THE WOODS – The EP Logue

Back in 2006, a group of like-minded artist/musician folks gathered under the cerebellum of Ian Dudley and recorded the self-titled LP The Woods. It was a musical story about a kid with a malfunctioning air conditioning unit that leads him to drift away on the ocean waves and have all kinds of encounters and adventures.

Feeling that the tale was not quite complete (and despite the group spreading out geographically), Dudley et (mostly) al have recorded this continuation of the story. It’s a neo-folk-ish, indie soundtrack to a children’s book. Overlaying sound effects and minimal instruments and voices literally weave and swirl around as you feel the way Mickey must have felt in that book In The Night Kitchen…just not as hectic.

Lilting, slightly quirky, and dream-like, only five songs long and downloadable for free by clicking on the album artwork. It’s a fine collection. If it were longer it would need some style changes as far as music goes — but it works well in this short form. Also, when this release got dropped, Dudley also let go a music video for a track from the first LP. That video (for the tune “Final Breaths of a Main Character”) is also viewable on their site.

(Plug Research Music, 25 Santa Cruz Way, Camarillo, CA 93010)