WRAPPING UP 2009 with Windmill

“Puddle City Racing Lights” by Windmill from 2007 was a very good record indeed. This year’s record “Epcot Starfields” is an EXCEPTIONALLY good record. There will be fans of the former record who will still prefer it over this year’s but “Epcot Starfields” moved me in a way Windmill’s debut didn’t begin to.



I wrote about it previously here and on Altsounds.com saying: This second album by Windmill is a suite of ten songs about dust particles, space, Carl Sagan and planetary doom. All inspired by a childhood visit to the Epcot space center in Florida… an astonishingly beautiful record: a 41 minute treatise on loneliness, love, death and the end of our planet, touchingly realised and quite moving... "Epcot Starfields" is an evocative and engaging journey, like sitting in a planetarium in awe at the beauty and wonder of the universe but also feeling small, insignificant and vulnerable. And like those feelings, the mood this album creates stays with you long after it has finished. (And am chuffed that those reviews are quoted on the Windmill Myspace page). It is not just me who rates this record as you can see from reviews on Drowned in Sound, The Line of Best Fit, The 405 and Paste Magazine.

Released in September officially, Windmill took this record on tour during September and October (there is a series of video tour diaries on YouTube documenting this) Here, succinctly, Matthew Dillon (aka Windmill) talks about the last 12 months and what the future holds.

What I will remember most about 2009 is...
District 9. That was very good, indeed.

What should be forgotten about 2009
My bad back.

The best gig we played was...
Blimey... They all blend into one. Maybe something in Austria with mountains and chocolate.

The best gig I saw was...
Paperplain.

A record from 2009 that will be still be played in 10 years time?
I'm sure that every record released will have found at least one listener that will adopt the record for life.

Overlooked in 2009?
A bit.

And what can we look forward to in 2010 from Windmill?
"Epcot Starfields" marks the end of Windmill for the foreseeable future. I have reached the end of my desire to tour and to produce music. I would like to make one more record someday, but, I can't see it happening anytime soon.

Yikes! Not only wrapping up 2009 but wrapping up Windmill?! I hope this is only a temporary pause or disillusionment. When Matthew talks about making this record in one of those tour diaries, even casually over a beer, you get a strong sense of what a labour of love this record was and is. And that intensity of feeling is summed up in the closing paragraph of The Line of Best Fit review:

“Epcot Starfields”, like the album that preceded it, is a showcase of the wonderful talent of Matthew Thomas Dillon. There are some spectacular moments on it, and when everything clicks Windmill can be phenomenally beautiful. It can also be such an emotionally draining listen at times that it’s hard not to be concerned for Dillon. After all we can turn the stereo off; this stuff is banging around in his head constantly.

I hope making music is not such a personal drain on Matthew as this suggests – a future without another Windmill record is quite a bleak one.

"Epcot Starfields" is available to buy direct in numerous formats including MP3, FLAC, vinyl and CD with a T-shirt option too if you want. It will come as no surprise when I say I heartily recommend you do so.



ELLEN SAVE OUR ENERGY
Windmill
Epcot Starfields [BUY]