A Visionary Sound Arts Interface

Return to Main Page The DVD DarvReviews 12-18-07 Entheogen Click here for ENTHEOGEN website 2006 TECHNOSHAMANISM & ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS This disc serves as an optimal 70 minute intro the current paradigm revolution taking place in modern psychology and ecology. For the most part, this stems from the triumph of archetypal theory over reductive psychological theories and from the rise of common awareness of "interconnectivity" due to modern computer sciences evident as the internet and similar mass communication networks. Similarly, our culture's "discovery" of "psychedelics" a mere century and decade ago has led to an emergent planetary culture using modern technology at the service of ancient shamanic practices to impact expanding awareness of our role in the holoarchy of living systems that is our planet. In this film, one encounters a number of intriguing revelations about our growing modern realization of how the world, "more than being a collection of objects, is a communion of subjects." Western Science's NEED to repress concepts of sacredness and Spirit in order to get out from under the power of Religion has now pushed us to the edge of civilizational collapse due to our Alienation from our environment. This has been caused by our pushed our sense of isolated individuality to its limit. Featured are many of the cutting edge thinkers on modern psychology and Visionary artists like Alex Grey, creator of the Sacred Mirrors series of paintings. The film moves at a medium fast clip, with lots of trance-inducing music and really fun pastiches of photography at times (the segment on shamanic trance dancing is intense and really fun!) Shamanism is basically the set of techniques by which the individual, even the initially inexperienced untrained individual, can explore different mind states up to and including active imagination, meditation, high creativity, bliss and ecstasy. None of this requires the use of perception widening substances, but they are recognized as valid from the tens of thousands of years they have been used historically and prehistorically. This is LITERALLY the NONDRUG use of sacramental plant substances. It has been said that if enlightenment ever came to America, it would have to come in the form of a drug or we'd never get around to it. it should be evident that it's getting to the time where only something powerful can snap us out of our materialistic trance so that we may not just "know" but REALIZE that we have to change course in terms of polluting and overpopulating. 9-1-07 Zeitgeist click here for ZeitgeistMovie.com 2007 TWO HOUR MIND BOMB VIDEO PACKED WITH POWERFUL INFO THIS is available as a free download or one can purchase the DVD. it is a two hour presentation divided into roughly 3 40-minute segments: 1) the best video presentation i've seen on the unoriginality of the story of the new testament, how it is basically rehashed paganism, having borrowed all of its important elements from previously existing deity stories and the nonhistoricity therefore of its central character; 2.) a detailed examination of UNANSWERED realities of the 911 tragedy which, in my opinion, strongly indicate that the official story of 911 is a fabrication and that 911 actually fits a pattern of behavior that has been going on for a long, long time; 3) a historical discourse on the international bankers and how they manipulate financial systems which rock society at times, and the long-range plan to undermine and ultimately dismantle democratic values and civil liberties. this is a hard-hitting, exhaustive and somewhat exhausting couple of hours of unpleasant data about the greedy and powerful dominators of our world and how far they are willing to go to maintain oppression. this will be assailed as "conspiracy theory" video and therefore, just on the basis that it suggests conspiracy, it must be a nut job. well, it all seems pretty logical, accurate and intellectually honest to me, especially in contrast to the neocon apologists who somehow think that they are right BECAUSE they are right. the 911 segment is particularly well constructed and i would think that only political ideologues or basically foolish people could dismiss its conclusions outright. obviously, to really enjoy this video, one has to have an active intellect ready to absorb lots of info, and a political orientation which allows the possibility of actual conspiracy. i would also suggest one be able to tolerate a fast pace and rather noisy and violent segments filled with people being killed and explosions. 8-25-07 Trancetrip 3D (DVD) James Lawrence Headtoys, 2007 Click Here for Trancetrip.com TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC TAKES ON NEW MEANING!! The original Trancetrip VHS is long out of print. i'd been waiting patiently for it to be offered for sale, but it was consistently unavailable. i'd just found the listing on-line and had never seen it nor knew anyone who had (except for the rare review listing on-line.) with all of these wild DVDs i've been acquiring lately, i thought it was rather de rigeur to have some 3D in the collection & Trancetrip seemed to be in the direction i was interested in exploring. after a couple of years of lookings, i saw that James Lawrence had released digital video and that was much more to my liking! Ordered it immediately. For full 3D effect, one must wear one of the two pairs of apparently typical cardboard 3D glasses included in the