Steve Hiett - Down On The Road By The Beach Review

SUN-BLEACHED PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE CÔTE D'AZUR

Steve Hiett's Down On The Road By The Beach isn't a gem in the rough. It's a gem sparkling from a scintillating sun, obscured by grains of sand, muffled tourists, and the occasional shadow from a passing cloud. It's sitting there in plain sight, as it has since 1983; settled and undisturbed. Predating Chillwave, Hypnagogic Pop, even home-brewed Psychedelic Pop by some 30-odd years, Down On The Road is a masterstroke of meticulous, aesthetic curation. Truly, the only thing that dates it is Hiett's admirable cover of 'Roll Over Beethoven.' Atmosphere this absorbing, accurate, and germane stemming from the 1980's? You'd be hard-pressed to find anything better, outside of Pieter Nooten & Michael Brook's Sleeps With The Fishes. But even that record, with its ominous, Noir blanket fails to muster the exacting nuance of Heitt's faded promenade strut. Plop yourself on a towel by the pier, soak up some UV rays, and realize you're living in what will soon be nothing more than an evanescent memory. As we see on the cover (one that draws comparisons to Boards Of Canada's infamous Music Has The Right To Children), details, specifics, even the pixels by which they're formed, have vanished to time. Embrace this corroded visage.

On Down On The Road, everything fixates itself on branded, beach energy. Or lack thereof, as Hiett's lackadaisical serendipity lounges around summer solstice sunsets, with dragging acoustics and melodious Ambient provisions. Certain tracks, like opener 'Blue Beach' or 'Sleep Walk,' weather the draining exertion caused by prolonged exposure to sunlight and humidity. They're plodding but gorgeous, indistinct yet entirely unambiguous. What's perhaps most fascinating about Hiett's lone album is how structure plays into atmosphere. Nearly every song, with notable examples such as 'Long Distance Look' and 'Standing There,' manifest from nothingness, fluid even within loops, dissipating without even making a discernible impression. Like the hours passing one by on a beach; eventually it all becomes a blur. Activities provide variety, but the glare obfuscates specifics. Take 'Hot Afternoon,' the most outward cut with its chanting hymns and rounded giddiness. It bridges a bizarre gap between The Creatues' Exotica and The Go! Team's placatory interludes, feeling as though a sand castle's arising from the quenched drudgery of children.

Best of all, though Ambient rides along the crashing waves, with the majority of songs taking an instrumental approach, Hiett's Surf Rock tactics invite pleasantries that can be accessed by all. There's no better example than standout 'Never Find A Girl,' whose opening composition plays perfectly against the backdrop of 'Blue Beach's' fading sun. Hiett's ingrained vocals herald a generation of bedroom musicians content operating in the lo-fi. And though it's the only Pop-oriented song in terms of structure, I never feel letdown by the album's ensuing dirge repose. Down On The Road is a piece of purist, underground art that surely shouldn't be missed..