Craig Padilla & Marvin Allen - Weathering the Storm (2023) [Hi-Res]

Weathering the Storm is the third collaboration by electronic ambient veteran Craig Padilla and guitar virtuoso Marvin Allen, on Spotted Peccary Music. Like their two prior releases, Toward the Horizon and Strange Gravity, this latest project sees Padilla and Allen build from their unique styles a dreamlike and dramatic electronic landscape that only they could create.

Not only a trilogy in sonic stylings, all three of Padilla and Allen’s collaborations feature the Umbrella Girl depicted on the cover. She represents all of us looking for our own way of existence amidst the chaos of the world. She is an open-minded seeker, and these soundscapes are her explorations.

Weathering the Storm is a hypnotic fusion of early 70s krautrock and modern electronic ambient production. On the title track, Allen’s 12-string acoustic guitar synchronizes with Padilla’s analog synthesizers, standing their ground against a swirl of electric guitar and mellotron. On “Aquatic,” Padilla and Allen incorporate found sounds—wind and thunder from a tornado forming, trucks roaring down a wet road, rainfall—into a Tangerine Dream-inspired texture of reversed piano and organ. Six other tracks complete the vision of the Umbrella Girl’s exploration in her mythical world.

On Weathering the Storm, Craig Padilla and Marvin Allen have once again blended guitar and synthesizer, old and new, into a captivating sonic odyssey.