DVD case. i say "apparently" because these lenses actually have two DIFFERENT stereoscopic principles at work: one is the ChromaDepth effect, which creates different depths from the listener according to color; the other is a color refraction process identical to the lens processes in the glasses included with AV3X, which Chris Oliver has dubbed "Kaleidovision" and which creates multiple copies of the tv screen, so that it appears to be surrounded by screens duplicating its picture. The wild thing is: the farther you move from the actual tv screen, the more kaleidoscopic the designs become! The actual 3D effect is done with planes of color -- red, green, blue -- which appear to be at different distances from the viewer. I found that without the glasses, the picture is still very aesthetically pleasing but more of a background effect than something one would sit and watch. one thing i like is the extremely bright neon dayglo colors such as one gets on very high entheogenic levels. the pictures are some archetypical mandalas and patterns that are familiar and pleasingly so in that way, which are also highly detailed and when one puts the glasses on they create a stunning living breathing tryptych very reminiscent of the moving walls of electronic cartoons one gets deep in the psilocybin trance. in fact, Trancetrip DVD looks more like high level mandalic fusion Light trypping than any other video in my collection. what is also fascinating here is that as one approaches the tv screen, you get more and more intricate detail on the actual screen, but as you move away from the screen, the multiples of the screen increase in number until it is like a wall of screens in front of you! these create huge patterns of energys some of which seem organic, others are obviously cybernetic and then again others seem totally mystical and angelic. The music is also totally air-worthy electronic music that must owe something to Klaus Schulze, but is millenial in sound, feel and production. while each being a sort of sonic rotating engine in the Schulzian manner, there is a lot of emotional movement and intellectual interest as each moves through time. there is also a variety in mood from song to song. as far as DVD original soundtrax go, this is one of my favorites and one i could listen to without the video portion. in fact, i did on numerous occasions, just because what was happening on audio was so interesting i needed to cut the video feed, which is quite intense, to give the audio my full attention. by cut the video feed, i mean "close my eyes." This video and the music are very bright and electronic and therefore perfect for the ambient room at a Rave or for exploring the codes of the DNA sequence entheogenically at home. This is intense stuff and will not appeal to people who don't like bright light and the incessant rave pulse (this is not techno dance music but electronic music in the modern electro mode.) on my first viewing i was tranced out, basically asleep, for about 10-15 minutes DURING the video. Two hearty thumbs up and a snap of the suspenders to Trancetrip 3D. i look forward to collecting all of the widescreen Trancetrip series when it is released in December. definitely looks like the electric colors and the scrolling tryptychs of high psychedelia. show it to mom! Spotworks Scott Draves Spotworks.Com 2004 CYBERNETIC FRACTALLIZATION OF HAND-DRAWN MICROORGANISMS SYNTHESIZES NEW SPECIES OF VISUAL ART Ernst Haeckel was a German born biologist and naturalist (1834-1919) whose life was so extraordinary i suggest you pop by the Wikipedia listing for a moment: Click Here For Haeckel Wikipedia listing Among other things, he specialized in the study of single celled marine life forms called Radiolarians. He drew a series of plates featuring these and other marine life forms in a favorite book of mine, "Art Forms In Nature" (New York: Dover, 1974.) this link goes to a page that displays many of the the plates: Click For Pictures Anyway, after looking at all of these amazing strangely beautiful LIVING forms that were drawn by hand by a man looking into a microscope at the millenium into the 20thC, one begins to realize that there is a beauty in Life at once easy to recognize and appreciate while still completely Alien to the Human. i mean, "living Faberge eggs," indeed.... Well, Draves scanned these images and took them into cyberfusion. the images are replicated, spiralled, multiplied, torqued, recursified and metasynthesized into a roiling brew of burbling strangeness. it is quite exotic and different from any other headcandy video i own. for more than one reason. there is history of science in this. there is the flabbergasting reality that these are representations of life forms that actually exist. there is the whirling stonedness of it all. and i mean SERIOUS whirling. one effect used a lot in this video is the liquid clockwise whirl. it does create a kind of dizziness. when one looks away from the tv screen, the brain is still compensating for the whirl with a COUNTERclockwise whirl in the visual field of its own. so the center of your vision is turning no matter where you look. i'm sure many a rave deejay has had great fun watching people on psychedelics in the room watching the movie for a while and then suddenly lurching around or falling down as they turn to leave. i must confess at being somewhat annoyed with this effect at times. it is much like how the room keeps spinning after one stops spinning around. but all in all, a worthwhile work