Visionary Sound Arts Interface

BENEFIT FROM MY TIRELESS SEARCH FOR THE CUTTING EDGE. Return to Main Page REVIEWS These are not necessarily VSA or Electronica reviews, but passing comments on what Darv is listening to NOW. Explore Exotica With DarvExplore Exotica With Darv 11-4-06 Gamma Meditation System Dr. Jeffrey S. Thompson The Relaxation Company, 2006 THIS DISC IMMEDIATELY TAKES THE LEAD FOR RELEASE OF THE YEAR! I look back on the reviews i've done this year and it is amazing how much fun i've had and also how many release by the Doctore i get. heck, i haven't even mentioned all of them, since i got two of his "Alpha Meditation Solution" discs (Rainforest and Ocean Waves) without bothering to review them. that's coz they are just hour long sculpted nature soundscapes with built-in alpha wave pulses; very nice but not musical and, well, pretty much average as nature recordings go - with a brainwave twist of course.) Anyway, this new one features a Gamma range brainwave pulse rate as measured in actual Tibetan buddhist monks as they meditate on compassion. The Doctor also is using what he terms a Non-Linear musical style which basically means non-narrative or, rather, fully Ambient. This means there is no melody line or sequence of audio events, but rather two half hour continuum pieces providing environs much like Robert Rich's recent Somnium or Echo Of Small Things which hearken back to Brian Eno's classic Ambient work, Ambient 3: On Land. This disc provides a similar comfortable afternoon in the woods experience. In the liner notes, Thompson indicates that the GAMMA brainwave range (30-85hz) is a general category now accepted by most researchers of the phenomena. As an occultist and shaman, i have been aware of vibratory states even faster than this, but it is good to see the knowledge base expanding. This idea might not mean much to the average person but let me put it like this: if you had a pair of drumsticks, you could learn to produce a steady beat rate of ten hits per second (10hz) with some accuracy, double this to 20hz and it is a feat requiring familiarity with doing drum rolls. probably pushing the envelope if possible at all. 40 drum beats per second i doubt is humanly possible. that is fast! i could perceive in the music that the Doctor has stacked the beats to help the listener ramp up to the much faster Gamma rate. i recognized this window frequency from previous meditation and psychedelic experiences and am inclined to indicate it as one rate speed of divine or paradisical awareness, making this recording a great learning device for anyone interested in learning the headspaces therein: Track One is titled, "Inner Mind," which is designed to help you learn a neurological phenomenon which is associated with this pulse rate and is called "Binding" (essentially, the phenomenon in which one's mind integrates all in-coming sensory information to create a singular impression of wholeness.) Track Two is titled, "Outer World," and is replication of the measured vibratory state of Tibetan monks meditating on "loving compassion." During this track, i experienced healing fugues and found it facilitated my connecting with the Reiki energies by perhaps a factor of ten. Afterwards, i felt much mentally clearer and as if i had processed a lot of unconscious material that had been waiting to be cleared out. I would say that the overall vibe is in the 10hz or mid-alpha range, one doesn't zone out as happens with theta recordings, yet there are higher faster vibratory rates that are achievable as one becomes increasingly still. I HIGHLY recommend this to sound meditators and to people in the healing arts. Let me explain again that these are two half-hour drone environments supported by processed nature and space sounds with interesting sonic twirlies and curliques that provide interest as time goes on, but there is no piano or melody or story. Frankly, this is the kind of music by The Doctor that i prefer. The more strictly Ambient he gets, the more i love it. 10-14-06 Epsilon In Malaysian Pale Edgar Froese originally released: 1975 ReRecord & Remix: Eastgate, 2004 I REMEMBER THIS RECORDING AS VINYL IN THE RECORD COLLECTION OF UCSC's FM RADIO STATION. This was back in the 80's when i first started deejaying the fri/sat nite new wave & fri/sat overnite electronic shows. By the time i joined the station in 1980, the copy was so thrashed there was no way to air either eighteen minute piece in its entirety. in fact, if i properly recall, the title piece was SO thrash that there was no airing it at all and listening to it wasn't really "listening" in the way one usually means it. It's a mellotron album really, and anyone who loves the sound of that 70's mellotron should really enjoy this short disc. i am quite gratified to hear these pieces which are archaic landmarks in my personal electronica history. Froese is the main person of Tangerine Dream. i've been on a sort of backtrack on TD these days, regular readers will know. This may still be his best "solo" release. EPSILON IN MALAYSIAN PALE was somewhat stark and minimal in original release, while still somehow evoking lush tropical rainforest. This recent release (first time it has EVER been on CD, i believe) includes some very controversial millenial additions to the original recording by the artist. Since we can't count listening to horribly thrashed vinyl as actually having "heard" the album, i can only say i CAN'T have any disappointment in this regard since my ancient audio memories of it have prominent surface noise and skips. I ASSUME that the synth voicings that i call "metallic crystalline zingers" during the first half of the first piece are one of the things driving the old school TD fans crazy. The beginning of this piece was obviously only 2 or 3 sequencer voices to begin with and Froese has created some depth around them. But, i've got to tell ya, after about 10 minutes i was psychically immersed in the music and had completely forgot to be checking for the rerecords until the last 5 minutes of the disc; at which time i decided that i hadn't been bothered in the least. All that being said, let us still realize that this is a relatively old school bit of electronica, somewhat murky but with enough charm to appeal to fans of the genre. this is what we cut our teeth on, so to speak. 10-4-06 Healing Mind System 2.0 Dr. Jeffrey S. Thompson The Relaxation Company, 2005 JUST FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS NOW. WONDERFUL. I prefer this disc much more than his first healing mysic system CD. Not only do i just find it mellower and less intrusive, but it seems to have a healing impact on me superior to the first. Healing Mind System 2.0 is structured on a clinically measured brainwave window frequency associated with EMOTIONAL healing. I find myself entering what i can only call a "WISTFUL" state of emotional feeling that somehow makes me feel more buoyant. my lame description anyhow. but truly a significant artistic evolution from the first one. The second piece, in particular, is quite restful and has some interesting piano bass lines. A good de-stress device and a worthwhile brainwave state worth learning. 9-14-06 Sun Tales Robert Carty Deep Sky Music, 2006 EVEN BY CARTY STANDARDS THIS IS AWESOME Coming at a perfect time for me, since i've recently finished "Suns Of God" by Acharya S, which rigorously demonstrates that the major figures of religion - like Jesus, Buddha and Krishna - are mythic personifications of our Sun. I've been appreciating astrotheology lately and do now believe that our best clues to the spiritual are natural phenomena, elemental and celestial. The light from our star, "the" Sun, is the closest thing in our mundane experience to the Light Divine, that it is a natural object to select as a metaphor for it. Also, being my very next acquisition after "Gnosis" by Avgerinos (reviewed below) seems quite simpatico and i do hope leads to a transcendental motif as the late part of this year progresses. But I digress.... This album has the lovely compassionate tonal energies that Carty is well-known for, but also does seem to have a solar radiance and vibration that makes me wonder if i played the Cousto sun tone with it if there would be any similarities in resonance. Carty has done a remarkable job of describing the feelings and sensations of solar light. This recording emphasizes heart chakra universal love with an expanding solar energy radiance. Quite remarkable. These are sonic bliss states more than ecstasies, but memorable for revealing large chambers of delicate yellow-golden light. This disc is primarily synthesis with occasional programmed rhythm. A BLISSFEST for anyone who likes tranquility and radiant shine. There are only two solo artists in the visionary genre who by the genius of the effect of their music on me have required the construction of a word to describe the consistent, signature vibration they induce in the listener. Michael Hammer is one, and my friends and i have discussed getting "hammerized" after a few hours. the same is true of Carty and we refer to it as "cartyized." these states induced by prolonged listening to works by the artist are considered highly salutary and deliberately sought after... Following on last year's "Oceanic Space," it is also interesting to notice that he is exploring elemental themes. i would enjoy further elemental journeys. Carty did do an album "Cleansing Fire" (1996-1997,) which was the first one i really wanted and came in my first package shipped from him. it's not the best Carty release, by far, though it has its own charm, yet i think Carty could really describe fire better these days. this current album naturally implies a shining crown chakra album, which elementally could evoke quartz and diamonds. Anyway, this recording leaves me in a great mood and, while not exactly an "energy pump," does seem to encourage us to shine a little brighter. and isn't that something the world could use more of? It seems that i always wind up treasuring my Carty discs and saying in my review that this is one of the best Cartys ever, to the point that i sound like a gushing fool. well, guess what.... ...he's done it again... 9-2-06 Gnosis Paul Avgerinos Round Sky Music, 2006 Round Sky website click here THIS IS ONE OF THOSE ALBUMS THAT JUSTIFIES ALL the insane week in, week out obsessive hunting for spiritual vibration and exotica that is WHAT I DO. Paul Avgerinos has created an exquisite sonic confection which, i think, brings him into the angelic reams of aural delight traversed by the very few highly crafted composers. With him on this journey, quite notably, is Kevin Braheny, who adds his signature lilting sound to the pieces. Braheny has created some classic work with discs like "The Way Home" or "Secret Rooms," along with great collabs with Tim Clark. GNOSIS shimmers with a sacred aura that is unmistakable, largely due to the glassy, crystalline guitar work. Based on the music of Paul's native Greece, we enjoy ancient sacred hymns based on the pre-Jesusian Hellenic mysteries -- the Orphic, the Bacchic, the Dionysian; culminating in the Christ and GNOSIS=KNOWING or "metanoia," of ACTUAL PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. Without it being overtly stated in the album, i think we could call this very compatible with the I AM constellation of symbols and motifs. Beautiful paradisical music going from the guitars to the harp, then the oud. Check out the song titles: Pure In Heart, Follow Your Bliss, Awakening, Know Thyself, Journey To Now, Gnosis, Peaceful, Waves Of Bliss, Breathe, We Are One - - it should be obvious that this is a well-thought out and executed work, a journey into the Self. Man! What a GREAT psychedelic tryp this would be! Incredibly spiritual! Nourishing. Terrific, compelling vocal performances, in Greek, which convey the mantric feeling well. Crystal clear production values. Overall, very mysterious and sacred, conveying the lisener into profound states of reverie, comfort & blessedness. Avgerinos came to my attention with the release of his 1992 cd, "Muse Of The Round Sky;" which was a bravura recording of greek gnostic feeling. This new release is probably closest in feeling to that disc which Avgerinos has recorded since then. I can also recommend his 2001 release, "Word's Touch," which has some radically beautiful moments too. If you are at all attracted to the pre-Christian Greek mysteries, this is great stuff. i think people who enjoy the Egyptian styled trance musics would appreciate it also. Lastly, this would be a must for serious psychedelic explorers. Golden Cup Entheogenic Chillcode Music, 2006 WELL ON THEIR WAY TO BECOMING A LEGEND, cybershamans Glavar and Oak-Rhind have unleashed another pantheon of strangely beautiful, exotic soundtryps on an unsuspecting world. Make no mistake, these electrocomposers are rewriting the manual on technodub. Hot on the heels of last year's, "Dialogue Of The Speakers" (a mix of new material and remixes by masters in the genre and one of the hottest single discs in the game," this release, "Golden Cup," is a veritble "heady brew" of deep pulsing inventive electronic dub with some serious midtempo techno grooves, which features a cinematic mix of location soundscapes in many jungles around the world, source recordings of humans engaged in shamanic activities from various cultures all mixed together with poignant TerenceMckennaisms. These songs together i think reinforce one of my previous theories that each musicl piece is, in itself, a complete DMT tryp brought into the range of normal waking consciousness. We begin in a south american jungle with i presume an ayahuasca shaman in ceremony; next tryp seems to take us into an arabic atmosphere (as will be writ large later with an intense piece based on the mantra ALLAH;) following these is an intriguing highly unusual working, the title song, which appears to be based on a folk song from - i don't really know - thailand or bali? it is quite exotic, one hasn't really heard anything quite like it, as a solo voice folk song based on probably a traditional melody, gets completely shponglized into bass laden trance dub magic. and so on. notable is the additional amount of time working arabic themes, which does seem to be the order of the day. it would be useless to refer to "stand out" pieces, since the whole thing is so flabbergasting. we dive deep into the rabbit hole with bionic computers down here, then dance in the clouds with Allah up there. machines made of living flesh solve our problems, then we zoom into the third eye for a transdimensional breakthrough. we travel beyond language into an akasha field crawling with symbolic information codes, then finally meet our own self in inward prayer. great stuff from an intriguing music project. Entheogenic continues to attain every higher states of mastery in their chosen medium. This album is much more intense then the previous two and could require some serious courage for the intrepid psidelic traveler. There are some harrowing parts. By that i mean that it can be quite intense and shamanically challenging, not like dark or evil but overwhelming. This is a fine evolutional step for Entheogenic and will be welcome to those listening to Hallucinogen, Ott, Shulman or Phutureprimitive Celestial Music For Sitar Gerald Jay Markoe & Subroto Chaudhury Astromusic, 2006 I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR A SITAR/SYNTH DISC THAT GETS THE COMBO RIGHT. And so it is with the most recent release from Astromusic! If you are a fan of angelic or celestial music and have always wished for some competent meditative sitar with a synthesis background that actually complemented the sitar and enhanced the meditative state, this could very well be what you've been looking for. I own a lot of sitar and sarod albums with a western twist. Out of all of those, when i hear a raga being played expertly by the traditional indian orchestra, it is obvious that the modern hybrids can't do the orchestral sound justice. and, indeed, as i always say, if you WANTED the orchestral sound, WHY would you use synthesis? Exactly. and Markoe, studio wizard extraordinaire, who is known for his very New Age series of musics inspired by the Pleiades, clearly has other things in mind. Amazing things. this music is SO celestial, i can really only suggest it is in the rarefied transdimensional realms found in the works of Iasos. The sitar by Chaudhury, and flute by Premik Russell Tubbs are both well-executed, continuingly interesting performances. There were numerous occasions in the sitar work where Chaudhury really seemed inspired beyond himself. this really is one of the best i own in that regard. Markoe does some of his by now trademark synth sarod work and he is really becoming something of a master of it. These last few releases of his have been just so great! i see he has a more celtic release with stonehenge on the cover. hmm... ... now that he has explored zen, egyptian, vedic and incan (see below,) it is exciting to imagine where he might go next? bali? thailand? sri lanka? chittagong? or perhaps siberian? you know, someday we'll be going for eskimoes or teutons, but the call of the day is arabic, really and who knows where Markoe will go next. o man i love this album. i want to start it over right when it finishes. Radioforest Antonio Testa Tantra Harmonics, 2005 Healing Herb's Spirit Antonio Testa & Alio Die Crowd Control Activities, 1997 Quantum Consciousness Five Thousand Spirits (Stephan Musso,aka Alio Die,and Rafaelle Serra) Sempiterna Mutatio, 2006 I'M WRITING THESE THREE REVIEWS TOGETHER COZ I sort of got them around the same time. you see, i've SO fallen in love with the Antonio Testa and Alio Die collaboration entitled, "Prayer For The Forest," that i decided to do a little backtracking to hear what i might hear. This notion had been on my mind, when Steve Roach mentioned on his website the fine, older disc, "Healing Herb's Spirit." Then i found that both Testa and Die had recent work out. so there you go. on it. "Radioforest" by Antonio Testa is about a year old. It is a wonderful recording of shamanistic music done much in the style of Michael Stearns' "The Lost World," but also much influenced by Robert Rich and Steve Roach's work with south american visionary sound artits and their respective solo materials. Testa