The line 'Not all who wander are lost' was seen first as a bumper sticker and then remembered as part of the poem 'All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter' by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Gavin Prior, an Irishman with a wanderlust, seized upon these words as a convenient way to refer to his own wanderings which he documents here in the form of a musical diary described as a collection of "aural vignettes, rest stops and multiple journeys". Recordings were made in a range of locations including Korea, Nevada and Galway .
In his eloquent and humorous sleeve notes he points out that the full line by Tolkien has been "truncated so as not to exclude all those who actually are lost".
His notes are also an attempt to get to grips with the intangible elements which fire his imagination and awaken his muse, writing that "anomalies are both the flowering and the seeds of evolution and creativity".
Prior is a former member of United Bible Studies and co-founder of the Deserted Village Label. In past and present projects he has explored free jazz and noise but on this record he tones down his wilder tendencies to embrace a mood of gentle acoustic ambience complete with field recordings.
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The result is a personal, yet warmly evocative album where the inclusion of sounds such as those of meowing cats or squeaking playground swings provide an unorthodox backdrop to his spontaneous acoustic guitar playing.
The arrangements are sparse and the titles of the tunes are, by his own admission arbitrary and unrevealing : "Naming instrumentals is tricky - titles mostly feel reductive or redundant".
There is nothing redundant or formulaic about this record, however. As with a smile from a passing stranger, the fleeting sense of shared humanity leaves you with a warm glow inside.
Deserted Village's website
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