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Music reviews
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Recently, I reviewed a collection CD of music made using the ANS synthesizer. This device is one of the earliest synths and is capable of a surprising range of sounds. One of the artists featured on that CD was Stanislav Kreitchi, and here he is again using, primarily, the ANS to create this alien and often darkly textured sonic wonderland. Kreitchi's resume is very interesting. He started using the ANS back in 1961, has done various soundtrack pieces, worked with Moscow's Experimental Electronic Music Studio, and composed music for a puppet show, Fire of Hope, which was based on Pablo Picasso's work. That last bit, I can't even begin to visualize what it must be like! ANS, as I mentioned, is capable
of a vast array of sounds, and Kreitchi uses a lot of them
including electronic birdlike sounds, bell ringings, cries of
the damned, symphonic tones, and an untold number of clicks,
buzzes, and whirrs. You can hear the experimental/avant garde
aspects of his career in the way he composes.
The song, Six Days of Creation, on the other hand, contains sampled and altered vocal of spoken word that give a somewhat organic feel to the disc which contains very few humanistic elements. Not speaking the language, I have no idea what's being said, but it works very well. Though not for everyone, this work would appeal to fans of arcane avant garde electronica. [ Top ]
This is my first encounter with
the Canadian artist, Dino Pacifici. It appears that he has
been at it for some time, however, and I've just been missing
out. The bio on his website tells us that he started on
classical guitar, though you hear only a little guitar on the
album. The guitar you do hear is generally in the style of
Steve Roach rather than Andrew Zohn, and the music is spacey
and nebulous, as the title implies. I also like how he ends the disc with a cute 41 second long track, Outro, which gently calms you from the darker aspects of the recording and centers you on returning to your normal day. Gearheads will enjoy a visit to his website which includes listings of instrumentation / equipment down to the cables he uses! [ Top ]
Russian composer, Artemiy
Artemiev continues down the path of dark flowing ambience with
this release. For the most part, he leaves behind his melodic
EM and instead focuses on soundscapes and shifting drifting
spaciness. The title track of this CD is in two parts and with the first part being almost a half an hour and the second part a bit over eighteen, the mainstay of the album is this song. Artemiev has used the four long tracks structure on other recordings, but having two movements divided by another piece makes it interesting to the ears. Both sections of Mysticism carry a bit of that industrial clatter found in the Cataclysms. Yet there is still a current flowing through the work. Perhaps this is cyber-mysticism? I have just come across this recording, and I'm certain that Artemiev composed these pieces to be timeless, however, it is interesting to compare these tunes with music half a decade back to see where it stood then and where it stands now. [ Top ]
I came across Rubbish Records
from online sources and checked out their website. They are
the new kids in town, the little independent guy out to
stick it to the Man! Ok, that's not their mission statement,
but I got that impression while looking over their listings
of psychedelia, electronica, and other genres they had for
sale. I got in touch with one of the hard working Toone's earlier handful of recordings have been privately produced. As a debut album, for the label, this recording holds promise of things to come. He is a multi-instrumentalist who blends his guitar frenzy with a solid helping of electronics. Or maybe, that's synth frenzy with a solid helping of guitar work. Either way, in terms of genre, this is something of a space rock synth extravaganza. It has a contemporary sound which his website calls "instrumental music for the mind". In addition to his skillful guitar, quite a handful of synthesizers were used to create the electronic layers on this recording with the main pair being a Korg Prophecy and a Novation Supernova 2. The disc contains bubbling synths, curiously sequenced rhythms and synth pads in the back ground. Often, as the songs evolve, the guitar comes in to give direction. The title track is the longest and perhaps, the catchiest, as it builds slowly and majestically to its conclusion. All in all the recording is a
fun toe tapper and I recommend you check out Rubbish Records
so we can all "stick it to the Man".
[
Top ]
David Wright will soon have to be counted
as a veteran in the UK EM scene, having released electronic
albums for at least a decade by now. His latest effort,
Continuum, feels somewhere between Enigma and Vangelis,
with a touch of Mike Oldfield in Distant Earth mode.
Continuum is pleasant and melodic space electronica,
blending everything from classic EM; sequencers There are two prominent uses of vocals; in the opening track Dark Matter, where a dark female voice is used to chant lyrics. Somewhere between Enya and Enigma, perhaps. And in the 5th track Cassini, where a male Gregorian-ish choir is singing a melody in something that could be Italian. To me the production on the choir sounds a little murky and not mixed very well. The five tracks are very long - none shorter than 11 minutes - which gives them room to develop an almost epic structure. But here I face my first hesitation; although the structure of the tracks are epic, the melodies and sounds are softer than what you'd expect in a real epic track, like Jarre's Rendezvous 2 or Vangelis' Conquest of Paradise theme. The sound palette used is fine enough, but I would have preferred a little edgier sounds that fit the musical structure better. The sounds lack a little bit of personality, you could say, in the sense that they are are nice and sweet, but they don't stand out most of the time. Continuum by David Wright shows
both talent and experience, but the album is not confident
enough on it's own to face the tough challenge that classic
/ epic electronic music is.
[
Top ]
From Spain comes this ambient
artist whose latest album Visualia is inspired by the
graphic computer art of Janet Parke. Sanfilippo has tried to
take the "form, colour, texture and light" of graphic
artwork into his music so that the listener will be
"transferred towards an inward and timeless dimension which
encourages imagination and fantasy". But to me, the music leans too much in the soft and bland new age direction, rather than serious ambient music. There are cute little melodies / sequences, passages of rain, thunderstorms, flutes, windchimes etc, sounds I associate with fluffy and "beautiful" new age music that unfortunately fails to connect on a deeper level. Good production values can't compensate for a somewhat "easy listening" collection of soothing tracks, but by all means, if you need an hour of good non-intrusive electronic(ish) new age music, give Visualia a try. [ Top ] |
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members of
the team and he told me that they not only were going to
sell CDs, but were actually starting a label to produce
recordings of freethinking musicians. First out of the gate
was the U.K.'s own, Nick Toone. 
(more Jarre
and Vangelis than Tangerine Dream), catchy melodies, space
chords and ambient passages, with focus on the melodic
elements. 