is a percussionist at heart, and uses traditional instruments or their replicas from south american folk music. This aspect of the music is very tasty, as he really knows what he is doing and is sensitive to the instruments reporting at proper biosonic frequencies. I fancy that the pieces are a 24-hour cycle which begins with sunrise and ends with pre-dawn. We again find an ecelectic adventure of sound through various cultures. It seems we begin in an african or afro-caribbean environ, which then becomes strictly Amazonian, but deftly travels up into central america and north america. There are some great flute solos, particularly in the 9 minute piece, "Red Ground," which are reminiscent of certain of Robert Rich's work, and i must say a lot of this is quite Richian. But the percussion aspect? forget about it: it is OFF THE HOOK. extremely well done and impressive without ever being invasive. a deft touch. in total: yes, if you like being immersed in shamanic rites on top of a plateau in the outback of Venezuela in the middle of the night, communing with the Ancients, AS I DO, if hearing of Michael Stearns' "The Lost World" makes you smile, then you WILL like this well done disc. "Healing Herb's Spirit," Testa & Die in an early collab is immediately essential and here's why: i lived nearly a quarter of a century in Santa Cruz, California. we had HEMP FESTIVALS in which the many uses of cannabis were celebrated. i always noticed at these festivals a PALPABLE feeling of PEACEFULNESS which i instantly recognized as part of the whole "pot" vibe. if you think about it, the majority of us acknowledge this peacefulness, but don't weight it with any real truth value. but it is true: in the absence of other substances that would affect the mind, pot truly induces a peaceful vibe. well, these guys somehow CAUGHT that vibe on this recording. this is one of those REALLY PLEASANT feeling recordings that makes you feel totally mellow and positive. kinda like pot. comparisons would lead me to recall recordings like "Mesh" by Tuu, "Earth Island" by Suspended Memories or "Imaginarium" by Ma Ja Le & Vir Unis. Mostly Theta or Delta range shamanistic rhythms which are in the jungle or deep in a cave. This album is night oriented, particularly the later part of the album. It starts out somewhat energetically, but mellows out and then becomes REEEEEL SLOOOOW. Dead of night and the conundrums that await us there. then, after the day creatures go to sleep and the night creatures come out, something is happening, there are connections being made back to the roots, the humans are at it again. conjuring the archetypal powers. "Quantum Consciousness" by Musso (Die) and Serra is strictly DARK AMBIENT in the glorious tradition of wonders like "Stalker" by Rich and Lustmord, or even "Heresy" by Lustmord. this stuff is DARK. i mean like quantum void kind of "dark." first, there's a huge explosion in the grandeur or majesty of some unimaginable fusion, followed by a whirlpool of nascent atoms in which one is drawn topsy-turvy into an everlasting void of voidness, which reveals the ever-changing forms as the ephemeral manifestation of self ever being reconstituted back into the nothing.and right when you are thinking "they have reconstituted the [bleep] out of my [bleep,] i don't even EXIST anymore!," suddenlythe whole swirling chaos redefines itself into a quite complicated, systemic restructuring process. i can't state it anymore simply than that. People who are attracted to Void music, or who like the Tibetan style of deep chant, WILL like this. it is quite profound as its own sonic statement. people who want something cheerful and light which stays on the surface and doesn't look behind the curtain will not want to hear this at all. it's that simple. hey i'm making this really simple! right on! i'm not saying this is scary or evil music. it is void. so you can project your trip into it or whatever. but when i'm comparing a dark ambient to the likes of STALKER or HERESY, that means that i think it is of TOP QUALITY. now, this final piece which does the restructuring is rather like the architectural musics Robert Rich created using what sounded like electronic marimba on albums such as "Geometry," "Gaudi," or the recent, "Electric Ladder." so it is almost like after spending a good long time in transgalactic spaces, suddenly you have shifted to the subatomica and quantum realms. rather interesting actually.... Machu Pichu Meditations Ancient Brotherhood Astromusic, 2006 Astromusic website click here SO GREAT TO HAVE ANOTHER ANCIENT BROTHERHOOD RELEASE! Initially, i wasn't too attracted to Gerald J. Markoe, but as his catalogue grew, he made huge strides in perfecting his signature style. You can't deny that this last decade has seen him really come into his own. Ancient Brotherhood is basically a cover organization for a number of individuals which was founded by Markoe some time ago. the last AB album, "Nature Goddess," did not even have Markoe on it! Well, he's back and this new release under the AB is terrific meditation backsound in the high Andes style! Definitely on par with his recent meditative discs in zen and egyptian, "Machu Pichu Meditations," is a series of delectable short pieces which draw one into meditation. Never really breaking into dance beats as AB is known to do, this one stays pretty strictly in ethereal realms. Markoe's synthesis is key and perfect. He's really got this thing down now. The flute player is south american and to experienced ears, this album is great for really being true to the sound of that continent and NOT throwing in little tidbits from north of the equator. i like that. and on top of it all: Markoe knows that a meditation album really needs a clean wave so you can get into it, and he gives you that completely, to the point you really forget the brainwave matrix and can just enjoy the flute performance. i don't want to gush, but it IS exquisite. had it on headphone while i rode the bus for the hour ride back from town and when i got off i didn't feel jangled at all. in fact, i had a nice deep near-snooze on the freeway! sweet. 8-19-06 Proof Positive Steve Roach Timeroom Editions, 2006 Steve Roach website click here HAVING SEVERAL STYLES OF CREATION, STEVE ROACH is the consummate Visionary Sounds artist. This highly prolific audio master has released over 40 creations and continues to hew ever more complex soundworlds from innerspace. "Proof Positive" is the latest addition to the style flow with which Steve began his career. The first three releases - - "Now," "Traveler" and "Empetus" - - were studies in movement, particularly sustained high speed action through large spaces. I've fancied that this may have been, in part, due to his earlier career as a desert motocross racer. This period was marked by what i consider to be a Tangerine-Dream-or-Klaus Schulze-influenced "rotating sequencers"sound. The steady pulse flow of the sequencers conveys the sensation of engines. This is coupled with gaseous tides of synth or which give the sound direction which is usually spatial, but suddenly can become dimensional, carrying the listener into supergalactic vistas. To support this idea in regard to the current album, one only has to view the exquisitely designed cover, suggestive of some Alien living machine, with what appears to be a central gear made of Light and Bone with teeth for sprockets and meshing into a ribcage-like structure, subtly suggesting that this "gear" may be the heart chakra also. Looking out the "window" as it were of this vehicle, we see an incandescent orgone blue environment with interstitial tissue of some sort. The whole thing is radiant as if vibrantly ALIVE, yet very suggestive of some sort of vehicular transport system. The inner cover paintings also suggest flows along organic pathways: circulatory and spinal. This album might be considered the successor to "Light Fantastic," which Steve released in - - where does the time go? - - 1999. Now, some may say that "Core" 2001 would be between the two, but it seems to me that albums like "Core" or, say, "On This Planet" are hybrid musics that combine this more electronic style with Steve's archaic shamanism styles. No, this album, like "Light Fantastic" is FUTURISTIC. The ancient has mutated, fused with the UFO and transdimensionalized. So it is definitely CYBER- SHAMANIC. By this i mean that this is in fact a trance- inducing device and is intended to induce exotic trance states. And the realms of these inwardly directed visions are not unfamiliar to aficionadoes. Yet, the entire work is completely electronic, light years beyond anything Tangerine Dream could have (or can) dreamed of, and highly charged with the superneon against blacklight radiation that one experiences after having passed through Cartoonland and the Dreamtime into the Hyperreal. Allow me to admit that i obtain most steve roach releases and would be considered a long term "fan." So my opinion will always be a little biased and i make no apologies. That said, i highly recommend this release to anyone who likes strongly sequenced ELECTRONICA that has an energizing, positive quality. 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! 8-13-06 Midival Times Midival Punditz Six Degrees Records, 2005 DEFINITE PROGRESS FOR ASIAN UNDERGROUND DUO I have to admit, i put off getting this disc for quite some time. Released in April, 2005, it beckoned me from beyond the web, but i had other fish to fry at the various times and it kept dropping off the MUST GET list. Why? Simple, really. While i did enjoy their first release on 6 Degrees, i felt that a certain JE NE SAIS QUOIS ("I don't know what") was missing. I think it was just the depth of production. While it would not be correct to say that the album was 2-dimensional, it really didn't have the ZOW! of mixology that other people in the Asian Underground - people like Cheb i Sabbah, TJ Rehmi, Makyo or Talvin Singh - have accomplished. I would put them on a level with label mate, Karsh Kale, or the quite interesting Tabla Beat Science. That is to say: accomplished music quite compatible with the dance floor or downtempo chill, but still pretty much on the surface, not mixolated like the artists i first mentioned, or their counterparts in the Electrodub (as i call it) realms, like Simon Posford, Entheogenic or Shulman. The level of detail was not as amazing, that's all. Well, this release, "Midival Times," solves that little problem. While definitely "harder" in the technoelectronic soundfeel than the debut release, there is a marked improvement in the interest and excitement generated. This one doesn't fade away into the backsound, but keeps drawing you into the rhythm like the proverbial snake charmer. I don't know if it is a tech upgrade or just having learned from the fact of putting together the first album, but this disc fully cooks beyond my apprehensions of the half baked. The sound of the album is completely within the defined area of classic Asian Underground, VERY INDIA. The bass THUD of techno predominates, along with very ambient instrumental spaces. Not a lot of the african influences of say dub or hip hop. Lots of actual musicanship on traditional instruments and expert singing in the usual styles of asiapop. Recently, i heard someone say that all of this asian underground sounds the same. my response is yes it is like incense, it changes the mood in a certain preferred way. now to my ears, each band has their own take on it that I distinctly hear, but then i'm an aficionado! Midival Times has a very traditional sound which is the amp'ed up by electronics and sheer technoexuberance. A very positive joyous vibe and, like its predecessor, increasingly enjoyable on repeated listen, although not particularly giving one the experience of the revelation of new levels. HOWEVER, all in all, this disc shows growth as artists suggestive of possible future sound miracles, so i'll keep listening. I recommend this to people who would like to bring India into their home rather than pay to travel there, with one caveat: you must be ready for some serious worldbeat techno dance music. if you like other artists on the 6 Degrees label, or say artists like Jai Uttal or M Path, this could interest you! 8-7-06 Tantra Zone Suzanne Doucet & Tajalli Only New Age Music, 2005 WHAT A WONDERFUL SURPRISE I ENJOYED HEARING THIS for the first time! I had my guesses and antici- pations that this would be good, but could hardly have expected such a fine release. Synthesist Suzanne Doucet collaborated with pianist Gary Miraz for the 2002 release on ONAM, "Resonance," which i thoroughly enjoyed. That disc was very much in a classical sensibility with a positive, mood enhancing vibe. What i enjoyed most about Doucet was her intuitive use of coloration and atmosphere, rather than any technical ability to play or create wild effects. The whole feel of "Resonance" was understated impressionism and i LOVE that stuff. Now, i WAS INDEED looking for another Doucet for my collection, but what spurred my motivation to acquire this one was her collaborative partner for "Tantra Zone," Tajalli. Here's why: During my years at KLRS and KKUP, several discs by Taj wafted in and out of my attention. I remem- ber liking the percussion, but the overall sound was a little too much of the sugary new age sound of the late 80s for me. I played Tajalli on the radio at times but rather sparingly.During the latter part of my time at KKUP, Taj was around the station now and again. We had what i would like to think of as a cordial, friendly relationship that would have been "friends" if we had spent time outside the station. Actually, i would like to think that we WERE friends, but we never really had any one-on-one time. Tajalli seemed to me to be a joyous, loving person who enjoyed the heck out of just about whatever he happened to be doing. I was very impressed by his gentle and soft emotional feel which still seemed to have a deep core of strength. He loved playing live on-air, even if the tech side was messed up. My favorite memory of him would have to be at midnight on New Year's Eve going into 2001 (which was, for me, the actual millenium, since the millenium begins with the year one; that's why we say "year one.") At midnight, one of the show hosts told Tajalli to start hitting a cowbell with a drumstick. so that's how we started the millenium, with Tajalli playing a cowbell live on the radio. After a minute or so, he stopped and said, "is that enough cowbell?" and a bunch of people cheered, "NO!! GO COWBELL!! MORE COWBELL!!" so he got back on the cowbell for i don't know how many minutes, just workin' that thing. whatever kind of harmonics or different sounds from hitting a cowbell at different areas are possible, i think he worked the whole scale. and the look on his face was just ecstatic, grooving in the whole thing. i'm not a big cowbell fan, but he took it to a WHOLE 'nother level!! we also had a conversation where he said some deep things to me that will always mean a lot to me, tho i won't discuss them here. anyway, Tajalli died in 2004. this is his last album. so i immediately sensed that i wanted to hear it. as i said, VERY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED. Doucet's trademark synth environments are here, but the entire disc is very tribal. it feels great: free floating pleasure states mixed with psychic exploration. midtempo, expertly played and counterpointed percussion, Should be great backsound for not only sexual encounters, but massage or therapy involving slower movement. kind of like Gabrielle Roth's slower pieces, only much more pronounced synthesis. For the last 3 pieces, the pacing does slow down. With the introduction of didgeridoo, we enter the dreamtime, commune with the inner goddess and then the final piece, "No Mind Bliss," has taken me down into delta sleep states. I'll point out that the album is unabashedly "new age." in fact, it goes out of its way to make sure you know it is new age. the phrase "new age" occurs six times on the cover. it is true that there is some slow lead synth which uses typical new age flute voicings and such. i don't care. it feels great. the vibe reminds me of Margot Anand's "Skydancing Tantra: A Call To Bliss," and i would think anyone who enjoyed the Venusian quality of that disc should enjoy this one also! Enchantment Belinda Farrell Belinda Farrell, 2003 Chant & Forgivenness Belinda Farrell Belinda Farrell, 2001 HAWAIIAN HUNA CHANTS FOR SPIRIT RETRIEVAL since i've moved to the islands, i have been learning more about Hawaiian shamanism, sometimes called "HUNA." i had read much about it on the mainland and hoped that i'd find more in-depth stuff out here. well, it actually hasn't been easy to find (this sometimes happens to me, i hunt for years and years with no success and then suddenly am deluged with information for no apparent reason.) well, i have started a Hawaiian chant journal where i've been collecting them from books, the internet and now this discs. i specifically chose these from the numerous discs out there because this specifically purport to be spiritual workings and not historical records or authentic all native stuff. i don't know much about Belinda Farrell. she seems to be European, possibly German. her voice is quite similar to Kutira Decosterd, who along with husband Raphael here on Maui, are Oceanic Tantra with several musical releases some featuring hawaiian lyrics. but this disc is chanting by a person trained on the big island in the tradition. that's what i wanted. i'll be straight with you: if you are looking for beautiful hawaiian music that could be played in the background, this isn't for you. if you want hawaiian chanting either to be effected by it or learn it yourself, plus some huna self-improvement techniques, then these album are fantastic! if you want a big fully produced sound carefully sanitized for maximum listen pleasure, this isn't for you. if you want to learn some hawaiian chants from a sincere person, this is it. Enchantment is subtitled, "Ancient Hawaiian Chants To The Higher Self." and that is what is taught, basic devotional workings to Self which include learning to receive Divine Light directly from above. Chant & Forgiveness is subtitled, "How to Call Back your SPIRIT and receive more JOY," and is even more didactic than Enchantment, with a relatively long explanatory "lecture" by Belinda (if i may call it that) to explain WHY it is in your interest to learn forgiveness, to learn HOW to easily forgive. while not as richly populated with chants as Enchantment, this disc has very valuable spiritual information on it which i feel has helped me deal with my own resentments and resistances a bit more clearly. i highly recommend Enchantment for anyone who would like to learn Hawaiian chants to the Great Spirit. it is an entertaining listen which includes some sound effects and natural environments as well as her voice and drum. Chant & Forgiveness is more a teaching device and appropriate for the more dedicated aspirant. 