of art especially if one knows that what they are seeing are actually life forms! the music has more gravitas then most of my reviewed DVDs. i'm going to call it heavy electrodub in the style of Bill Laswell (who i think does play in some of this music.) it is definitely music of the underground urban rave culture, so it is hip and shamanistic. there is no churchy sanctimoniousness on this album, but rather the world fusion dub irie ites. i'm down. the videos are also presented as dub mixes, so there is a sensibility here of getting the vibe in the mix. yes, i'd say this is downtown gritty urban warehouse shamanistics on the sound. SO: this is an intellectually stimulating, ground- breaking WORK OF ART. it is not trying to put you in a meditative state. well, maybe a trance state. it isn't trying to be highest grade of CGI magic. SPOTWORKS seems to be a sort of fable attempting to open the viewer's mind about the awesome mystery and nature of Life. it is done in a style that would be appropriate to urban rave culture. if you check out some of the plates on the link that was provided above, it will become evident how amazing they would be all fractallized. The Light Body John S. Banks & J.J. Hurtak Academy For Future Sciences, 2004 CREATOR OF ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS VIDEO & AUTHOR OF THE KEYS OF ENOCH TEAM UP FOR ANGELIC YANG DOWNLOAD Having just put together the separate DVD page, i discovered that i never reviewed this disc which deserves notice and high time i did. Banks with his dream-like CGI magic is guided by the voice of Hurtak on a planet-wide tryp to the centers of ancient spiritual power in Egypt, India, Tibet, the Andes and the Yucatan. it's a 30-min video that makes a lot of allusions to innerdimensionals and space-faring beings without actually coming out and saying it. There are 4 different soundtracks: they all have the same music but a different lecture. one thing that would have made this a better disc is if one track was music only because some of the music is actually pretty decent Mount Shasta style new age cosmic rock. i played this for my mother when she was visiting. she fell asleep after 5mins and woke up 5mins before it was over. i remember that happening to me at my first angelic evocation. perhaps it is a way we have of processing information coming to us on channels we don't admit to ourselves. i could see playing the video portion with music from another source and the video could actually stimulate interesting conversations because there is so much footage of sacred places around the world. because it is John Banks, the whole production has a dreamy, ethereal sense of narrative movement and transition. i'm sure people who enjoy Banks' other works would like the video portion of this DVD. people interested in the Keys of Enoch and J. J. Hurtak's work in general, as i am, will find what he is talking about interesting. i said he was lecturing, but actually it is more like prophesying. there is definitely an angelic vibe that comes off of the whole production and that is what i would expect in visionary gnosis. can't say i really understand the whole Hurtak thing, but there does seem to be a Lightworker energy involved. 6-09-07 Atlas Dei Daniel Colvin, visuals Robert Rich, sound Atlas Dei Website click here VISUAL POETRY!! LYRICAL SIGHT&SOUND ODYSSEY!! What sets this amazing DVD apart from the other Visionary videos i've reviewed in this column is its fusion of thought-provoking images of the enigmas of cosmos, evolution and sapiens. Set to new surround mixes of the darker and geometric sides of VSA Master, Robert Rich, this disc causes one's tv screen to burst forth with a relentless kaleidoscope of motion paintings in which the canvas is constantly being morphed into new related ideas. There does seem to be a narrative movement of sorts from the primordial origins of the cosmos, through the development of ever-more complex systems to the emergence of sapiens, the self-reflective organism, and its impending self-awareness. This is like watching an ANIMATED PAINTING, as the artist adds layer upon layer of forms upon each other. By the end of this 93 minute journey, my brain was frothing over with ideas and questions about our existence. While only a few of the musical pieces here are new material, exclusive to the Atlas Dei video and its CD soundtrack, and a large amount of it is from his recent, "Electric Ladder," CD, the edits are tasteful, the remixes bring many pieces into much sharper definition, much of the new stuff harkens back to Rich's more geometrical period, which i love. the entire soundtrack flows smoothly with beautiful transitions and it definitely feels like Colvin painstakingly timed the video movement with the music. no small amount of thoughtful consideration went into the making of this very enjoyable piece of art. I would even go so far to say that much of the video is very complimentary to Rich's music to the point that it seems one can finally see it without having to be in trance or trypping. As an additional bonus, the commentary track which can be selected for play with the video features a very imaginative and entertaining conversation between Colvin and Rich as they view the finished movie in the studio as the machine is crunching the final mix. Cutting edge thinking on aesthetics and creativity! This video was done solitarily by Colvin, at home, using state-of-the-art Macintosh computerized video equipment. As such, we get an early view on the next