loscil – LUX Refractions – Review
by Killian Laher

Scott Morgan, who records as loscil is one of the most prolific composers in the electronic/ instrumental world.  Just a few months after releasing Clara, he has now released variations on its first track LUX.  Clara in turn was a series of manipulations of a recording of a Hungarian orchestra, so we have now gone three steps away from the source material.

If anything Refraction 1 is more upbeat than the original, threatening to really catch fire, while without percussion.  It holds the interest, pulsing just below the surface.  2 is another thing entirely.  It starts foreboding, like its antecedent but after three minutes or so changes gear to gradually become something of an epic. 3 is the most quintessentially loscil track here, with a trippy, enveloping sound. Perhaps the most fully… refracted?  The droney 4 is the longest at nearly 10 minutes, quite possibly the closest to the original track.

While initially, this collection may seem somewhat unnecessary, on subsequent listens these versions turn out to be fascinating.  Essential for anyone who enjoys ambient.  It’s available here along with a book of photographs.