7-22-06 The Ultimate Nap Doctor Jeffrey S. Thompson The Relaxation Company, 2006 THE DOCTOR RETURNS with a well-produced, very clean album of sleep music intended to induce and pull one out of "naps." There is a 10 minute, a 20 minute and a 30 minute piece, allowing one to also gauge the depth of sleep as appropriate. Thompson actually has either performed clinical studies or studied the research of other sleep scientists to determine the archetypical brainwave vibrational pathways that skilled nappers follow into and out of sleep. These three recordings are very close in tone and coloration to the marvellous original Delta Sleep System. They smoothly flow like water. I actually prefer these to his other sleep musics - - Ambient, Natural, Classical and Dreamy ( i haven't heard Peaceful or Soothing.) I do quite like Ambient Music For Sleep and the rest of them are successful in varying degrees. it may be that certain personalities with musical predispositions may find one or the other more copacetic. Dreamy actually had the sound going back and forth from speaker to speaker, with dead air on the opposite track (which might be great over amplified systems but kind of distracting on headphones.) I, myself, have been known for my "power napping" and can attest that a quick 10-20 minute snooze directly upon arriving home from work can completely revitalize and refocus one's energy. A disc such as this one, "The Ultimate Nap," can provide the listener with a learning tool to build one's own skill napping. Although extremely harmonious and beautiful, this is not music for contemplation or reading. it is for passing out and struggling to wake up again. Well, it is also for people like me who are just WAITING for the next JST. 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! Chai & Roses Al Gromer Khan Rasa Music, 2004 I ONLY JUST FOUND ABOUT ABOUT THIS RELEASE AND HAD TO flash off an immediate request for it. Al Gromer Khan has created a fascinating EastWest fusion style that he calls "Paisley Music." He is completely dedicated to the art of playing sitar, while also being an inventive and sensitive synthesist. His albums range from the charming to the meditative/ecstatic to the bewilderingly minimalist. This recording finds AGK attempting to create the proper mood for long nights in rooms full of roses and incense, drinking chai and telling tales of great spiritual adventures and mystical intrigues. In his own words, it is music "to enhance a moment of silence and make it precious./Late at night when silence became holy, very few types of music stood up to these requirements..." As has been his penchant of late, there are some pieces here featuring spoken word, perhaps the reading aloud of a poem or occult aphorism. it's all german to me. i have stated previously that i don't particularly go for much talking in ambient - quips are ok and poetry which the music is based upon can be great but sermons no - the instrumental pieces are further examples of AGK's successful blend. They are gentle and solitudinal (is that a word?) much like Eno's solo piano with synth wash pieces. the sitar is very understated while still providing moments of deep appreciation. Most of the pieces are relatively short, as also has been AGK's form lately. the one long form piece, "Winter 1958" (when i was born!)has that feeling one gets when you've been up all night animatedly conversing, experiencing ever more refined states of inspiration, then it is suddenly the wee hours and you can feel you are about to crash, but this exhiliration from the evening is still shimmering around and through you. Then the bliss comes as a wave of release and you slowly descend into the glorious depths of slumber. While not as "moderne" as Tantra Electronica - ie: no technoambient drum beats or synthliques - this release should appeal to people who like the albums of Al Gromer Khan which feature short, rhythmically based compositions. I should like to be up all night in a room of roses sipping chai and listening to this disc at some point... 6-26-06 Liquid Crystal Love Iasos Interdimensional Music Iasos' Website IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE IASOS RELEASED A DISC that it felt right to pick something up as long as i was ordering a video from him (see next review.) I've owned the "Crystal Love" cassette for decades and thought i was buying a cd of it. while this disc DOES contain the beautiful piece (Oh, How Deeply Do I Love You?," which is on the cassette, the title track, "Liquid Crystal Love," in no way resembles the extended "Crystal*White*Fire*Light," which is one of my favorites of Iasos to play. The title track however is quite sublime and if you love Iasos as i do and have not heard this track, you need to go for it, for it is an extremely coherent beautiful sound which stands as one of his best long form (half hour) pieces. The third and last track, "A Contented Heart," is a loop from a section of a track on his last studio release of new material. while it is a quite marvelous vibe and one that i would mix in my deejay work with nature sounds, it does have audible edits at times which are somewhat distracting on headphones. As i indicated though, it FEELS great and should be quite delicious at low volumes or mixed with some masking sound. With a superb title track, this CD is overall of high quality and recommended to dedicated angelic music aficionadoes. 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. 6-10-06 Chakra Celebration Patrick Bernard Devi Communications, 2006 PATRICK BERNARD IS ONE OF MY SPIRITUAL TEACHERS, His art, via the entheogenic gnosis, revolutionized my concept of the reality of spiritual existence and the ultimate implications of it actually EXISTING. When someone asks me to guide them through a journey to meet the Divine, PB is foremost in my mind as a way to assist them. His first two albums, Atlantis Angelis and Solaris Universalis, are so DENSELY PACKED with spiritual information that i cannot in this blurb of a review even BEGIN to cover it with you. Patrick's subsequent releases brought him through a shamanistic journey to return to his Vedic roots. It was quite an amazing journey to be on with him (and am STILL on, yes.) The new release finds him reunited with original producer, who did the aforementioned 2 releases with PB, Robert LaFond (whose solo release, Ecstasias, is worth obtaining.) The alchemy bears delicious fruit. CHAKRA CELEBRATION fufills my expectations in every way and leaves me satisfied, as having dined on the delicacies of the Divine. I am extremely happy to tell you, celebratory even, that this disc has everything that makes you want to hear Patrick Bernard. There could not be a happier follow-up to the previous album, SONIC FENG SHUI, which was the instrumental Patrick Bernard album one always wished they had. One of the strengths of this album is that Patrick has chosen to use spoken word very simply: just one repeated mantric sentence per composition. This allows the Power of that Mantra to really reach full effect with the listener. The music is some of his best. This time around we are gifted with very gentle rock beats that fade in and out of the ambience. LaFond's orchestration shines here, making everything feel natural and profoundly gorgeous. Reciprocally, PB's performance is extremely refined and mature. The overall feeling is FULL CIRCLE! Aesthetically and emotionally fulfilling. Now, i for one enjoy Patrick's vocals and always have. He is well-trained, very focused and always puts his All into it. Well, on this record he outdoes himself. His voice is assured and confident, yet he is able to remove his ego from it and let the music sing through. The vocal harmonies are exquisite also. Patrick Bernard continues to produce some of the most profound spiritual music on the planet. When i ordered my CD from his website, he wrote me back a short note on a postcard that came with the CD (which i will keep forever with my notes from Terence McKenna and Steve Roach.) In it, he THANKED me for my interest in his music. While i feel quite honored by that, i feel that, really, it should be ME thanking HIM, because he has given me gifts that few other human beings in this world could even IMAGINE giving me. And if i pass word of his work along, that is only fitting and natural. This disc is extremely harmonious spiritual music sung in Sanskrit. The tunings and style of playing do, in fact, resonate and tonify the chakras. If that sounds interesting to you, i FULLY RECOMMEND checking it out. The Seven Letters From Tibet Tangerine Dream TDI Music, 2000 IMPRESSIVE AMBIENT FROM TANGERINE DREAM!! I'm not a big Tangerine Dream fan. I find most of it either too negative and moody, or repetitious and boring. I have owned and sold off Phaedra, Stratosphear, Exit, and Le Parc, while i still retain Sorcerer, Force Majeure, Tangram and The Dream Mixes, Volume One. I've heard plenty more that i didn't WANT to own, mistake or not. This release is truly ambient music with very minimal use of drum pattern or percussion. I can't at this moment think of a single guitar solo. It IS, however, quite classical music oriented, while retaining enough flavor of Tibetan classical to be associated with it. I want to compare it to Vangelis' "China" release, but can't explain. It is decidedly NOT dramatic, but very delicate and aethereal. There is a lot of real time piano playing which is thoughtful also. Each piece is keyed to a color and tone. Careful listening reveals that it also qualifies as a chakra album. (Coincidentally, this disc arrived in my mailbox the same day as the previous review's "Chakra Celebration" by Patrick Bernard.) I had very intense chakra experiences with it the first few times. It is more of an energizing than sedating music, so it is not what one wants to go to sleep to. Beyond that, however, it is hands down the most beautiful Tangerine Dream music i own and one that reveals itself on repeated listen. TD aficionadoes give it an "average" rating, but since i think most old TD is too morose and recent TD more automated, i like this one. 5-28-06 The Dream Mixes Tangerine Dream Miramar, 1995 I'M RATHER PICKY WHEN IT COMES TO TD, and i don't like to be bothered by downer vibes, so it can limit the selection a bit. Truth be told, i really only LOVE "Force Majeure" and "Tangram." I've owned many others like the earlier stuff and 80s stuff like "Le Parc" & "Thief," but frankly a lot is drivel. If you are a big fan of the Tangerine Dream "environment," their trademark sound that lends a certain LILT to the air, then BY ALL MEANS collect everything. i'm picky, i guess... "The Dream Mixes" is great because Froese's son, Jerome (TDJ Rome) puts some competent medium tempo techno beats on the TD mix. I'm actually thinking of buying the other CDs in the "Dream Mixes" series. A lot of this is remixes of older songs, but there are also decent new compositions. Just to have the material interpreted into a more modern sound is sweet, considering that my tastes are particular. i like the rock stuff and not the moody, depressed stuff. besides those mentioned, i also own Sorcerer. the rest like stratosphear, phaedra, exit, etc i ejected eons ago...i have, however, just ordered "seven letters from tibet," so there is still hope.... Endo Ecto Morpho Brian E. Paulson Aeon Records, 2003 THIS FULFILLS THE COMPLETION MOTIF and in a suprisingly fun way too! I think i have been honest in previously expressing somewhere my preference for BEP's long form ambient works. When it comes to ambient environs, the man has few peers. including uncle Brian Eno, and no need to explain himself. The music does so perfectly enough. When one arrives at listening to the more dance beat oriented discs, it is evident that we are viewing a unique aspect of the man which has its own qualities and must be evaluated in its own domain. "End Ecto Morpho" is an earlier rock work, which reminds me, in its dexterity and complexity of narrative movement, of artists like Jean Luc Ponty or Stanley Clarke. The later (2005,) "Isle Of Vibe," shows an exceeding maturity and assuredness which allows one to simply enjoy it as a very straighforward fusion of world music and progressive rock. This current disc under discussion rather foreshadows that work. While enjoyable and fun, "Endo Ecto Morpho" is a more private view into a man and the fun he can have in a studio. Perhaps it is because i myself have recorded over 14 hours of rock tunes in my personal mini-studio, or perhaps my seemingly endless hours of deejaying, that i notice the "sound" that a smaller studio and limited equipment range can bring. On the plus side, Brian E. Paulson delivers some of the most impressive electric guitar work here that he has put on disc. The music FEELS GOOD too, thanks to his conscious awareness of how sound impacts the body. Overall, i personally enjoy this disc just for the simple FUN it can bring to a situation. To listeners unfamiliar with Brian E. Paulson, i would send you to "Isle of Vibe" if you want world fusion or definite must is "Mystic Rain," which sorry i must mention every time it is that good. 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! 5-6-06 Harmonic Bliss Brian E. Paulson Aeon Records, 2006 click for BEP Website ABSOLUTELY LOVELY RELEASE; A SUMPTUOUS REPAST OF VIBRATION Anybody following my work on this modest website knows that while i try to keep an ear to the ground, i also follow the work of particular artists whose work i relate to most readily. Brian E. Paulson (BEP) is one of those sound artists who is able to evolve in his Art, remaining true to his primary aesthetic while incorporating new aspects. He also is his own production company, which gives him total creative control -- which i understand completely -- yet can also limit distribution. In this he stands with a handful of rugged Visionary Sound artists like Robert Carty or Shapeshifter who never did go with a "label," but Did It Themselves. you gotta admire that. What originally attracted me to BEP's work were his Classic Ambient works like "Mystic Rain" (a MUST HAVE for any serious ambient aficionado, in my opinion,) "Delta Bliss" and "Power Of 7," which i found in the Tools For Exploration catalogue way back when (they now can be found on the web as Tools For Wellness, and still offer some of BEP's releases.) Following up on those fabulous recordings, i tried "Brian's Brain Busters," which is a near-perfect brainwave music album. All of this discs are continuum music. The first three are half hour pieces and "BBB" has 3 extended tracks. Alongside and following this artistic period, Brian began to introduce drum machine and more narrative song structure in albums like "Return To Giza" or "Arc of Light." These two album would probably appeal to people who enjoy new age music. They both, of course, have a great deal of science involved in them, "Giza," for instance, incorporating measurements of the Pyramid of Giza into its tunings, while "Arc" used tunings harmonic with Earth, Mars and Saturn in high octave orange red & high octave blue. Brian then really went for downtempo rock beats and a more popular sound, while retaining his signature use of harmonics and special tuning. This resulted in "Pulse Of Life," which is enjoyable positivity in its own right, but in retrospect seems to have been a transitional album to the amazing angelic album of last year, "Deep Release" and now this current one "Harmonic Bliss." There are 2 pieces on this disc. The first one, "Flow and Ebb," has a keynote of C#, but my experience mentally and physically was on the fifth at F#. A higher dynamic heart chakra piece, resonating the upper areas of the heart where we feel honor, bliss states involved with loving others and being alive, deep respect, desire for justice and our responsibility as universal citizens. Almost 24mins long, it has a prominent bass and slow luxiorious rhythm reminding me of Patrick O'Hearn. But whereas O'Hearn is introspective and spare, this music is quite dense with all manner of wondrous sounds it would be nigh on impossible to catalogue here. And not introspective but highly engaged and friendly. Like last year's "Deep Release," this recording is dramatic and exquisitely beautiful at times. I love it when a keyboardist understands that they are moving energy and touching the body in certain places when they play. I know i just spoke of prominent bass, but actually the predominant instrument on this release is piano. The piano pretty much carries the melody and sustains the narrative, with a little synth help here and there. Brian plays electric guitar quite magnificently i should say, but he seems to prefer to use it in his more active rock releases, which are more joyous and celebratory, pure fun, what i sometimes call vacation music (because i'd take it on vacation with me.) in fact, i DID take "Isle Of Vibe" with me when i accompanied my mother, who was visiting, to the other side of Maui for an outing at Hana. that disc fit perfectly with driving on the road to Hana and i recommend it. The second piece, "Indigo Bliss," is 28 minutes long in the keynote of E. Again, i experienced this on the fifth of A, as a Third Eye piece. This piece nearly sent me over the falls. i was concerned that i was going to have to lie down and leave my body to bliss the high heavens. it was THAT intense. beginning with deceptive simplicity -- synth winds and lower register piano -- this recording slowly ascends via voices to a truly sacred space. i really had the feeling this piece was triggering minute releases of DMT from my pineal gland. at one moment, i did think i was about to go all the way. it is not easy to