generation of CGI that will be available publicly. It is AWESOME!! Some shots have as many as a HUNDRED different layers. if you ever saw the film of Picasso painting a painting in time lapse photography, so we see how he covers over previously painted areas to the point that the entire painting changes its look several times before he stops and says "this is it." you can imagine what we have here, but in very sharp computer images. another way to say it is this is like if one of Dali's paintings became animated, except not with the confusion and mania of Dali, but with a sensitive mind that is well versed in symbolism and archetypal theory, and also has nearly a quarter century of working with imagery. the kind of mind that would find kinship with an artist like Robert Rich. my highest recommendation to people who like intelligent dark ambient or to visionaries seeking inspiration. 5-16-07 Ibiida Lahaa Video DVD by Bart Hawkins Original Score by Craig Padilla BartHawkins&CraigPadilla, 2005 TITLE FROM WINTU LANGUAGE: "I AM GOING INTO TRANCE" This beautiful hour-long DVD features gorgeous cinematography of natural phenomena enhanced with sparing use of computerized imagery to create a deep theta experience. While not as magnificent as the scenes of Timeless, another recent mind-altering nature DVD, the imagery here creates a more shamanic mood and looks for magic in its vistas. The time-lapse photgraphy is incredible and the lightning storm is completely jaw-dropping even on repeated viewing. Hawkins makes use of a vertical split-screen mirroring technique which creates awesome deific forms that mushroom completely beyond earth proportions. The music by Craig Padilla will absolutely put the listener in a deep theta state and stands on its own without the video imagery. It is a sonic mandala soundworld which spans the entire hour with a dense yet spiritual aroma. I find myself putting this disc in to hear the music every bit as much as to view the video. This is well considered synthesis and tasty at that! Very pleased with this acquisition and recommend it to tryppers and people looking for video mind expansion with more nature than wild computerized fractillization. 3-18-07 Ritual Path: Illuminated Manuscripts 2 DVD John Banks (Visional) w/Fritz Heede (Music) Artek Images, 2006 SUBLIME COMPANION TO ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS ONE! While quite similar in overall Vision to the first DVD, this one completely suceeds in disclosing the Vision of the Paradisal, as well as showing awareness of one of the main,er, criticisms of the first release, which centered on the use of script (the written word, but mostly appearing to be in some Elvish dialect or the Heavenly Script of JJ Hurtak's milieu.) The use of lettering here is basically absent; it seems more hieroglyphic and amorphous and isn't done as much. I must say, there a lot of video footage here. Nearly two hours and twenty minutes, although 71 minutes is the "Environmental Loops, which are better than in the first release, which recycle much of the imagery contained in the 57 minute feature, "Explore The Path." If you, dear reader, have not seen any of Banks' video before, it is hard for me to describe. It is flowing changing scenes of natural Paradise interlaced with sacred geometric architecture & sweet ancient rural homes which seem to meld into the landscape. It is presented as if a book had opened and begun to tell its story of heavenly life in moving pictures. Painstaking attention to detail on the part of the artist has kept the vibe of the Vision in delicate harmony with the natural vibe one gets when viewing natural landscapes. During more geometric ritual interludes where mandalas emerge, the scene can look a bit modern although it is always merged with essences of ancient wisdom. The pace, however, never accelerates to that of modern techno videography. It is always leisurely and angelic. A good deal of the music features voice. This includes an enjoyable piece titled, "Waterfall Ascent/Descent," sung by the inimitable Jon Anderson, of the now classic cosmic progressive rock band, YES. Most of this is Goddess/Druid oriented and gentle global fusion which reminds me of Earthtrybe or Troika. Which is to say in more popular terms that it has affinities with, say, Enya or i dunno Dead Can Dance maybe. Some of the "Environmental Loops" have some quite appealing true Ambient music. In fact, these Loops are more like visual Ambient than practically anything else i own. Each one sets up a delicious natural environment that has little videomagic jewelled moments sparkling here&there. And then it just keeps the vibe going endlessly. I think each loop is 4-7 minutes long. It is quite plain that Banks has grown as an artist. This is evident in the INTRICACY of certain moments. Overall, however, there is no radical departure from the first DVD. As an aficionado, i am pleased to include this with IM1 and my other Banks video with JJ Hurtak, "The Light Body." I'd really like to see Banks take his videomagic to heavenly realms and incorporate even more sacred geometry, esp. the Golden Section spiralling mandala. 