[…] “Sheffield often turns to extant music as the basis for his own, and it’s jazz that serves as the starting point for the eight tracks on Images. The result is an amalgam of plunderphonics, ambient and hauntology, in a way that often brings to mind James Kirby’s seminal The Death of Rave. As such, there’s a sense of nostalgia permeating Images, though equally Sheffield takes a somewhat abstract approach, interested less in what jazz is than what it’s made of, to the extent that this is not so much a homage as a direct response to the kinds of timbres and gestures found in the source material. … It’s an aesthetic choice, but Sheffield clearly delights in sculpting and mangling his sources in a way that sounds crude and obvious: to put it another way, there’s no attempt to hide or prettify the creative process. ‘Crescent’ is therefore the ideal way to open the album, being as it is a dense texture very obviously made up of a jumble of things being mashed up, with cymbals emerging especially prominently. … Especially striking are the times when Sheffield embraces this fuzzy obscurity and becomes focused on it. ‘Daylight’ seemingly takes its title from the brightness of its metallic, hard-edged shimmer, which has a transfixing effect. Rather than revealing details within, this outward shimmer appears to be modulated by otherwise unfathomable inner material, forming strange, quasi-melodic contours that together form a madly convoluted topography.” [reviewed in December] […]
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[…] “Sheffield often turns to extant music as the basis for his own, and it’s jazz that serves as the starting point for the eight tracks on Images. The result is an amalgam of plunderphonics, ambient and hauntology, in a way that often brings to mind James Kirby’s seminal The Death of Rave. As such, there’s a sense of nostalgia permeating Images, though equally Sheffield takes a somewhat abstract approach, interested less in what jazz is than what it’s made of, to the extent that this is not so much a homage as a direct response to the kinds of timbres and gestures found in the source material. … It’s an aesthetic choice, but Sheffield clearly delights in sculpting and mangling his sources in a way that sounds crude and obvious: to put it another way, there’s no attempt to hide or prettify the creative process. ‘Crescent’ is therefore the ideal way to open the album, being as it is a dense texture very obviously made up of a jumble of things being mashed up, with cymbals emerging especially prominently. … Especially striking are the times when Sheffield embraces this fuzzy obscurity and becomes focused on it. ‘Daylight’ seemingly takes its title from the brightness of its metallic, hard-edged shimmer, which has a transfixing effect. Rather than revealing details within, this outward shimmer appears to be modulated by otherwise unfathomable inner material, forming strange, quasi-melodic contours that together form a madly convoluted topography.” [reviewed in December] […]