be giving a CD a serious critical listen when you are being sucked into a whirlpool of pure pleasure. for as royal a sonic feast as "Flow and Ebb" was, "Indigo Bliss" soars into the regions of sheer bliss i have known and loved through my psychic travels. "Harmonic Bliss" has to be compared with Kip Mazuy's "Ocean Euphoric" or Donald Slepian's "Sea of Bliss" on the basis of actually being able to induce the states, being splendiferously gorgeous and being rewarding on repeated listening. where the heart F# blisses by loving Others and Life; the 3rd eye A blisses by loving All, Self and the Divine. This recording helped me recognize different bliss states. i have for some time felt that there were different kinds of bliss, but had no language to formalize it in my mind. this music helps that. Broken English Karsh Kale Six Degress Records, 2006 THE NAME IS PRONOUNCED "KURSH KA-LAY." !OK! The new studio release by one of the prime exponents of the Asian Underground is better than the last one! The songwriting remains consistent through the entire album and there is more positive emotion. Instead of starting out with the hackneyed Nine Inch Nails motif of the previous album, this one begins with a hybrid rap song that is as much Calcutta as Brooklyn/Brixton. This progresses into very tricky hiphop beats overlaid with instruments of the raga and stylized voicing by some very adept female singers (rather in the Natacha Atlas mode.) Kale proves again that he is in the upper tier of drum programmers. His charts are tasty, the playing of tabla and other acoustic percussion inspired, and lots of additional musicianship from guests to admire. The album is called, "Broken English," because there were so many musicians from all over the world with many different languages, so they all ended up speaking what little english they knew when the music couldn't do it for them. The lyrics show an intense longing for positive change, compassion for the suffering of others and faith in the future. The album is exuberant, has some great dance pieces and an earnestness that is almost too much. People who don't like loud, driving music or radical transitions probably aren't going to like this. Kale is by original inspiration a DRUMMER, so the music is quite percussive and forceful at times. There are however several tunes worthy of airplay here. In particular, "Beautiful," which is something of a NAMASTE to the listener. Visionary listeners who enjoy the harder, more technical, side of the Asian Underground like Talvin Singh, Nitwin Sahney or Tabla Beat Science would enjoy this one, i should think.... To Watch The Storms Steve Hackett Camino Records, 2003 AFTER THOROUGHLY ENJOYING "DARKTOWN," I BACKTRACKED to what i believe is actually Hackett's most recent studio rock album. And what a sweet one it is! I've been muttering to myself, *this is like having a new "Nursery Cryme."* i like this WAY better than Peter Gabriel's last studio release, "Up." where Peter has been wallowing about in the pain of loss ("Us") and the loss of youth ("Up,")Steve Hackett has been finding ways to sculpt the shadows of our lives into beauty and light. "Darktown" (1999) was a gritty look at a seamy underside, but also with a keen eye to the beauty bursting through from underneath. "To Watch The Storms," as the title implies, acknowledges the presence of evil or Hazard, but also affirms the potential for renewal and affinity. This new release showcases, perhaps like never before, Hackett's mastery of the guitar itself, but ALSO the guitar synthesizer, which very few have actually exploited to full potential. There are many many moments on this disc where one does a double-take, shaking one's head in awe and near disbelief, "wait!... THAT'S a GUITAR?!?" Hackett also makes interesting use of his original first instrument, the harmonica, here. There are times when he doubles up guitar chords with jaw harp and it sounds just so FAT, you know what i mean. it's cool! As with most Steve Hackett studio discs, this one is packed with variety. it begins with "Strutton Ground," which is very much like the pastoral guitar work of original Genesis guitarist, Anthony Philips, done in a style like Andy Partridge's (of XTC) later work. So you're ready to mellow into swathes of english pastures & countryside, when *WHAM!* less than a minute into the second song we find ourselves in one of his campy struts which launches into a tasteful guitar section that should bring a tear of reminiscence to the eye of any old school pre-1975 Genesis Freak ("Circus Of Becoming.") omigod, track 3 is a demonic DANCE tune that is fairly credible for the club floor ("The Devil Is An Englishman.") Nobody has danced with the devil this well since Alice Cooper's "Goes To Hell" and this is WAY better than that. *he's gotta be using that tritone.* this is strongly influenced by techno, but is definitely club. close inspection of the liner notes reveals that this one is written by Thomas Dolby. you get the picture: quiet, impressionism here, a dash of surrealism there, then full hammering rock'n'roll. "Mechanical Bride" is a full hard rocker. followed by "Wind, Sand and Stars," Hackett's patented nylon string solo guitar with some rainstick, chimes and light synth. then a favorite track of mine, "Brand New," which features the showcase radical guitar structure and this one is a doozy. by the end, any lover of "Nursery Cryme" is gonna have to wipe that tear away. believe me: it's good. o i could do a blow by blow of the entire disc, but check these highlights: "The Silk Road" with tabla and big percussion, sitars and tamboura, done in an Asian Underground style, very impressive; a standard BLUES track, played pretty strictly but of course Hackett's style gives it that "je ne sais quoi;" a piece called "Marijuana Assasin of Youth," which is a medley of Bach, the Batman Theme, Wipeout & Tequila. plus numerous shorter instrumentals pieces revealing different sides of Hackett's work and interests. I would be remiss, since i've been mentioning tunes, to leave out "Serpentine Song," which is about the change of seasons and of life, the changes, and to flow with them. a magnificent endpiece which is like a natural evolution from "Wind & Wuthering," but too good for that album. with good advice in the lyrics Peter Gabriel could learn from: "in the meanwhile, the hours seem to fly, with busy days and nights, take it in your stride as worrying is interest paid on trouble long before it's due, passing through" the final epigram is, of course, solo nylon guitar, in "If You Only Knew." which gives us those final moments of deliciousness that we crave from Steve Hackett. although "Voyage Of The Acolyte" and "Spectral Mornings" will have their special places in my musical heart, to me, this is the best Hackett album i've ever heard. he's grown as a musician, a composer and as an insightful human being. i'm quite pleased. as for those who complain that Hackett is starting to sound too much like himself, i can only express my impatience with that point of view. i am quite tired of artists being expected to reinvent themselves or somehow out-do themselves with every subsequent release. what craziness. great artists are people who do certain things very well and they strive to perfect that, to fully reveal it. if they incorporate new ideas, it is because their work is ready for it and not because of some odd pressure to stay current. and in fact Steve Hackett and artists like him ARE current. their music IS evolving. let's look at the Rolling Stones. are THEY current? well, they still make bank, don't they. and frankly i'm not seeing the artistic maturing there as is so plainly evident with Steve Hackett, who really deserves the recognition of being one of the greatest guitar players of the modern age. Aerial Kate Bush Capitol, 2005 WOW I HAD NO IDEA KATE BUSH WAS STILL MAKING MUSIC!! This double-CD will be quite welcome amongst her long-time fans. I think anybody who enjoyed Peter Gabriel's "So..." album, which featured Kate singing with him on the smash hit, "Don't Give Up," will greatly like the second disc of Aerial, which is sub-titled, "A Sky Of Honey." The first disc, which is subtitled "A Sea Of Honey," has 2 or 3 rock pieces and the other four are quieter, more feminine. But that second disc is solid all the way through. I used to say that Kate Bush is the female Peter Gabriel and maybe that's a little sexist or whatever because really she is much more poetic and ethereal than Peter and is a fine artist in her own right and was so long before that duet. I have a cassette of her greatest hits around here somewhere, but i've never owned a full album. if you bring her best together, you have a truly terrific compilation. This collection, while being somewhat uneven on the first disc and i don't know why they start that one with a song that has her least understandable vocals, i really had to go to the lyric sheet altho most of the songs her enunciation is quite clear. The grooves are very tight and the guitar work is quite dextrous. Kate has a good sense of mood in her choices of synth voicings. If you liked the core riff at the end of "Don't Give Up," imagine an album packed with riffs like that. sweet. if you've never heard Kate before, i'd suggest the greatest hits, but if you like other of her work or "So..." this could really be enjoyable for you. 4-23-06 Efflorescence Androcell Sonic Dragon, 2006 THIS JUST-RELEASED DISC is the follow-up to their first release, "Emotovision." I knew nothing about Androcell and simply accepted it on recommendation by Lloyd@Backroads. To my great surprise, this got stuck in my cd walkman much like the recent Entheogenic did. In fact, it sounds like Androcell is using the same type of equipment that Entheogenic is using, with much the same aesthetics (like the ever-ubiquitous Terence McKenna voiceover.) The difference: while Entheogenic is solidly dub, Androcell seems to lean a bit more in the techno direction, so is much more "electronical" if you understand me... there's dub there, surely, but some very interesting electronica. Like Entheogenic, the grooves get lodged in your mind, but perhaps Androcell is a bit more amorphous, so you keep wondering which song was what. And, certainly, the GREENESS of this disc amplifies my hoped for GREEN MOTIF for the year which began with Robert Rich "Electric Ladder" and continued with "Infinite Garden" by Elve. so, we're on to something here.....:)) The disc comes in an incredibly beautiful, intensely plant green high gloss digipak, with an enclosed booklet of quite wondrous computer art, an image for each musical composition. Every person i show it to says WHOA! Needless to say, another great bit of psytrypic fun in the psyambient dub tradition, with the advantage of being more to the technoelectronic side. Entheogenic fans feel right @ home. Perimeter 3 Vir Unis & James Johnson Atmoworks.com, 2006 JUST-RELEASED 2-CD SET CONTINUES PERIMETER SERIES. Being the on-going collaboration between website mates, the Perimeter series initially explored the intersection between machine & organism. Unis, who is a master of the sinuous serpentine fractal groove which scampers like a fabulous beast yet has clicks & clacks like machinery, is well complemented by Johnson, whose tradmark is more atmospheric, radiant vapors and gaseous woodland shimmerings. While Perimeter 2 was an extension of Perimeter 1, this release traverses somewhat different territory that, while still being awesome in its own right, is sufficiently different from the sensibilities of the previous works as to leave me, at least, wondering if it should have been given a separate identity. i guess in my mind, the Perimeter was the membrane osmoting between machine & organism. Perimeter 3, you see, isn't really about that. There is more formal drumming & use of voice which brings this recording into the sonic realms of dark ambient shamanism like Suspended Memories & the solo works of its members, Roach, Reyes & Ruiz. What i'm saying is that a lot of the music here seems to me to be influenced by the atmospheres and musics evolved from south american shamanism. ALSO, some of the pieces are quite technoambient and ready for the mid-tempo chill room. so, really Perimeter 3 is more about the membrane between human & plant life, to me. that being said, i should point out that there is serious DRUMMING going on here, so its not the jungle canopy, but the people living under it. Alchemy Andrew Forrest joyaa.com, 2002 Alpha-Omega Andrew Forrest Andrew Forrest, 1998 THESE TWO DISCS ARE THE BACKTRACK FROM "STARSEED" I was so impressed with Forrest, as documented in my review of "Starseed" of 3-19-06, that i acquired two of his other releases. I think what i like most about Forrest are the interludes that sound like the future i had dreamed for Jan Michel Jarre when "Oxygene" & "Equinoxe" appeared but he hadn't moved on to the more obtuse stuff yet. Andrew Forrest i believe has been listening to much of what i have. i hear influences from Demby, Stearns, Roach, Iasos and others, yet he has his own vision of composition and movement. "Alchemy," his most recent work, is clearly symphonic Ascension music in proximity to Constance Demby's more ambitious works like "Aeterna" and the much-earlier "Novus Magnificat." The album begins with piano in a familiar modern pop classical setting, but then soars away into the astral realms of synthesis. The Jarre-like interludes create interesting transitions. The first two pieces, "I Am Presence" and "Liquid Light," are pure Ascension, filled with sacred feelings and great mystical power. The third piece, which i particularly like, is "Alchemy Of The Heart," which creates spacious deep feelings in one's heart chakra. The last piece, "Sacred Marriage," is darker and mysterious, not the celebratory tryst i'd expected. "Alpha-Omega," a pre-millenial release, is much more shamanistic, beginning with very impressive space synthesis much in the style of Michael Stearns at his most cosmic, this disc travels through some dark ambient spaces reminding me of early Steve Roach before becoming entirely ethereal and angelic. Even here, touches of Jarre or Michel Genest seem to imply themselves. The title song, subtitled, "Immortal Spirit-Om," is very moving, filled with a deep abiding Love. The final composition, "Heavenly Host," is straight-up Angelic, much in the Iasos mode. The works of Andrew Forrest should appeal to anyone interested in Ascension who is not fixated on the Light, but also understands the Dark. These are dynamic sound-tales that take one on journeys that have underlying narratives. This is Quality music of higher consciousness. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Bass Bassomatic Virgin, 1990 OK THIS IS SOME OLD SCHOOL TECHNOCLUB BY WILLIAM ORBIT Early early early in the techno reality, we find this quizzical gem by sound wizard Orbit, who has gone under the names Torch Song & Strange Cargo. This sounds like Torch Song's 80's club dance music revved up with some technosensations. With the solid foundation of William Orbit's patented "leave no wall unreamed" BASS science, this album delivers a fun, no worries dance environment replete with cheeky soundbytes from Spock and Doctor Smith (from the original "Lost In Space" sci-fi series.) After some typical 80s dance fun, we move into a section of songs i really like, because they sound a lot like Transglobal Underground. In fact, i suspect that one or two songs feature raps performed by members of TU under "whatever" type pseudonyms. yes, the songs in the middle actually have a rap music spine that has been tweaked out of all proportion by Orbit. lots of female voices like some motown soultrain out of control on the rails of technomadness. this music is really FUN, like the kind of fun one has dancing in a bar. and i'm sure it would be a great energy pump for house or yard cleaning. in this same sense, it IS somewhat "zipless." it doesn't commit to any kind of "stance," doesn't take chances that might undercut its appeal, and basically tries to appear lightweight even tho the production is great and the whole thing quirky enough to be exciting, entertaining, humorous and yet disposable. that being said, it must be pretty good if i'm playing it in 2006 and it doesn't sound horribly dated. but if i wasn't adding it to the William Orbit collection, it would probably end up next to DJ Me DJ You, Brainscapes 2001, Oojami or Senor Coconut, which are more in the Bachelor Paradise section with Herb Alpert, Sergio Mendes, Martin Denny & stuff like that. i'll recommend this one to William Orbit completists like me and for people who like light hearted dance music with penetrating bass principles. right on. 3-25-06 Infinite Garden Elve Virtual, 2006 Virtual World ELVE IS A GUISE OF ISHVARA, WHO IS ISHQ. Who, if i'm not mistaken, is a chap named Matt Hillier, who records mostly in Cornwall. The initial release by Hillier, the "Orchid" disc (and especially its' 2-CD release on Dakini, 2001) by Ishq, was an absolutely stunning, gorgeous release of crafted electronica. Every person that i played "Orchid" for was immediately enchanted and interested in who the artist was. The second release, "Magik Square Of The Sun," (2003/4)was more playful & kinetic, dealing in mercurial sleight-of-hand and misdirection. Being more energized, the emotional quality was not as transic or passionate, but enthusiastic, child- like. His collaboration with Matt Coldrick, "Elemental Journey - Absolute Ambient Vol. 2," (2004/5) i think i liked a little better than MSOTS, perhaps because the alchemy of the two artists was interesting. This brings us to the 2006 release of "Infinite Garden." Presented on the various websites as being "music inspired by the plant kingdom," many reviews & interpretations pick up on this and find pastoral showcases of the beauty of Nature. Admittedly, there is a quite skillful incorporation of nature sounds into the recording and the overall effect is very plant-like and organic, but i don't believe anyone mentions that -- correct if i'm wrong -- Elve is using just intonation, the natural tuning, here and, so, the recording has that flavour. It reminds me greatly of "Anechoic" by Heavenly Music Corporation, which was, similarly, a near-complete departure from the previous sound aesthetic, much like this recording. A