2-17-07 AV3X Volume 2 Christopher Oliver AV3X.COM 2006 NEW FEATURES DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE AV3X, not the least of which is the sharper detail of the animation and the ability of the viewer to enable/disable the strobe light. AV3X-2 and the improved version of the original both have these capabilities, PLUS they are both in widescreen format, which is awesome. AV3X-2 is very much a companion feature to the original video, but i believe that i perceive development in the abilities of the artist to handle this medium, which results in subtler, hard to describe emotional response. there also seems to me to be a greater emphasis on communal movement, as if we enjoyed windows of awareness into the ecologies of hyperphysical souls. ALSO VERY COOL ARE THE "KALEIDOVISION"(TM) GLASSES which come with volume 2. these look like the 3d cardboard glasses that people wore to theaters to see movies some decades ago. but they aren't 3D glasses, instead they prismatically extend the tv screen so that one sees a ring of tv screens around the actual one. so it is somewhat like looking at a wall of tv's. this greatly increases the power of the visual input! watching the regular picture, the strobed picture or the kaleidopicture each have their own rewards. interesting... For those of you unfamiliar with AV3X: it is a state-of-the-art computer-generated animation dvd with a synchronized light-sound brainwave entrainment matrix which produces profound states of relaxation and trance. while it can be used for meditation and is sold as such, i consider that aspect of it to be more useful for experienced sound meditators than novices, who would be better directed to brainwave music scientifically keyed to specific measured meditation frequencies. but this baby sure will smooj yer aura down and give you a clean wave to work with! The graphics are kaleidoscopic also, neither narrative nor leisurely, we are plummeted from submicroscopic to transgalactic levels in moments, then scree down in seconds to the quantuum level to suddenly occur transdimensionally and so on. sometimes the ride becomes quite rollercoasterlike (esp under the right conditions.)i never tire of them really and always find something new or at least see something as if for the first time. I don't recall anybody explicitly mentioning this, but AV3X can also be used as a "dream machine," where, while the strobe feature is enabled, you simply keep your eyes closed and sit close enough to the light source to illuminate your eyelids. after a while, your brain will begin trying to interpret the visual input, much like what happens with brainwave machines. under the right conditions, your brain will make the pictures and geometric figures. The first 3 sections of music have the most angelic overtones of the entire series. In particular, the third section, entitled, "Ascension" is a near-17minute piece that i would play in its entirety on my radio show if i still had one. 8-19-06 Kairos Steve Roach Timeroom Editions, 2006 A MAGNIFICENT DVD/CD SET FEATURING VIDEO ARTISTS whose works resonate with Steve's music. This video shows that a lot of care and interaction between artists occurred during its creation and the music is well synched with the visuals. It seems to explicate a creation story that begins in pre- time-space interactions, then follows an evolutionary process that develops a spiritual essence that envelops the audience in the final movements. This essence is shown in both masculine and feminine modes. The music is ONCE AGAIN Classic Roach; this time in the style of "Core" or "On This Planet," yet having some extremely beautiful sacred space ambience akin to Steve's recent work on "Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces." As i have been obtaining Visionary DVDs recently, it seemed logical to pick this one up since i haven't previously acquired a Steve Roach video. i was attracted to this one mainly because it is more abstract and suggestive video art. i have to admit that i am more attracted to state-of-the-art CGI than to nature clips. And the entire thing is well done, a tryp in itself with no need for enhancement (although i have no doubt this would be a wonderful centerpiece for viewing under the appropriate conditions ;) Particular favorite portions for me are the animated sections done by Steven Rooke - the same artist who created the cover art for "Body Electric," (a collab with Vir Unis.) and the final miraculous sections where one's own body becomes identified with the Goddess and the God. Amazing. Just as a whimsical footnote: the title was familiar to me, but i couldn't place it. it looks and sound Greek but...?? i knew it was similar to chiro- , the combining form of the Greek word for "hand." thus, with the -os, it could be Greek "spirit of the hand." but this didn't seem quite right. similarly, there is the term, Chi-Rho, plural Chi-Ros, a Christian monogram formed from the first two letters -- X and P -- of the Greek word for Christ, also called a christogram. Here in Hawaii, "kai" is the word for "sea." so we could almost go with "good spirit of the sea." A quck google on the subject leads me to wikipedia, where there is an actual Kairos listing. It indicates that it is a Greek word meaning roughly, "opportune moment." A short period of time during which one can act with more ease to make something happen (although it is also indicated that sometimes force is needed.) Great DVD for the intrepid cybershaman. Comes in a fold-out case with accompanying CD so you can immediately take it to the car or portable player. Excellent addition to any headspace video library! Timeless...A National Parks Odyssey David Fortney Music by Patrick O'Hearn David Fortney, 2002 A SUMPTUOUS, HIGH RESOLUTION SWEEPING NATURE VIDEO featuring the grandeur of the classic scenes found in the USA National Parks. The