Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

David Helpling & Eric "The" Taylor — The Precious Dark
(Spotted Peccary SPM-0807, 2025, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-05-06

The Precious Dark Cover art

About a year ago we reviewed an album Interdwell by the group Dark Sky Alliance, something of an ambient supergroup, a quartet with about a half dozen guests, on Spotted Peccary Music. The protagonists of the collaboration at hand, David Helpling and Eric “The” Taylor comprise one half of the quartet Dark Sky Alliance. Taylor is a synthesist, bassist, and percussionist, and Helpling is a synthesist and guitarist, and both are the composers of the seven tracks at hand, with Helpling handling the mixing and production, something that his thirty-some years with Spotted Peccary has prepared him for well. These are long tracks, mostly in the eight to ten minute range, that stretch out in many directions at once, offering the listener a dreamy epic quality of bold and fragmentary melodics and quiet washes, and between the two they have all of the bases covered for just about anywhere they want to go. Opening with “The Space Between Atoms,” a powerful yet tranquil mood is quickly established, with melodic sprites rising out of a sea of synthesizers, until a potent rhythmic pattern comes together about half way through. Like almost all Spotted Peccary releases. The Precious Dark is entirely instrumental. The power and grandeur, ever increasing throughout the trajectory of the piece, continues to build until we are a minute or so from the end, then releases slowly. Every piece has something unique about it that sets it apart from all others, and “Her Endless Cold Embrace” rises out of a deep dark cavern and slowly takes on some interesting textures after about a minute, alternating with gentle synth backdrops that paint pastel color undercurrents over which slow melodic points are applied generously. The title track begins with a melodic statement on guitar which quickly finds its way through a synthesizer fog, the bass figure tracking the slowly building figure that eventually finds its way to the surface. “Cavernous Heart” makes extensive use of looping figures and space echo applied to the guitar while synths fill the background and a strong bass figure supports it all from below, giving the listener the sensation of floating in a warm pool under the stars in the desert night. Beautiful soundscapes from beginning to end, The Precious Dark is one not to be missed.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): David Helpling, Eric "The" Taylor

More info
http://davidhelpling.bandcamp.com/album/the-precious-dark

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.