change, i might add, that might be somewhat disconcerting for the listener hoping for something like "Orchid." Having chosen this tuning brings the work into the exotic realms of composers like Wendy Carlos or Robert Rich. While we do seem to frolic, meander and laze about, at times, in meadows and woodlands, we then micro down to the stream bed, where there is a hole that leads into the earth. Down in this earth, strangely beautiful mycelial elves are manipulating scintillating faberge eggs and machines made of cells that glow bright orange, red and yellow. there are mysteries unveiled. Then we return to the surface, amongst nature again, only to microspiral into the stamen of a flower, where small beings busily collect shining nuggets. This is no mere walk in the hinterlands, kids. This stuff is STRANGELY beautiful, like something Terence McKenna -- Connoisseur of the Weird that he was -- would enjoy thoroughly. Terence once said, "Not only is the Universe stranger than you imagine, it is stranger than you CAN imagine!" I think this disc is about THAT; a beauty in Nature which is not our anthropocentric beauty, a beauty that is not concerned with us, but with moisture, radiance and joy. There ARE elvish goings on in the recording, but it is more the DMT pixies than any postcard disney elf i ever heard of. Listening to this is like the first time you ate sushi, it is awfully strange, but very beautiful and delicious simultaneously. I greatly enjoy this curious sonic repast, though do notice the drift from the Lighter sound to the Darker sound i've seen so often in favorite artists like Heavenly Music Corporation or Alpha Wave Movement. so i look forward to more Elve, but greatly hope that Ishq will maintain that more accessible Dakini and Interchill worthy sound. "Infinite Garden" would be a good acquisition for people collecting Paradisal music, looking for stuff similar to Robert Rich's or Al Gromer Khan's just intonation work, or for people who like to put that little mycelial something extra in their tea. Also, since this release comes right on the heels of Robert Rich's "Electric Ladder," i'm hoping to see a developing motif of the lush luciousness of Nature this year. we'll see. . . . Savory, but for special tastes. Besides, only an initial release of 500 world-wide. Random Thoughts Shulman AlephZero, 2006 In Search Of A Meaningful Moment Shulman AlephZero, 2003 I REVIEWED SHULMAN'S FIRST CD PREVIOUSLY. Actually when i ordered it, i MEANT "In Search Of A Meaningful Moment," but was misunderstoood. It's cool, because this is all very enjoyable psy- ambient on par with other artists i've been into lately like Posford, Ott or Entheogenic. Shulman is the Israeli duo, Yaniv Shulman & Omri Harpaz. Interestingly, the first release, "Soundscapes And Modern Tales," is mostly what i consider "UFO music." It just seems to me that there is a prevailing ET-inspired environment. "In Search Of A Meaningful Moment," begins with what seems to be a Tibetan environment that gives way to Tuvan throat-singing. The disc then hovers over India and the Mid-East, impressing with the dexterous use of drum programming on a level with, and probably inspired by, Talvin Singh. Many of the production ideas are also innovative & cutting edge. very impressed. "Random Thoughts" seems more a collection of material that appeared in various compilations, plus a few new pieces, so there doesn't seem to be a unifying motif, although the overall sound is Arabic (or Semitic or Israeli, you decide, pops.) The bottom line with this just-released disc is that Shulman is developing quite nicely and definitely has Game to play on the highest psyambient levels. Both of these albums are high quality psyambient which should appeal to Shpongle or Entheogenic fans, along with people who like the Arabic club sound that has matured with people like Cheb i Sabbah, Toires or Makyo. Ape To Angel Pitch Black Waveform, 2005 THE LATEST RELEASE FROM THE PRESTIGIOUS WAVEFORM label finds the Australians making a move on the international psyambient scene. This disc is more energetic and uptempo than my usual reality. It definitely crosses the dancefloor to chill zone ratio with some aplomb. While i like it, as i do most Waveform releases (and it is deservedly Waveform,) the level of production is not up to snuff with the artists mentioned in the previous review. It does have the advantage of being a little more "straight-ahead" in tempo and attitude. I am reminded of Entheogenic's first release which is pale in comparison to the subsequent discs. this shows great potential and is a fun ride, good dancing, social. perhaps somewhat darker in sound but not as serious or earnest as Phuture Primitive, nor as frivolous as the most toss-away Waveform releases. this release shows promise of a developing artist and is enjoyable for recreational listening. there won't be a lot of gasping in awe or shaking of the head in disbelief when listening to this disc, however. good effort, good vibe, i may grow to like it more and revise this initial assessment to be more redolent with praise. at this point, i like owning it but it won't be in heavy rotation at DarvLab. ADDENDUM: 4-22-06. I DID come to enjoy this disc better over the ensuing weeks. it would seem that playing in on the portable cd with ear buds brought out an even greater enjoyment of the spatial placement. i also neglected to mention that the disc has a computer playable music video which is a lot of fun even if i don't know what the heck it means. Galactivation Shakatura CyberOctave, 2003 ANOTHER DISC THAT HAS BEEN OUT THERE A WHILE. even been through a remix that supposedly made listening more advantageous. i was ready to not like this disc because, while i like the CyberOctave label artists better than its' parent company's HigherOctave artists, a great deal of CyberOctave is still kinda cheesy. While Brainscapes' "Chakradancer" release is a one-of-a-kind, must-have album, i can't wax as enthusiastically about other CyberOctave releases. fortunately, Shakatura MORE than fulfilled my rather modest hopes for it at purchase. Let me say right off that i can be a sucker for great cover art and this disc has a fantastic psychedelic mandala that gives me the pre-bliss shivers when i glance at it. there are some discs that are great to own for the VISUAL value. (For example, Transcendental Anarchists release on Silent Records; the artist name and cover art is greater than the music; but i continue to own it coz, come on!, you KNOW Darv HAS to own any group calling itself Transcendental Anarchists - - just on General Principles!) Of course, the music inside is THE thing, isn't it? I don't deny it. I'm just saying a tasty cover - - in this case, a moss of white Light superimposed on what appears to be an Aztec or Mayan calendar, which seems to have Egyptian glyphs and the Mazzaroth incorporated in it, with a vertical DNA strand of white Light through the center and three pair of outstretched wings-forearms with hands that have eyes in the palm, with ocean and jungle in the background - - is a thing of beauty. It adds to the art value of the entire piece as an object in the world. So let's talk about the music. A reviewer @ Amazon gave this disc 5 stars with one star deducted "for excessive lucidity" for a total of 4 stars. Allow me to interpret: this disc uses echo, delay and reverb VERY sparingly, so the instrumentation is largely untreated by external effects. what i notice is that this makes the contrasts and contours sharper, the colors brighter. much like hard techno which just shears you with the edge of the sawtooth wave. but this sound isn't cutting or slicing through your brain, but actually very comfortable, in the CyberOctave psyambient realm. the colors are BRIGHT like Makyo. we have female India vocals, karnatic flute, tablas in the second song, establishing an asian underground sensibility. but, it is in the 3rd song that Shakatura begins to use synth voices based on Moog voicing which have always, for me, been associated with the Cosmic. i don't know what it is about these voicings, perhaps just idiosyncratic associations from my own child- hood. i don't know. but they conjure up the Sixties cosmic flower power, UFOs, ascended masters, crystal technologies, Powers & Potencies. i'm reminded of Steve Hillage's "Green," "Arriving UFO" by Yes from the underrated "Tormato" release, or Phil Thornton's "Alien Encounter," but this is beyond just crystal UFOs, this is connected with Light and DNA also. crazy multifractalled mandalas. yeah, for new stuff this is on the vibe of Magic Sound Fabric but i like it a little better. by track 4, "Parachute," with its incredibly rich lead synth voice, i'm hopelessly hooked into this transdimensional wanderjahr. - - while the production is not world- class, there are enough interesting ideas to please me, particularly spatial placement and channel isolates. very thoughtful at times. song 4 becomes some sinuous Balinese riff with gamelan that mutates into song 5 which seems to combine the angelic atmosphere of Raphael with Arabic percussion. the flute player is obviously quite skilled and enjoying their work. in fact, now that i think of it, it seems everybody is having a blast on this album, there seems to be a contagious joy coming from it. from here we cruise through some hyperdimensional dub navigations, some synthetic jive eclectico, possibly some cha cha delecti -- all of this quite ultraflorescent neon coloration following the DNA spiral to the Light Above. hey, this is a really good CyberOctave release! excessive lucidity? JUST THE THING I NEEDED!! 3-19-06 Starseed Andrew Forrest 1997 ONE WONDERS WHY WE HAVE NEVER HEARD this artist before. Very cosmic angelic music, symphonic like Demby, transgalactic like Stearns at his best, touches of Michael Hammer, then Jean Michel Jarre, abound. i loved this disc on first listen and have found it becoming richer and more meaningful on each consecutive listen. i'm reminded of Char-El, a not as well known angelic composer of whose canon i have only one disc. but Forrest is a clearly superior mixer who has understood how to draw vast space scapes by letting the imagination fill in the gaps within the visionary sound elements. the implication of recurring patterns beyond the sound produces soundscapes boggling the mind's eye. Quite nearly one hour of music is divided into two more or less half hour compositions: Interstellar Harmonics (DNA Activation: Yang) Interstellar Harmonics (DNA Activation: Yin) Indeed, the first piece is day time, the pristine brightness of the sun, growth and blossoming, the activity and energy of animate life; while the second is night time, the murmuring shimmer of the stars, healing slumber, going within to commune in Imagination, rejuvenating via quiescence. The dreaminess in this piece reminds me of Marcey, a soulful immersion in the ocean within one's mind. Yet, Forrest is every bit the symphonic composer, the music has a narrative. We move deeper into the dreamtime and closer to some as yet undiscovered revelation. i found the middle of the second piece to be quite healing. On the basis of this one disc, "Starseed," i am speculating that this artist is performing at the most supreme levels of Angelica that there are (on earth at least:) That means i am as impressed with Andrew Forrest's work on this release as i would be of any of the afore-mentioned artists, Iasos, Michel Genest or Shapeshifter. i am so pleased with this disc, "Starseed," (which i acquired for only $5 down at the local thrift store,) that i will be backtracking to AlphaOmega and Alchemy posthaste. Andrew Forrest's CD webpage Uplift Drift Magic Sound Fabric Spiralight, 2002 u*nfold Magic Sound Fabric Spiralight, 1998 I PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED "FREEDOM STAR" (2/10,) so this is a backtrack to the previous releases. While the latest disc is the most accomplished from a technical standpoint and musicianship perspective, these two discs have a lot to offer in terms of mellow techno-influenced angelic/shroomy environments. In particular, the first disc, "u*nfold," is a quite unusual and fun recording. although sounding more amateurish, like a new age garage band almost, it redeems itself with youthful bluster, inventiveness and a playful use of language and chant. also, the vocals are sufficient but not technical, almost like reciting poetry. this lack of hi tech gloss results in an intimate sound like your neighbor playing this cool stuff he does and now you understand why he is in that garage all the time. "Uplift Drift" is the precursor to "Freedom Star" and quite nearly the companion disc. we'll see what is next...i would think anyone who really enjoyed "Freedom Star" would like it. all these discs are VERY electronic. The first disc does have electric bass, elec guitar, live percussion. so it sounds more "live," but also seems more shroomy than angelic. but positive vibes all around and stuff that would be great in a chill zone. Darktown Steve Hackett Camino Records, 1999 Sketches Of Satie John Hackett & Steve Hackett Camino Records, 2000 I WAS WHAT THEY CALLED A "GENESIS FREAK" BACK when the classic line up - - Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Michael Rutherford and Tony Banks - - were together. When Hackett left Genesis a couple of albums after Gabriel's departure, it was a mortal blow to the Genesis i had come to know and love. i still can almost listen to "...and then there were three," but after that i find most of it far less interesting. Good thing for the remaining members, though, because the shift to a more commercial sound gained them BANK. good for you, boys. i miss ya tho. So, it is absolutely fantastic to even catch a whiff of that old Genesis, and Steve Hackett is the only one of them, apparently, still in touch with that SOUL QUALITY that pulls the listener into an alternate reality. Hackett is still sculpting the mythos moderne, encloaking it in the mysterious metaphors of sound that are his trademark and were an integral component of what made Genesis a genius band in its time. Of the classic crew, it is Hackett who has had his eye on that particular ball (don't get me wrong, the other guys, Gabriel definitely, have put out great material, but Hackett puts out the MAGIC.) I think "Darktown" is the best Hackett release since "Spectral Mornings," (1979). Which i don't know if it is saying much because he hasn't released a lot of rock. there was a BLUES album somewhere, still haven't heard it. i have heard his acoustic recordings and own "Bay Of Kings" which is pleasant but not at the level of the raves i usually hear about it. i DO recommend his remake album of classic Genesis tunes, "Watcher Of The Skies" for people who would enjoy a trip down memory lane and enjoy some new interpreta- tions. "DARKTOWN" begins with a searing instrumental intro caked on top of a fat hip hop beat, but with such out-of-control and dangerous guitar playing, one worries that the guitars will not survive the recording session. "Omega Metallicus" first of all judo flips "Los Endos" or "The Waiting Room" and has all the looming menace of Robert Fripp's most radical outings. This is followed by the title song featuring a deep narrative voice-over reading the lyrics that is then busted out with frightening background music for a Sin-City-like movie which finds Hackett doubling up with the bass on a sinuous riff while some FRIckin saxophone goes clearly crazy on the 13th floor. a good level of noise in this one. at this point, one is worried that this album is going to wander around the urban ghetto all night, looking for treasure in the gutters and garbage cans. Thankfully, not. although the album is clearly emotionally darker than his previous works, there are gorgeous moments of the shadowy depths that are tender along with regret, release, renewal. there is betrayal and duplicity, yet forgiveness and hope. very complex recording emotionally. The album includes some very English pieces like "The Golden Age of Steam," driven by an enormous string sectiion, liberally decorated with horns, winds and harpsichord. A recurring 20thC World War theme in Hackett's work, it is about a double agent between the Allies and the Nazis. The piece has a Britishness not unlike "Tigermoth" from "Spectral Mornings." The stand out piece must be "Twice Around The Sun," which has the guitar solo you want to never have end. Resonating intensely in the heart chakra, this piece brought tears to my eyes when i first heard it. "SKETCHES OF SATIE" is brother John on flute and Steve on acoustic guitar playing short modern renditions of one of my favorite composers, Erik Satie. this stuff is superb. wish i'd know about it when it was released. yes, you have to like modern classical duet, just a guitar and flute, but wow the beauty. i own several recordings of Satie and this is clearly the most salutary and reverent of the music. this is WAY better than "Bay of Kings." 