Patrick O'Hearn music is from previous albums of his, particularly "So Flows The Current" and "Trust." That's okay, because it is great stuff and i think some 3 or 4 compositions are particular to this release. Patrick gives us a high-gloss, languid sonic environment, deceptively simple yet elegant and revealing on repeated listen. The nature cinematography is just delightful in color and flow, washing the viewer in a constant kaleidoscope of the wonders of pristine land and sky. This was, again, a recommendation by Iasos that i followed up on. unlike other DVDs that i have reviewed here, there are not hidden levels or tricky manouvers that lull one into trance. you are simply exposed to some of the powerful natural beauty that there is in north america. it is a wonder to behold, has no hidden meanings to try to figure out and i would call it REFRESHING rather than relaxing. after a while, it seems almost that one is experiencing a deep, cellular response to these images. a sense of something primal that has long been covered over by words and thinking. it reminds me very much of the feelings i get when i gaze at the GaiaStar imagery created by Bonnie Bell and David Todd. if you have been offhandedly thinking now and again that you should like to have a nature video, but don't know what would be good - like, you don't want tinkly new age music or poorly shot raw footage that doesn't have flair or sensitivity - this could be a good choice. to be honest, i'm not ecstatic about this video the way i was about, say, AV3X or Luminous Dimensions (heck, i couldn't eat or sleep after LD that first time,) but it is unique from them and much closer to the raw openness of life. as i have been following a thread of natural imagery with GaiaStar recently, this fits right into that vibe and some Patrick O'Hearn is always a welcome find! 6-24-06 Luminous Dimensions Numinations, 2006 Numinations Website Go Now HUH WHAT!?! YES I KNOW THAT IT IS THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT and, what?, yes, yes, i haven't had dinner, are you kidding? who could have dinner, this thing.... ....no, please! listen! GO BUY THIS VIDEO. IT IS AN INSTANT CLASSIC!! NO BRAINER!! unless of course, you aren't ready to experience what the latest in computer animation can do and BELIEVE ME it's gone WAY beyond what even YOU thought it could do!! The most gorgeous breathtaking rampages through Paradise all the while exploring the more unsettling archetypal truths in deep honesty. in fact, this film could be considered KEY for people interested in considering how we arrive at judgements of what is good or evil. just how far can one trust beauty to not be a betrayer? what does evil really LOOK like? what does good look like? could you be easily fooled? this glorious video should be in the collection of ANY open-minded spiritually-oriented person. WHAT YOU WANT SPECIFICS?? WAIT. I HAVE TO HAVE DINNNER SO I CAN GET BACK TO WATCHING THIS FABULOUS VIDEO! just go buy one now. trust me. Addendum: 9-26-06 This is probably the most gorgeous video i own. It is basically angelic music like Iasos, Aeoliah or Demby made visual. These Visions are very similar to actual places i have travelled within during shamanistic angel workings. Anyone who enjoys the music produced by Iasos will find it immediately enchanting. While the video is deftly keyed to the music, one can of course put any music on in its place. The music is high caliber ambient by Jeff Pearce, who uses guitar to create sonic washes of impressive dexterity. It's an hour long piece titled, "These Waters Wide" and should appeal to people who like classic Ambient without the drumbeats or techno edges. This is spacious, gaseous music, oweing something to Steve Roach, i think, but with definite angelic luminousness woven within it. Radiant treasures appearing then gone amidst mysterious clouds and hidden rumblings. Sparkling, awestruck, rapturous moments of intense radiation and not really that much water in it, whereas angelicists tend to like very shiny radiance and pure water with only slight vapors if any, this music is more about concealing/revealing and the hidden questions of our Life Within the Cosmos. In all, it is quite pleasant and mysterious, all the better since the visuals are tailored to it. It is a gentle meditative low alphawave drone environment. What would be very interesting is a collaboration between this video artist named Michael DuBois, and an angelic composer like Iasos or Michael Hammer (well, not "like" them but one of them.) The video i've seen so far is far more compatible with them. i would even say that DuBois should study their music for further insight. Anyway, i'm almost certain that this will be my DVD of the year and it is likely i will give copies as gifts to people i care about. 