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The Caretaker - Everywhere At the End of Time - Stage 4 (History Always Favours the Winners, 2018)

The Caretaker first came to my attention with An Empty Bliss Beyond this World in 2011, which was a revelation. In the years since he's started his Everywhere At the End of Time project, mining the same fertile ground - a study of Alzheimers and tracks of older, ballroom, swing type instrumentals smeared, fuzzed and crinkled up like half-remembered reveries from a life you didn't live. The Everywhere At the End of Time project explores that idea in greater concept. And admittedly it had gotten a little stale by now. Thankfully the 4th entry in the series shakes things up. Four side-long tracks as opposed to the other's 3-4 minute songs. and the tracks are certainly more abstract, more ambient - although still with the crackle and nostalgia that make the project so identifiable. Was it new or different enough to really stand out for me? No, but I'm glad this concept is moving in different directions. Curious to see what follows.

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