3-2-06 Electric Ladder Robert Rich Soundscape Productions, 2006 HAVING DEVELOPED SEVERAL DIFFERENT STYLES, Rich presents the successor to the strange exotica of "Bestiary" with an album rightly compared to the classic works "Gaudi," "Geometry" and "Numena." The first several pieces in particular not only feature rotating mandala sequencers similar in tone to "Geometry," but also have a "Wendy-Carlos-like" use of just intonation chord structure. While not being anywhere near as murky or at times scary as "Bestiary," this new release does include similar slithering rhythms at times, but seems to be about lush paradisal vegetation. This is not the dank grottos of "Numena" but rather the riot of the jungle canopy, long humid afternoons and the fading of the sun at end-of-day, as the plants slip back to slumber to await dawn Whenever i consider Rich's production values, the same word always comes to my mind: sterling. So i'm just going to stick with that and say "another sterling Rich production." Lush, high gloss, full resolution at microscopic levels. The emotional content is some of the most positive in recent memory. i can't remember something so upbeat from Robert, just solo stuff, since, well, "Seven Veils" and really i think it is second only to "Rain Forest" for emotional positivity. Don't get me wrong: i LOVE the languid serenity of works like "Somnium" or the meditative trance values of the classic "Trances/Drones" duo. and deep diving with "Below Zero," "Troubled Resting Place," the frozen arctic waste with Ian Boddy, "Outpost" and the dead center perfect "Stalker" collaboration with Lustmord is my specialty dude. Never happier than having a shamanic journey through the glurp and ultrashadows of the underworld. But this disc is like having a good friend in a happy mood with you in the room. You almost can't help but like this one. Tinges of Terry Riley here and there maybe, just a lot of fun and i sure am glad i got it asap. This ones begins solidly as electronic, then moves through some daytime superflorestation to then mellow with wafting, languid flute over liquidic haze ambiance through a blissful, lazy afternoon to quietly watch the sunset. A distinct pleasure from one of the Visionary artists such as Steve Roach that i refer to as a Master or Adept of the Medium. Yolo Tetsu Inoue DIN, 2005 NEW DARK AMBIENT BY VETERAN ELECTRONIC COMPOSER This album has a lot of sonic similarites to the recently released, "Lithosphere," by Robert Rich and Ian Boddy. So much so that i suspect that the same synth voicings from whatever machine or program it is were used. The main difference is that "Yolo" is much more in tune with the Fripp/Eno aesthetics. While still utilizing the interesting noise-as-natural values from what i suppose is the "DIN sound," this disc seems, to me, to be very influenced by the recent, "The Equatorial Stars," by the afore-mentioned classic Ambient duo. In the middle of the album, there are sections which even not so subtly imply the "No Pussyfooting" environments from days long gone by. There were times i found myself thinking,"is this actually 'Lithosphere'? did i put on the wrong disc? or maybe it is mislabeled at the manufacturer?" indeed, many of the audio tricks employed on the Boddy/Rich collab are present here. In particular, the quirky "shifts" which sound like skips in the playback. These occur when the disc is, more or less, two-thirds played; right around the time they start occurring on "Lithosphere." But, i assure you, they are deliberate and not flaws in manufacture. Gosh, i guess i'm saying that this disc sounds like equatorial stars if you gave it a lithosphere treatment. In any event, i find it pleasant but not as inspiring as my previous acquisitions, "World Receiver" or "OM - Instant Enlightenment." i will probably think of it as the companion volume to "Lithosphere," somehow. And that is a good thing. Good for the serious dark ambient collector and for people who like the Fripp-&-Eno sound galaxies. 2-26-06 Hello Waveforms William Orbit Sanctuary, 2006 JUST RELEASED ON THE 21ST, this is Orbit's first venture since 1999's somewhat disappointing "Pieces In A Modern Style" on Maverick, which was sketches of classical pieces by the likes of Beethoven, Ravel, Satie and Handel. In the six or seven years that Orbit has been recuperating from his producing Madonna, a young generation of electronic dance producers have emerged in the realms of techno which have changed the landscape of studio mixology, drastically raising the ante on what is or is not "amazing" production. Orbit has a history of releases that goes back into the 80s. Most people will not remember the Torch Song album that flickered momentarily and was lost in the first half of that decade. I only have a cassette dub i copped out of the University radio station which i only recently transferred to disc via computer. There are many Orbit flourishes in that early rather primitive 80s dance music. In 1993, he released the first of the successful "Strange Cargo" series of 4 discs. (4="Hinterland") These discs were, pretty much, a given set of standard rock dance grooves which were given various interpretations, to the point that the focus of attention became what was happening production-wise more than composition-wise. Although each successive disc was able to trump its predecessor, the grooves, derivative and familiar, became tired, yet Orbit managed at the same time to make each disc better. This culminated in the excellent Torch Song album, "Toward The Unknown Region," 1995. That disc, first of all, has INSANE synthbass which will rock your next door neighbor's world. Second of all, it was much more original and varied. Finally, Orbit seemed to want to break out of his mold and try something fresh. The result of that would be the afore-mentioned "Pieces In A Modern Style," which actually grows on one with time, but is sedate and contemplative, not energized and danceable. They actually are very nice short electronic interpretations of classical melodies. And perhaps no one has done that sort of thing better. (And don't mention Wendy Carlos' "Switched On Bach," because there frankly IS no comparison.) Orbit is well-known for his lush production which i imagine might be influenced by the "big" productions of English producers like George Martin or Roger King, and albums like Dark Side of the Moon. One of the cool aspects of William Orbit is his use of guitar. He has his power chords chops in fine working order and also can play with echo or wah with the best of them. This also gives the music dimensions which all-electronic mixes don't have. On this disc, his female vocal arrangements are more intricate and exquisite than previously (which i imagine may have rubbed off on him from working with Madonna.) The album begins kind of scarily, because it is rather quiet until the three-minutes-fifty-seconds mark (the ideal length of the pop song in terms of psychological expectations.) This first song is the opposite of most songs. Where most songs have beats and occasionally a few bars of no beats, this song is the opposite. It has no beats for most of its duration with a few bars of beats interspersed here and there. Following it is a very classical "Pieces in a Modern Style" kind-of piece and you're wondering if maybe we're revisiting the last disc. After this, though, everything is a very impressive and satisfying Orbit experience. The Madonna-like songs, 2 or 3 of them are all humorous, inventive and lyrically unconventional. There are plenty of blissful interludes where one basks in fields of jewels. The last piece, "Colours From Nowhere," ends the disc perfectly with an interesting balance of pure ambience and lolling sequencers. For the most part, these are the big orbit beats we've come to love and hope for, with a once again gorgeous production that, if not trouncing the competition and reestablishing his preeminence in electro mixology, at least CLEARLY delineates what is uniquely William Orbit. There is a charm, a clarity, and a faithfulness to classical beauty that makes for a wonderful listening experience with new discoveries on repeated exposure. Sub Conscious Phutureprimitve Waveform, 2004 . . . you will be disoriented for the first few minutes...remember to remain CALM and FOCUSED. . . OKAY, I ADMIT THAT I'VE KNOWN ABOUT this disc since its release, but have lagged on acquiring it as i was, as you may recall, thoroughly enraptured with psyambient like Posford's work and Entheogenic. I could sense that this was a darker, shamanistic underworld experience and i was more interested in the psychedelic kaleidoscope of Light at the time. But to all things their season and the acquisition of this comes at a time, William Orbit time, when i am opening up to the artists i bypassed for economy's sake, like Shulman, Magic Sound Fabric and Shakatura. I spent a lot of time in the subterranean netherworld and still obviously collect dark ambient regularly. Entheogenic definitely is underworldly, but i guess i was dithering. ANYWAY.... This dark psyambient release is a marvel of dub science and cybershamanism. Each song is DENSE with elements, expertly placed in the stereo spatial continuum, reminding me of Vir Unis for sheer cramming of audio into the field. The beats approach trance dance velocities. While there is an underpinning of familiar techno voicings, everything has been strangely tweaked by some dmt pixie to have the shroomy whoosh & swoosh. female vocals wafting in and out like some goddess spirit. descending spirals into the maelstrom of chaos becoming the roots of all being, digging the dirt of existence, engorged by the nectar which emerges from the fusion of the sensual and the ethereal. and the ally is there... To me, perhaps the biggest difference between Phutureprimitive and other artists like Hallucinogen or Entheogenic, is that this artist is serious about creating a concentrated shamanistic experience. There is no cheekiness, no fooling around, no jokes. Serious business: you ARE going to the Underworld and dealing with your shit RIGHT NOW. In this way, i am reminded of the Castaneda novels or the classic disc, "Kiva," by Roach, Stearns & Sunsinger. This is meant to be a powerful journey to the roots. The artist succeeds in this endeavor on the narrative level. Whether this would be true will require perusal under the appropriate conditions. ;) A really great release which will please psyambient fans of all kinds who can deal with shamanistic underworld journeying. Dark psyambient DUB with DEEP grooves and WIDE drones. Sines and Singularities Bluetech AlephZero, 2005 THE LABEL THIS DISC COMES FROM, ALEPHZERO, is releasing some fantastic new technoambient which is definitely at the level of quality one has come to expect from heavy hitters like Dakini, Waveform, Interchill, or Ultimae. I loved 2003's "Prima Materia" release on Waveform, which inspired me to recently get Bluetech's 2004 release on Native State, "Elementary Particles" (ep.) [Note: these two releases now come on a single AlephZero disc, "Elementary Particles & Prima Materia."] These two earlier releases were competent electropop which i would probably indicate to hardcore Kraftwerk fans as a way to bridge across into this burgeoning new region of the genre. This new release, "Sines and Singularities," is a big leap forward for Bluetech, indicating an improved facility with the instruments and increased insight into production. I could compare it to the improvement Entheogenic made from their first release to the second. whew. Bluetech, though, is straight up instrumental lectronica which moves at Higher Intelligence Agency's midtempo speeds and straight ahead grooves which don't wiggle or jiggle so much due to the high geometrics involved. It is like audio trigonmetry, intriguing to deduce the patterns and scry the mutant symbols. The percussive angularity is matched by very interesting atmospheres of gaseous radiation then radiant vapors with wild doses of interstellar plasma and surprising mysterious phenomena not in the catalogue. Yet, the entire disc is relaxing and perfect for lounging, relaxed but alert, reading, or running the green machine. *heh* The album overall is quite blue in color, highly innovative and fairly danceable at times, while still being ultramellow and quirky. Although dub knowledgeable, the dub factor is way subdued in favor of the Kraftwerk aesthetic. I give this release my strongest recommendations to those who like their electronic music instrumental with beats, and true to the classic forms. Immersion : One Steve Roach Projekt, 2006 STILL MAXING ON HIGH OUTPUT, ROACH RELEASES this long form composition (73:16) a mere 3-4 months after the double release of "New Life Dreaming" and "Possible Planet." With a name like "Immersion," i had the expectations of an environment of intense heat and moisture possibly subterranean much like "Possible Planet." Surprise: it is actually MORE ethereal than "New Life Dreaming." I'm immediately reminded of his work in the 4-cd "Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces." In fact, this seems even more filled with Light and angelic-beneficent forces than that! "Immersion : One" is an extremely rarefied and delicate atmosphere. Bass is deemphasized in favor of hissing molecular clouds and tremorous pressure waves passing swiftly, ephemerally, through the medium. This is a region of space where only incandescent gas exists, ringing cosmic harmonies. Slow harmonic shifting occurs intermittently, rather like some of the highest tones overtone singers can create. At times, it seems to transcend into shimmering Iasos-like void-paradises, where one might encounter the Ancient Ones, the Elders, the Builders. Another fine example of the intersection between void-shamanistic and angelic musics. STEVE ROACH is one of the modern Adepts of Visionary Music who began with a deep intuitive understanding of the use of sound to induce mystical states and then steeped himself in the shamanistic wisdoms of the americas and australia. His level of artistry continues to earth ever more profound inward realities and each of his releases not only stands on its own as a true "work of art," but also contributes in an intelligent way, to the sublimity of his entire body of work, which i can only dream will someday be recognized as the residue of a Genius. Mark my words, Steve Roach is not only a world class composer, he rightfully belongs in the class of Genius along with the other great names of history. Should our shrinking world ever suddenly discover him (not that i would wish intense planetary fame and notoriety on anybody, especially my heroes) i could see his work providing us with deeper insight into our earthly roots as spiritual beings. Global Communication - Fabric 26 Various Artists (mixed by Mark Pritchard) Fabric Records, 2005 I usually don't publish caveat ("beware") reviews mainly because i think it is a waste of time for the few people reading this column to endure griping about something bad. Usually the overall tone of my individual review with indicate whether i simply like it, love it or am stoked. Also, giving attention to something i consider a mistake in acquisition only gives it credibility it should find elsewhere not here. That said, i must make a short comment on this disc for the mere fact that Mark Pritchard was a part of Global Communication which had two marvellous releases, "76:14" and "Pentamerous Metamorphosis" which might lure people such as myself to checking this out. Thus, i issue forewarning that this is NOT a Global Comm release even though Pritchard is involved. In fact, it is the 26th installment of a compilation series. O, i MISS Global Communication. I went so far as to backtrack to the "Theory of Evolution" disc which the GC duo, Middleton & Pritchard, released in 1995 (which appears to be a compilation of works they did under various guises.) That disc was a barely listenable mishmash of clanging unpleasant noises with perhaps two tracks hinting at the glory that would be Global Communication. This new disc has more in common with that one than either of the Global Comms. In fact, it took me several occasions to get through the album, i had to keep taking the headphones off and then walk away from it "what rubbish!" "how DARE they do that!" but then i finally got to the good part. Let me explain: The disc begins like a science fiction movie with Star Wars type sounds and a Vader-like voice. This quickly transitions into 3minute22sec piece which is a quite intriguing sci-fi bit of mechanistic synthesis, if perhaps somewhat harsh. My Global Comm antennae went up and i was thinking "ok: futuristic urban environment, the terminator, imperial stormtroopers, the eternal combat between Control & Freedom, George Orwell's "metal jackboot stomping on a human face forever, ok: i get it." so i'm settling into this sci-fi cityscape. i actually like and collect UFO music and this might be a good candidate. song 3 has a syncopated beat and some twirlies with "ah" voicings. so we're settling in waiting for the robots, flying cars, dna splicings & clones, yeah all dat. suddenly, song 4, the rap voice, very inner city, detroit or new york (even though i think this is a london production,) starts with its hostile attitude. electronic rap with the angry gangsta voice. i'm thinking, ok the next tune will change. NOT. oh, shit, i'm rolling with the homies in a sci-fi city. this sucks. the music starts rolling into types of techno i think are called "Detroit Techno" and "Gabba." it sounds like kids in the Bronx clanging trash cans and lids to the fat beats. holy crap, the music is too aggressive. yes, folks, this album is hardcore gabba club & rap music in the middle. there is no escaping it. even though the underlying synthesis has GlobComm contours at times, you're just getting slammed with the urban vibe. This goes on & on to track 11, when this 73:21 in duration disc has 42:34 left on it, that we get tracks that start to resemble Yellow Magic Orchestra then Kraftwerk. of 22 tracks, the last 11 are more to my liking and increasingly so as the time moves on. (tracks 2 and 6 are somewhat redeemable.) I'm tempted to make a copy with just the tracks i like and then it would be a fairly decent "ep" release, more urban still than GlobComm, but with enough YMO & Kraftwerk resemblances to be fun. those of you looking for the paradise realities of Global Communication similar to Heavenly Music Corporation and such, you will not be able to listen to this all the way through. HA! HA! HA! Ultravox! Island Records, 1977 PART OF MY ULTRAVOXX!/JOHN FOXX completist motif, this acquisition more or less completes my collection. Being the second release by the band, it is probably the most raw of the first 3 Ultravox! releases (which are the one's i like, i'm not particularly interested in the Midge Ure band which followed Foxx's departure, since they lost the edge and became a depressing synthpop group.) Less Roxy-Music-like than the first album, but not as electronic as the third and best one, "Systems Of Romance," this album has the most fiery Foxx performance and is the most Sex Pistols like. When i was doing new wave shows in the early and mid 80s, the songs, "Fear In The Western World" and "Hiroshima Mon Amour" were DE RIGEUR for the sets. I know i was just complaining about hostile & aggressive music and now here i am loving it. It's part nostalgia and part just fine high-energy postpunk. 