5-14-06 lightSOURCE Codename: MANA, 2005 spiralofLight website A VIBRANT MIX OF ANCIENT WISDOM & NEW TECHNOLOGY So the subtitle reads. And so it is! The instant i saw this disc on web, i knew i was going to order it. i continue to be involved with sacred geometry and have been attempting to get to the next level of learning. i've been rereading primary texts, looking for nuggets i may have overlooked before. i've upgraded so to speak my pendant from the yin(%)yang mandorla to the flower of life. i've been actively following the work of Kryder and even recently purchased a sacred geometry augury card deck (this last somewhat not attaining to my hopes.) having been somewhat spoiled by the AV3X acquisition some time ago, i tried not to set expectations too high. I knew, straight up, that i was getting a DVD of 13 stationary mandalas which would mutate over time by changes in shading and coloration. i knew that the accompanying brainwave music soundtrack was released by The Monroe Institute. this was not actually pleasing, because i acquired a number of cassettes and also a CD of "Meta-music" from The Monroe Institute, all of which cassettes were not very effective or pleasant to listen to, although they were supposed to be supporting OOBE or astral travel. The CD had better brainwave effects, but the music was rather staid "new age" music. So, in my mind, this "classic" soundtrack that i've never heard of before, "Higher," was a serious quizzical querulous question mark in my mind. the DVD features these mandalas: Flower of Life, Golden Ratio Spirals, Ankhs and Seed of Life, Human Merkaba, Metatron's Cube, Sacred Heart, Harmonics of Music, Sri Yantra, Vesica Piscis, Torus, Endless Knot, 10 and 5 pointed stars with dodecahedron, Tree of Life. the first time i watched the DVD, i pretty much zoned right into it and didn't notice much detail. i initially was maybe even a little bummed because, indeed, you are watching 13 10-minute stationary mandalas which are permutating in color and shade. the soundtrack is a continuum cloud drone which sounds through the 137 minute film. it is quite pleasant but doesn't seem to alter in mood or pace. the production reminded me of early Kip Mazuy, back when he was making brainwave soundtracks for Master Charles. i would also compare its mood to a little known disc, "Meditation Made Simple," (CMH, 1997,) which had a great half hour track, "Music For Personal Relaxation." i often think of this stuff as ketamine music because it sort of floats you through gauzy radiant clouds which slowly turn different shades of orange, crimson and lavender. the difference here, of course, being the much more sophisticated use of pulse and high freq prompts. to gaze into the mandalas for the full length was a bit much for me, having just gotten off a stressful day of work, and i had to view it in three sittings over the course of the evening. in fact, i think i got so energized by it that it contributed to my sleeplessness that night. Anyway, the weekend came and i decided to make a holy day of it, a day of sustained meditations and contemplation of things spiritual. Well....wow! taking a day of rest in order to view such things under the appropriate conditions completely changed my opinion! First off, some of these vids reveal the various levels or associated philosophy with some of the structures. In particular, the Tree Of Life section is very well done and the Vesica Piscis segment made me aware of a whole new aspect of it i hadn't known before. i know there are more things to see that i've missed and am quite excited about havng it. on top of all that, the actual vibration of the geometric figures is quite salutary and along with the intensity of colors it becomes obvious that light can produce heathful affects. after watching this DVD completely, i then put on AV3X. to my delight, it was as if my mind had learned a whole new set of tricks for looking at the video. it was interesting to notice that AV3X is much more active, fractallized and chaotic, yet produces a deeply relaxing somatic response. lightSOURCE is slow permutation, calm music and BRIGHT colors, which produces a calming and focusing response the music, on continuous listen, reveals subtles levels mostly achieved on higher frequencies. all in all, a very enjoyable sound matrix from the Monroe Institute, which makes me interested in whether they have anything else like this one.i might have a little block in this regard because The Monroe Institute seems to have a prevailing bad attitude about Dr. Jeffrey S. Thompson, who also uses binaural processing to synchronize the lobes of the brain. Perhaps because he is so much better than the typical Monroe output that i've heard. i'd have to hear ten more soundtracks at least as good as this one before i'd be looking to place them in a caliber of brainwave music as high as his. i get this Mensa vibe off them which is irritating. ANYWAY, i strongly recommend this to serious students of sacred geometry, people looking for stress relief that is more focusing than relaxing, and those interested in the health benefits of vibration per se. i would caution tryppers that the colors are extremely BRIGHT at times and could result in uncontrollable raptures at heroic moments. it'll feel fabulous, but privacy! A fine brainwave DVD with a vast treasure of info for your Unconscious & Imagination! 02-01-05 Christopher Oliver "AV3x - The Innerscape Adventure" www.AV3X.com Link to Amazon posting HERE I WAS just a month ago raving about a DVD, and i just acquired another one that is at least as cool! Where "Illuminated Manuscripts" is dream-like, gentle with a mellow if slightly tame soundtrack, this video hits you with a heroic dose of psychedlic fractallized morphing art and has an intense soundtrack easily on a par with Jeffrey S. Thompson's wildest brainwave music! ("Windows" being a good example.) This is a BONAFIDE brainwave entrainment device that induces relaxing and meditative states in the theta and alpha ranges. Like a souped-up 21st Century Dream Machine, it sweeps the viewer away on a true cyberdelic experience! I was asleep within five minutes of the first time i played it, but was able to make repeated viewings