Fragments Of Gorgeousness

 

Area - Fragments Of The Morning [CLM 031 USA 1990 24-Bit FLAC]

Allow me to provide your weekend listening ....there won't be anymore for a day or so, because I need to walk away from my ripping station following what has been a majorly intensive clean-up of one of the most wonderful albums of the nineties.

Fragments Of The Morning was the fifth and final album by Champaign, Illinois duo Area, released on the very important C'est la Mort label in November 1990. It is pressed on flimsy crackly white vinyl which occasionally hides the superb mastering by Trutone Mastering Labs from New York. This copy has sat on my shelves for years & years, as I relied on a CD copy for my listening pleasure. 

Often referred to as ethereal, Area's multi-instrumentalist Steve Jones composes & arranges gorgeous indie-rock melodies overlayed with the gentle, sultry voice of Lynn Canfield. American rock music was in the midst of a resurgence at the time and it seemed that everybody overlooked Area, unless of course they knew better. Maybe Area were just too gentle, too lush and possibly caught in the no-mans land between the mainstream and the alternative. They deserved success, if not a least a deal with one of the Warners divisions who would have ensured wider coverage. As soon as you hear those opening few bars of Puzzle Boy, you will be hooked.......

A1 Puzzle Boy 5:23

A2 The One Year

A3 Express 4:51

A4 Green Light 3:47

A5 All Souls 3:39

B1 Larger Than Life 4:56

B2 About Time 3:33

B3 At Arms Length

B4 Subway 4:46

B5 Dead Feather Years 5:45

...told you so!