02-10-06 Freedom Star Magic Sound Fabric Spiralight, 2004 HAD MY EYE ON THIS FOR SOME TIME and had heard the downloads at Amazon, but was going through a serious Posford/Entheogenic phase and so a number of technoambient projects waited in the wings. Beyond MSF, there is also Shakatura, which I haven't heard at all, and the recent earthy stuff from Waveform (i do have Subconscious by Phuture Primitive on order.) And since the new William Orbit is right around the corner, it is a good time to start expanding that cosmic maximumbass aspect of the darv VSA vaults. My initial opinion here is that Magic Sound Fabric, MSF, is part of a trend that's been in techno since downtempo arrived to create groovy spiritual environments full of bright yet soft multicolored light. Within the realms of angelic music, there is what i call the music of Ascension. Michael Hammer is a good example of this. While distinctly evocative of beneficent "angelic" energy-presences, it tends to be more field-oriented (that is, one feels that they are in an environment infused with Light, rather than in the presence of an embodiment of that energy.) MSF is rather like technoambient ascension music. Even though there is a mystical, angelic feel to this music, it is solidly rockbeats with clear influences from Deep Forest & Enigma. Completely synthesis, using very bright mandala-like soundcolor, yet still body-friendly in softness of production. There are no impressive solos to engage the intellect and vocals are limited to one non-english in the Deep Forest style. "We Are All Connected" is a beautiful spoken word piece (by a woman) which sounds way better than the download and is about universal inter- connectivity. The album is arranged like a trans- galactic tryp through the multi-levels of the spiritual planes. I would think you're nearly guaranteed to leave your body under the right conditions ;) This music reminds me of computer fractal videos where the same patterns keeps enfolding at ever larger magnitudes, or unfolding at ever tinier magnitudes. At times, one seems to be travelling along the lsd dna jacobian ladder, or sliding alongside the psilocybin tryptych gallery. Then suddenly a wave of foaming Light washes you upward into the central sun, where cherubs gleefully tease you into remembering. yeah, something like that. uh, oh, here come the crystalline merkaba UFOs. you get the picture... A very cosmic deepgroove synthtryp which is probably only accessible to people who believe in love, spirit and throwing a huge celebration in favor of them. The more cynical and stuffy could distrust such rainbow miracula. Suffice it to say that i already have backtracked to their other 2 discs, Uplift Drift and Unfold, which are on order and hopefully by the end of the month. 02-09-06 Elementary Particles Bluetech Native State Records, 2004 THIS WAS A BACKTRACK ACQUISITION from the disc released last year, "Prima Materia," which i thoroughly enjoyed and wanted to hear more. Bluetech is hi-tech intelligent electronic pop directly descended from Kraftwerk, sharing the angular, snappy playfulness of the sorrow- fully defunct Higher Intelligence Agency, and now on Waveform with a crisp sound fully worthy of that illustrious label. In fact, Bluetech apparently has a new release, i'm just noticing, called "Sines & Singularities," but more on that later. A reviewer at Amazon called Bluetech "designer music," and for some reason i can't get that out of my head. This is downtempo electronic pop that would seem perfect backsound for brain- storming sessions, architectural drawing, tatooing, fashion designing, mandala sand-painting and related activities. At times electrodub, then twisted merengue, fully instrumental with more synth tricks & tropes than its ancestors, this is music for breaking through old mental habits into worlds of novelty and fascination. You can explore new corners of mind you hadn't imagined existed. Playful, joyous, slightly crazy. i love it. Fans of Higher Intelligence Agency, A Positive Life, Global Communication or Irresistible Force, this is where you want to be. Zen Peace Aeoliah Spa SoundScapes, 2000 AEOLIAH IS A PROLIFIC ANGELIC MUSIC composer. I believe that he released his wonderful first disc, INNER SANCTUM, originally in 1982 and has, since then, given the world many, many discs of symphonic angelic music. I wish i knew enough about classical music to tell you which composers he is influenced by, but i don't. It was evident in his first releases that Aeoliah was strongly influenced by Iasos, but he quickly developed his own way of doing things and a distinct difference between the two can be recognized usually with 5 seconds of a song beginning. Aeoliah tends to compose actual classical music which is rendered in keyboard synthesis with occasional flute. Most of his canon is symphonic synthesis which actually brings him closer in kind to Constance Demby than Iasos, really. The similarity of sound and content in most of his albums reminds me of Kitaro or Yanni, in the sense of an enduring "sound" that permeates all their work. With that said, i certainly acknowledge that in the 90s, Aeoliah incorporated more acoustic instrumentation in his sound, so it isn't quite fair to say that his work experieces the "sonic velveeta" effect of Kitaro. I keep my discs by Aeoliah in my Angelic section with artists like Patrick Bernard, Iasos, Michael Hammer, Raphael, Constance Demby and so on. Out of the wide range of Aeoliah to be had, however, i've been selective in my own tastes and haven't kept up with him in the long term. "Inner Sanctum" is one of my favorites, perhaps because the Iasos influence is so pronounced. I collected "The Seven Chakras" because of my on-going interest in using sound to resonate the chakric areas of the body (sadly, i found it to be one of the few chakra discs that didn't work. Although as beautiful as most of his albums, i personally didn't experience the chakra resonances. So many times i thought, maybe it is just me, i'll try again, but to no avail.) I also own "Majesty" which is fully symphonic, and "Angels of Healing, Vol. 4," which i picked up for two bucks somewhere and is ok. I ADORE "Light At Mount Fuji," which contains two half-hour continuum pieces absolutely perfect for deep meditation. Angelic ambience ultimized. This disc is really different from his other stuff, more far eastern, so when i saw "Zen Peace," i had hopes that he had returned to this more sedate style. Well, yes and no. The title track of the current disc being reviewed, "Zen Peace," sounds like a five minute outtake from "Light At Mount Fuji." But for that, much of the disc is acoustic classical - piano, strings, flute, etc. The albums begins with a dreamy almost Marcey-like feeling, then cascades of of piano and flute like Iasos carry us to a wonderful feeling of enchantment and bliss. The second song is the longest on the album at 14:34. It is a quiet centering piece mainly synthesis & flute. Then the title track and the rest of album more or less returns to the brighter classical climes Aeoliah likes.\ People who like light classical in an angelic style will like Aeoliah. The production is sterling for being DDD. 01-27-06 Minimum/Maximum Kraftwerk Astralwerks, 2005 THIS IS A LIVE 2-CD SET of various Kraftwerk performances in 2004. This group has been around over 3 decades and with Tangerine Dream shares the distinction of being one of the two groundbreaking electronic pop groups ever. These two groups, along with possibly Klaus Schulze, are the foundational projects of what has come to be called the "Berlin school" of electronica, which is basically the roots of popular electronic music. If you ask me, Kraftwerk SINGLE-HANDEDLY INVENTED Techno. The pieces, all of which are available elsewhere as studio recordings, are given the production used on 2004's "Tour De France" disc and are different and updated in that way. "Computer Love," one of their biggest hits (and currently charting as the centerpiece riff of a song by Coldplay) is mysteriously missing. In my opinion, the tempos are somewhat sped up so the pieces seem to have a higher energy better for dancing, although i haven't compared with studio discs to be certain. Audience response is only heard between songs and at certain strategic moments, most of what you hear is recorded straight off the system and not by microphone (vocals excepted, obviously.) I purchased this disc because it is interesting to hear Kraftwerk live. Avid collectors will undoubtedly acquire it as part of a completist motif. This would be a good set for someone who doesn't own any Kraftwerk and would rather have the darker sound of current Kraftwerk than the near-bubblegum sound of 1991's "The Mix" anthology, although i would probably recommend the latter to the casual pop listener. Before After Heaven 17 Ninth Wave Records, 2005 I was aware of the Human League / H17 split when it occurred & snapped up H17's first release as soon as i could get my hands on it. Likewise subsequent releases. I received this disc from Amazon today and am listening to it for the third time as I write this. This is a thoughtful, carefully crafted 38:37 of the kind of synthpop FUN you thought couldn't be created anymore. It begins with several unashamedly techno-disco tracks which one would have expected from the Fry/White ABC if they had gotten better & better as H17 has. In fact, I would go so far to say that "Before After" is a landmark hybrid recording much like ABCs fantastic "Lexicon Of Love." As that disc, superbly produced, fused soul and disco in a Roxy Music-like new wave energy, this disc projects that soulful disco into a high energy modern techno dance sensibility. Not only that, but the familiar funksoulpop of H17 is updated to the sound of the millenial dancefloor. The song writing intelligence is equal to or greater than previous H17 also, so it's like having your cake and eating it too! All the elements of what made H17 so fine are still there, the production is different reflecting modern pop values. The second half of the album features some slower tempos, ballads. The disc has a wide range of emotion, by which I mean to say it is NOT just one long slamming dance fest. Like other H17 releases, the disc ends on a more introspective note. But no long meandering compositions on this one. No song reaches five minutes and most hover around four. So these tracks never exceed their own integrity. One is never waiting for a song to end or wondering if a certain section is excessive. The previous H17 release, "Bigger Than America," was much darker not only in sound but emotion too. This disc has a clean, positive emotional quality, as if the funk of "BTA" (no pun intended) has been shrugged off, leaving a heart full of hope and romance. If "BTA" was the Pavement sensibility of H17, this disc is the romantic Penthouse side. The female vocals have a prominent role which recalls the title track of "Penthouse And Pavement" and the best of Human League, but so incredibly accomplished that hearing them is like savoring a lush & delicious treat. Gregory's vocals are perfection and require no lyric sheet. Ever. The music itself is on the level of Kraftwerk at their most fun & danceable. Actually, it is even more complex than that because of the horn & string charts and well-considered backing vocals. Somebody should mention that, yes, the song "Don't Fear The Reaper" IS that old Blue Oyster Cult tune. H17 stays very true to the overall sound of this smash standard, while still giving it their characteristic funkpopsoul flourish. I never did like BOC, but i did like that tune and it is really enjoyable here and good on repeated listen. If you think about it, the sensibility of the song is really in harmony with what H17 is about. A solid cover & not some smarmy toss off. Good job! In conclusion, on third listen, i must say that H17 has released a real gem here that should please all old fans and would be welcome in the collection of anyone who misses the Fry/White ABC and i would think most Human League fans, even those who didn't particularly like the more political, darker, funkier H17 of the early years. 12-29-05 Dancing With Siva, Mantra Music Sri Siva (Dr. Baskaran Pillai) w/Nataraj Vasak Sounds, 2002 DancingWithSiva website ONE FACET OF MY EXCURSIONS IN THE VISIONARY is my interest in the effect of vocalized words - - spoken, chanted, intoned or sung -- upon one's state of con- sciousness and, indeed, one's entire bioenergic state. To this end, i have amassed a rather large section of my VSA library which is devoted to Voice. Much of it is straight chanting in various languages, solo and group chanting (tibetan, lakota, sanskrit, etc. I also have chorale singing (like gregorian, gospel, etc.,) and overtone choir recordings (like Hykes or Vetter.) Any seasoned visionary aficionado is aware of and probably owns recordings of the venerable sound healer Jonathan Goldman. And then naturally Voice accompanied by instrumentation in various languages and ethnic orchestrations. Patrick Benard, a musical hero of mine, has taken sacred mantras from numerous languages and melded them with profoundly spiritual music that one can't help but be deeply effected by physically. I myself have learned overtone singing just by imitating recorded music and have studied the actual physics of pronunciation and possible connections between how a phoneme is pronounced and unconscious associations to that "how" which are meaningful. What i'm getting at in this rambing is that i collect mantra and chanting. So, the Amazon downloads attracted my attention to this disc. i found the mantric effect of the lead voice to be credible. the downloads gave me the impression that the music was going to be pretty primitive "old school." i was prepared for this while buying. no need to worry. surprisingly enough, this is thoroughly enjoyable modern technoambient music by Nataraj (whose disc XT i have held in my hands more than once but never did acquire-now a backtrack may be in order.) this is not hard techno dance music. it is relatively downtempo trance dance in the "asian underground" or "asian massive" genre. i could only compare it to, say, Midival Punditz or Dhol Foundation, but it has some very tricky drum programming which fans of, say, Talvin Singh or TJ Rehmi, would love. Admirers of DJ Cheb i Sabbah's Sri Durga trilogy would definitely get off on this. Furthermore, Sri Sivi gives narration between songs which gives this disc a vibe kind of like Professor Trance & i believe people who like his stuff would like this too. But beyond all that previous stuff, this disc has a very positive emotional quality that leaves one feeling focussed and dare i say it optimistic. the Voice of Sri Siva (Dr. Baskaran Pillai) sounds just like the old wise man in the loincloth in the lotus position voice-image i have in the back of my mind who i solicit for advice occasionally. His awkward use of english actually results in quite witty humor. Sri Siva is said to be a "master" in the Siddha tradition from Madurai, India. All i know is: this is a great fusion of meditative mantra work with credible modern dance music. i tend to agree that each musical piece does reflect the vibratory signature of it's companion mantra, to a degree. The music is thoroughly cheeky and enthusiastic. The entire recording is infused with a playful, light- hearted atmosphere. i'm ready to begin it again right after it ends. and i do think that i've been experiencing the spiritual effects that are supposed to accompany experiencing the intoned mantras. i don't know if a mantra will dissolve credit card debts, but there may be other debts we can wipe out. i do feel like i may be accessing abilities to heal, to attract what is desired, but, more so: warding off adverse energy-presences and "busting" bad karma. a SOLID asian underground release that ALSO qualifies for sound healing much as a Patrick Bernard cd. i should mention that, if it is not obvious, these mantras come from the Siddha tradition of Vedanta, which we call Hinduism. one mantra is a paean to the elephant-headed god Ganesh and many of the others are to various deities. there are plenty of spoken english interludes between songs which are instructive but also give the disc a sort of "live" feel. i can't say enough about this disc, but, really, i think i have. so: i recommend this disc to anyone who can go with dance beats who would like to have their vibrations elevated AUTOMATICALLY. :) World Receiver Tetsu Inoue Instinct Ambient, 1996 (Out Of Print) STILL FRESH SOUNDING A DECADE LATER! I had only previously owned "Instant Enlightenment" where Inoue called himself, or the project, "OM." It is a fabulous maxichilled technoambient disc which explores a number of different downtempo psytrance and electrodub beats and then chills into fresh clouds of ambience with no percussion. Favorably comparable to Doof's "it's about time" or Irresistible Force's "Flying High." This disc is not like that. The first three pieces are straight up digital ambient. This means, more or less, that along with synths & location recordings, various types of digital machine noise are collaged to produce an apparent "natural" feeling. This exploration of the confusion between manipulated noise and natural sound has been going since the dawn of electronic music. With the advent of digital, the fusion seems complete. These pieces in 1996 sound like experimental music that the venerable DIN label is producing now. In fact, Inoue is due out with a release on DIN in 2006, i believe. Anyway, 3 great pieces in the classic Ambient mode. The 4th piece introduces narrative. I don't know what it is about exactly but we seem to have a journey or emergence which arrives at a calliope in a public park. In any event, this piece introduces a dreamier feel to the music compared to the previous tracks which seem to be objectively describing a location. "Inevitable Color," the 5th track uses a Tangerine Dream-like sequencer bass pattern to drive the music further into a transic dream state. I wonder if the title is a reference to the TD quality. Anyway, the piece is mellow and understated not bombastic like TD can be. It IS all a dream....? . . . . With the last two pieces, we enter deep below the subconscious to inner recesses of the mind which are revealed to be gargantuan, practically cosmic, in proportion, active then quiescent, drifting into eternity as it finishes. Inoue produces brainwave music in these two tracks easily on par with the great composers in that genre. People familiar with dark ambient and digital music might find this music similar to recent works by Ian Boddy, Robert Rich or Vir Unis. A brilliant, tryppy ride worthy of any visionary music aficionado's collection. Well worth the money to a serious collector & on the Instinct Records Ambient division label Instinct Ambient (now defunct) so will become more rare. Excellent digital Ambient for all dark ambient connoisseurs. I got mine by waiting a month at Amazon. 