to do, creating a lush, dreamlike sonic landscape with moments of pure ecstacy. On the other, it's not terribly memorable or groundbreaking. I'd be hard pressed to differentiate this music from any number of other similar acts going around.

This almost two hour double album starts with easily the best track. "Cold Front" is a spine tingling gem, incorporating gorgeous pads and an incredible yet simple and haunting guitar melody. This is definitely a song I keep coming back to. As an aside, the film clip is also intriguing and brilliantly presented.

From here, Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson don't change the formula a great deal. There's some sparse vocals on various tracks and there are a few tempo changes here and there, but for the most part we get what we expect on a Hammock release.

And that's also why I find it hard to criticise the album. As I said, it achieves what it sets out to do. This is the perfect kind of album for playing in the background while doing something else. It's not intrusive and it creates a great mood. But I don't feel it does anything to set itself apart from numerous other albums out there designed to do the same thing.

However, if you're after beautiful, atmospheric post-rock to lull your senses, you can't really go wrong here.