later. While this video journey lacks any narrative style like "Illuminated Manuscripts" -- ie: it has the ever-changing kaleidoscopic qualities of typical rave computerized videos -- it is SO intense i thought i might have a flashback after watching it for a couple of hours. in fact, i think maybe i DID have one! this disc is like the lower levels of the psychedelic experience, where one sees all kinds of geometrics and morphing clouds of color, but the BONUS is that one gets entrained by fortune of a savvy use of the latest technology into extremely relaxing and salutary states. Furthermore, the musical accompaniment is a solid and intriguing work of Visionary music that true aficionadoes MUST hear at some point. Not only is Oliver using resonance, primordial sounds, and synthized curliques, but there is a interesting use of what sounds like overtone singing. Lots of processed water sounds that sound like something out of Mourashkin with resolutions to each piece which are satisfying. at last! somebody has created a visual equivalent for cutting edge brainwave music! while the price might seem high -- about $30 -- if you are looking for instant relaxation while you lounge before the television, this will do it. I wanted to start this review by saying something like "Amaze your friends! Be the first one on your block! Convert your living room into a mighty realm of psychic adventure and ordered chaos!" But i didn't think you'd read this far. lastly: this disc is extremely intense. not for the faint of heart or for anybody who has boundary issues and doesn't want to be swept away by the TV. it is as safe as playing with a strobe light, but is therefore NOT recommended for anybody susceptible to seizures from flashing light. 01-05-05 John S. Banks "Illuminated Manuscripts" DVD: Artek Images, 2002. Artek Images Website Fritz Heede "Illuminated Manuscripts" CD (Soundtrack:) Artek Images, 2002. THIS LAST MONTH, i purchased the DVD titled, "Illuminated Manuscripts," mainly on the strength of an e-mailed message from Iasos in which he praised it very highly. I consider Iasos' taste to be very refined and particular, so i knew he would only get so excited about something on at least his own level, which is rather exalted in the realm of angelic musical composing. This disc was worth every penny i spent on it. It is a state-of-the-art CGI computer animation video work in which footage of actual natural environments is woven into a cybervideo of fractals, sacred geometrics, deep space and spiritual dimensions. The pacing is liquid, dream-like in its transitions; the picture quality is crisp with bright hyperreal colors. This is the most accurate representation of the visual phenomena of the psychedelic experience that i have ever seen. the mystical portions are intensely beautiful with fusions into the Light that are perfectly done. Throughout the 80min main portion, the artwork uses the devices of ornate doorways which may occuring in the side of anything and open up to radically different scenes and of written language which ranges in appearance from runes like in "The Lord of The Rings," to alchemical symbols, to quasi-arabic script (i suspect that most of it has no ostensible "meaning," although i DID find one image at the very end of one of the "Loops" which seemed to have an english interpolation between the lines of some of the elvish-looking writing--it basically talked about the beauty of nature, of natural scenes, of looking at life emerging from the dirt, and remarks of this kind.)I have let this video play repeatedly for hours and am still seeing new things in it all the time. It is THAT deep, filled with all sorts of primal images and suggestive shapes. It is an artwork of a high spiritual order and made me wonder if a video dvd could ever be thought of as "sacred" such as a book can be.... One thing that i must mention is that the video is not continuous but has "chapter headings" which are still, and simply display the title of the piece and the name of the artist. Also, some people may not like how the written nonsense language breaks up the flow of the images whenever it appears. it does sometimes irritate, but i think that is part of what the artist wants us to experience: how Language "BREAKS UP" the natural flow. The music of the soundtrack is very influenced by north indian music and features the tabla predominantly. I've ordered the cd and will review it HERE at this point of the column. This, to me joins the painter Venosa as being art that you give to your parents saying, "mom, dad, this is why i do psychedelics." It is a beautiful, inspiring personal message from the One whom i experience as [the] Divine. If you would like to soak in some Beauty, get this DVD. ADDENDUM: THE CD REVIEW I do like this album. It is mellow and good backsound for intimate conversations, recreational reading and housewarming. I think of it now as backsound mainly, as there is nothing happening in terms of musicianship or narrative that attracts my undivided attention. in fact, i must admit that the cd never made it into my music rotation at home (probably because i'd maxed on the dvd.) this artist is most similar to Al Gromer Khan, i would say, being very much a "paisley" kind of music, but mid-tempo rather than slow like Khan. so it keeps you relaxed, but alert, with some good ethnic percussion and tasteful performances. for some reason, it makes me want to have a glass of wine and i very rarely drink wine. what's up with that? Return to Main Page