The Moving Dawn Orchestra – Dials

Now Available: Fluid Audio presents ‘Dials’, a limited edition release from Guy Andrews latest project ‘The Moving Dawn Orchestra’…

I love thoughtful CD packaging. We reside in a world of ugly plastic jewel cases and narcisscistic photograph inserts, and it is no great surprise to me that many consumers turn to digital downloads to avoid the drive all the way to a record store for this soulless merchandise.

With Dials, the debut EP from Guy Andrews’ (iambic) The Moving Dawn Orchestra, label Fluid Audio bucks this trend. A charmingly personal limited run, they have really gone to town with the little touches. Besides the superb CD covers, which slip into a hand-stitched fabric pouch, you also get an eight-page photo book, button, card and scroll. Even my humble promo copy came packaged with cloves, which put a little smile on my face.

And this is all before you even put the record on…

Spring: Hymn/Hymn 8.08

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Each of the four tracks is named for one of the seasons. We start with ‘Spring’, which is fitting, as Dials is released on March 1st; my rather optimistic cut-off date for the end of winter. The track is dominated by a happy piano/glockenspiel melody, which perfectly captures those highnotes of warmth we get around May-time, which could equally be spring or summer. Wonderful electronic glitchy sounds are built on top; this is a happy track.

Summer: Keep Still 8.03

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Just as the seasons do, we flow almost seamlessly into ‘Summer’, which is itself is undeniably warm. That glockenspiel is back, soon joined by an uplifting guitar rhythm and vocals reminiscent of Efrim Menuck of A Silver Mt. Zion.

Autumn: Between Hands 7.58

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‘Autumn’ and ‘Winter’ close the EP in a somewhat melancholy fashion, but then again they are the seasons of reflection; of staring into the fireplace deep in thought.

Winter: Silhouette 7.39

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These tracks drip with calming ambience, and although by the final notes we’re left with a feeling of mortality, we know that spring is just around the corner, and life begins anew. – Review by Chris Grenville

About Dials:

The Moving Dawn Orchestra is the latest project from Guy Andrews, a UK based producer known for the ambient electro-acoustic jazz act ‘iambic’.

The intention of The Moving Dawn Orchestra is to seamlessly blend electronics into the Contemporary Classical genre, creating minimalistic, electro-acoustic and organic orchestral soundscapes.

The Moving Dawn Orchestra’s first EP entitled ‘Dials’ is a representation of four seasons of a year and will be released as a limited edition CD with special packaging on Fluid Audio which includes hand made photo albums, hand stitched fabric pouch for cd covers to slip into, letter pressed covers, 8 page photo booklet, scroll, badge, card and cloves.

No two cd’s from this limited edition run will be the same!

For more pictures of the packaging visit the Fluid Audio blog here

Other Reviews:

Electro-acoustic contemporary classical instrumentals: Dials is a graceful suite of four mid-length compositions with minimalist sparsity and contemporary beauty. The wistful pianos, rich with reverb; the sombre string textures and the absence of percussive beats give the music a seductive timelessness. – Morpheus

I think we’ve all forgotten just how integral things like sleeve art used to be when you picked up a release. In this modern age of throwaway file shares and digital bundles it takes a release like this to make you realise what we may have lost. – London News 020 Magazine

Release Date: 01/03/10
Mastered by Guy Andrews
Photos by Nikola

www.fluidaudio.co.uk
www.movingdawnorchestra.com