12-12-05 BEST OF 2005 I seriously lagged on the best of 2004, only posting it in, like, March, so i thought i'd try to be a little more timely this go 'round. Besides, i've acquired the main discs of the year, so there's no use waiting.... I do, however, always have difficulty identifying the "best" single disc, since really in a range as diverse as Visionary sounds, there can be pretty dramatic taste differences, so i usually go with categories. And what a year this has been, with outstanding healing music releases, releases by what i consider MAJOR technoambient artists and a plethora of backtracks. I've added a "Healing" category because so many artists went for that aspect this year. BEST VISIONARY DVD "Illuminated Manuscripts" by John Banks BEST VISIONARY CD OF 2005 "Echo Of Small Things" by Robert Rich BEST HEALING CDs OF 2005 "Tantra Sound Harmonizer" by Jonathan & Andi Goldman "ReJuva" by Shapeshifter BEST ANGELIC CD 2005 "Deep Release" by Brian E. Paulson BEST TECHNOAMBIENT CDs OF 2005 "Dialogue Of The Speakers" by Entheogenic "Nothing Lasts..." by Shpongle BEST DISCOVERED OLDER MATERIAL 2005 "Prayer For The Forest" by Antonio Testa and Alio Die BEST PROGRESSIVE CD 2005 "The Way Up" by The Pat Metheny Group HONORABLE MENTION AS INSTANT CLASSIC 2005 "Darkness & Light" by Victor (Atman) 12-04-05 I’ve been busy acquiring the new fall releases and now feel that I am familiar enough with them to make comments. An interesting new crop with releases by some Masters, surprising new material and a little backtracking to fine discs of old. Sonic Feng Shui Patrick Bernard Devi Communications, 2005 IF ONE OF THE GANDHARVAS was alive on Earth today, it would have to be in the person of Patrick Bernard.. There is no one on this earth, at least that I’ve discovered through serious searching, who produces music that induces divine feelings and mystical experience beyond what Patrick does. His use of sacred geometric musical principles, mantric knowledge and intuitive ability to create sacred order using sound put him in a rarefied atmosphere of visionary sound comparable perhaps to great composers like Iasos, Michael Hammer, or Deuter but (as also with them) UNIQUELY his own. Patrick’s first two discs - - Atlantis Angelis and Solaris Universalis - - are two towering milestones of achievement in the realm of sacred music. Under the appropriate conditions ;) these discs consistently produce intense mystical experiences up to and including ecstasies, bliss and encounters with the Light. His following albums revealed his experimental side, moving beyond atlantean environments utilizing mantra from hebrew, greek, enochian and sanskrit, to more shamanistic environments featuring mantra from the lakota sioux, modoc, hopi, arabic, and even an african chant, with Shamanyka and Reconciliation (now called “Mantra Rock Project.”) After the deliciously dark and meditative Mantra Mandala, and a brief excursion with his native language, french, Patrick settled into sanskrit and has released a number of albums closer to his original sound at the beginnning: Amor Immortalis, Sublime Relaxation, Atlantis Angelis 2, and Love Divine. All of Patrick’s discs are very beautiful and spiritually nourishing. At this point, we can say that he is a self-professed vedic hindu. I must say that I also do enjoy sanskrit very much. This new album is the FIRST to have NO VOCALS. It is as though Patrick has made an album full of those Edenic acoustic guitar passages that one always hopes for on his latest release. This time the entire disc is to be hoped for. Patrick’s voice is not the strongest in the world, but he always achieves great mantric effect. This album could be enjoyed by people who previously had problems with the voicing. I myself have always enjoyed Patrick’s singing, I’m just saying.... Anyway, the disc is basically a meandering from one shangri-la to the next, as if carried by angels. This release also has some of the most entrancing, luscious and interesting synthesis Patrick has had since he and Robert LaFond parted ways after the first two albums (there is a rumor that they are currently working on a reunion release.) There is, of course, more going on here then just simply gorgeous light classical synthesis with guitar. The album does produce a wholesome healthy feeling and may, as many artists in this field proclaim, actually reorganize the molecular energies of the air that the soundwaves travel through. That’s what it feels like anyway. From the moment the music emerges into the room, there is a palpable SHIFT in one’s energy and perceptions of the environment. I could only compare it to the mundane experience of when citrus like lemon or lime is strong in the air. Everything seems purer and clearer. But this is no lemon-lime, but aromatic herbs and fragrant fruits like mangoes, passionfruit, rosemary, white sage, etc. And entirely Paradisal. Because Patrick’s music is so profoundly mystical and harmonically resonant with body structures, this music may put some people off. The intimate way it touches one’s body and elicits energic changes may make the wary anxious. I have known people who don’t like “feeling manipulated.” Yes, it is THAT powerful. On the other hand, the feelings here are SO intensely pleasurable that it is tempting to go all the way and just feel good all over. If you like the idea of music as food, and being nourished by vibration, this is right in there, created by one of the top artists in the field. I could also recommend this recording for light meditation to relax and align before deep meditation. That being said, keep in mind that this music portrays feelings of goodness and sincerity, so it is very gentle and loving. No heavy rock beats. No “manly balls.” No cynicism or darkness. You really have to be ready for full positivity and healing. But in this regard, all of Patrick’s music is the REAL THING of the HIGHEST CALIBER. Addendum: 7-22-06. I recently thought, and consider it valid enough to append here that people who enjoyed the ayurvedic healing music set by Bruce Becvar and inspired by Deepak Chopra would certainly like this disc as it is very close in spirit to them. Lithosphere Robert Rich & Ian Boddy DIN.org, 2005 MICROTONALITY and the use of HI-TECH NOISE can lead one in interesting directions.... Their previous and I believe only other collaboration, Outpost, was extremely dense dark ambient, sounding like some forgotten arctic base camp in the middle of the polar Night. One would be constrained to compare it to Lustmord and the Rich & Lustmord collaboration, "Stalker" (which, by the way is perhaps the darkest dark ambient yet recorded.) So, I was expecting more glorpy primordial soup, marshes, swamps, tar pits, the usual bog and goosh. Imagine my SURPRISE when the recording turns out to be quite warm & airy. Think about it: the name of the release is “Lithosphere,” which is FYI & according to my Webster’s “the solid portion of the earth (distinguished from atmosphere, hydrosphere)” and “the crust and upper mantle of the earth.” This sounds very subterranean & made me think of Lustmord’s “Heresy” which had actual recordings of crypts and caves deep within earth. But this doesn’t sound like that. It sounds like plates moving against plates in a hot environment, which has what I can only describe as “super-insectoid” intelligence somehow operating at those levels. There are sleep periods and active periods, times of shift and transformation. Periods of extreme heat and lethargy. There is not a feeling of darkness and nightime. It is more like prolonged afternoon heat. But bubbling and crackling with emotions and mental activity, not the slumber of inanimate matter. It’s more like the biological life that lives within the lithosphere, I guess. This recording is brimming with hope and free-floating pleasurable emotion. Occasionally, the super-insectoid intelligence arises and makes a few changes. Just popping this in the machine & listening, I felt transported to warm afternoons in the woods and forest, broad expanses of fields and soaring in the enraptured musky air. I wasn’t underground at all. O yes, the use of “noise” aforementioned: well you know there is a whole experimental music movement out there; eastern europe has a vast network alone. Boddy is a highly respected pure electronic composer/producer who seems to provide an interesting theme of digital noise manipulated to be almost nature sound. He also masterminds some awesomely discontinous soundshifting. Boddy’s work is very intellectual and sophisticated, often requiring some technical background to fully appreciate, while making virtual gems of electronica. Rich is the artist of the two who I keep an ear on, so to speak. His vast catalogue of, and VARIETY of, works would take a whole column to recite. Robert is in the class of Titans like Steve Roach, Michael Stearns & David Parsons. He works mainly in just intonation, specializes in earthy environments & coined the term “Glurp,” which apparently is a contraction of “glimmer and slurp,” in which both the radiant and liquid sides of living things are shown at once. Speaking of radiance, the afore-mentioned radiant warmth of this album is my lasting impression. It feels like a nice long nap under a tree on a lazy day in the woods, then waking up after the sun goes down (the last track,) things get spooky as you wend your way home (the last track.) (The last track) is a bit glurpier than the rest. Titled, “Melt,” it starts out spooky and apprehensive, then submerges through thick goop. Things become warm and dreamy and then sleep falls. Shortly, a Vision emerges, disruptions actually deepen it. Third eye static tears you back to clarity, roiling in the oneiromantic slumber, achieving the mind-awake/body-asleep state. Looking vastly into Vision....a lone bird.....glimmers....fading.....darkness... Darkness & Light, Ambient Meditations, Vol. 1 Victor (Atman) MCD World Music, 2004 SOMETIMES YOU STICK WITH AN ARTIST because they were so good at first that you have an inner feeling that they can do it again. My first contact with Atman (now calling himself Victor,) was with the incredible asian-underground release, “Eternal Dance,” which to my mind is still a core recording in that particular realm of psy-trance. For years there was no other release to be seen and I had given up on Atman as a one-off. Suddenly, Lloyd @ Backroads has developed some new connex and we have all kinds of Atman. And, you know me, I got them all (and have reviewed them recently in this column.) As you might recall, the two releases, “The Traveler” & “The Lonely Road” are companion discs that recapitulate the myth of the Hero as discussed in Joseph Campbell’s "Hero With A Thousand Faces." That in and of itself makes them interesting. Their sound was rather that of Deep Forest, or the direction I had always wished Deep Forest would take. Rather tame in sound, but enjoyable. The next 2-CD release, “India Club & Lounge,” were discofied remixes of some of the cuts from “Eternal Dance.” Actually, I grooved on that stuff, but it was seriously disco and high-gloss hip-hop. It brimmed with joyousness, tho. This new release moves beyond all that in a radical manner. It is a completely new direction: purist Ambient easily on par with Eno, Bill Nelson or Harold Budd. In other words: solidly in the Eno proto-Ambient camp. It maintains the beauty aesthetic of the previous Atman works, taking the Deep Forest sound into the pure Ambient realm. One disc is Light and the other Dark. I dare say there may be something of an Al Gromer Khan influence melded within the music also. So this is great quiet-time-at-home vibrations, but also yields interest when actively listened to. There is musicianship to appreciate and although the layers of the recording are not particularly dense, there is still a great deal of counterpoint and fuzzy whirlings to keep things interesting. The first disc is the Light: perfect for that first coffee or tea of the day. For morning sunning. Thoughtful moments. The second is the Darkness: it begins already well past evening into night, perhaps even midnight. Almost Marcey-like in the feelings of deep nourishing sleep. Perhaps these are all dream states.... In the Darvworld, this recording is probably the best pure Ambient I’ve collected since the last Kip Mazuy. Not a single weak cut on two long-playing discs. Very reasonable price. Essential for all Ambient purists and terrific for anyone who would like quiet relaxing music with prominent acoustic piano & flute appropriate for reading, relaxation or contemplation. Swara Mandala Makyo Dakini, 2005 Sazanami Puff Dragon Dakini, 2005 I'M REVIEWING THESE 2 DISCS TOGETHER as they were simultaneous releases from the same label. The compare and contrast between them could be instructive. "Swara Mandala" is the first release by Makyo since 2001's "Yakshini" and the "Suzhou River" Maxi-CD of the same year. Long anticipated and dreamt about, the new album is out! Makyo has chosen on this disc to rather extend previous ideas. The album begins somewhat like "Suzhou River" meets the production style of "Yakshini." It then veers into arabic styles of music that were initially explored on "Yakshini." These tracks have some of the most adept musician- ship ever offered by Makyo! The album then moves through more familiar territory with interesting new ideational flourishes, to end on an ambient piece that really is sonic incense. It has the same title as a piece released years ago on a compilation, but it has been entirely redone and is in some ways the cutting edge of Makyo's present work. Overall, a strong effort that could be considered the companion album to "Yakshini;" intelligent, great drumm patterns, sensual and sacred simultaneously, probably beautiful like a blossoming flower under the appropriate conditions ;) but this would require further research. This is spiritual technoambient. "Sazanami" by Puff Dragon is the debut of somebody of who i know nothing about but Dakini is a label up there with Interchill or Ultimae for having the sine qua non of modern technoelectronica. so that is worth a risk. this disc actually goes in the direction i kinda wish Makyo was going in: easterly rather than southwesterly, if you get my drift. there are some far eastern moments here - - japanese? - - that are totally far out. this is a good companion for "Swara Mandala" for it is a little edgy, doing something a little different. while definitely in the style of Dakini mellowness and groove, this is decidedly far eastern (compared to the recent "Kindred Spirits" by Jairamji, on Dakini, which had far eastern elements, but a strong native american influence not only in the flute, but also the general melodies.) Fans of asian underground artists like Talvin Singh, TJ Rehmi or Karsh Kale should like these discs, as well as people who like the various Waveform releases, Shpongle, Entheogenic, etc. People who like softer world beat synth projects like Soulfood or Jai Uttal could find a lot to enjoy here. Even fans of Enigma, Deep Forest, Delirium could too. And of course, fans of Sheila Chandra have to at least check Makyo out, since it is a progression of her sound. 1105 Gaudi & Testa em:t records, 2005 BOUGHT THIS ON THE STRENGTH OF HIS PREVIOUS DUB ALBUM, which was an ingenious amalgam of musics recorded by native people in their native homeland situations in different parts of the world, then brought in to the hi-tech studio where rootsy electrodub is built around it - - Cheb i Sabbah style - - only WAY more ROOTS. sort of "transglobal rasta" style, but a very exuberant recording which gave me respect for Gaudi, who handles "dj science" perhaps more truly to the vibe of the music than the afore-mentioned wizard himself. Anyway, i also know Antonio Testa from a great collaboration he did with Alio Die which i have reviewed in this column, entitled, "Prayer For The Rainforest," and is itself a quintessential dark ambient release. Testa makes instruments, particularly percussion and clay wind instruments, by hand. This album quixotically begins with a long ambient piece that is so luscious my toes were curling with delight from the thought that the whole album would be like it. The entire track one, "Prologue-Helictite Labyrinth," at 11'41" makes the acquisition of this disc superb. Whatever follows this track, however horrible or hideous it could possibly be, could not detract from this one piece. The rest of the album is roots electrodub. There The use of the clay wind instruments (the name i've forgotten, but like ocarinas,) gives it the sound and feel of old dark ambient projects like Suspended Memories or Michael Stearns' south american music influenced discs. Then it busts out another deep dub groove. Let's be clear about this: consistently appearing and disappearing throughout this recording is a reggae dub bass as penetrating as any other reggae disc possibly imaginable. It is very likely you will get shoved out of the room. So if you don't like the kind of bass that blasts your base chakra into another dimension, this album is beyond your program. Seriously, take heed. This disc has dark, delicious, delightful ambient passages that will leave you all alone on some lost plateau in the Venezuelan outback, then bring you to a bonfire to dance naked in a circle with tribal people flailing in ecstatic abandon. then as you fall into some lethargic narcosis, the shaman begins to tap on a shell with a stick and the *click!* is hitting right in your third eye. You begin to dive into a deep trance and, well, things get tricky. Perhaps it's a visit to the Underworld for a little soul retrieval; perhaps it's a meeting with the Plant Ally; perhaps it's the arrival of the Ship of Healers - - whatever motif one spins to it, this is some tryppy sonic brew. It is very cinematic, almost as if a story is unfolding, or rather, a journey or adventure is occurring. In this way, i'm rather tempted to compare it to "Kiva," by Sunsinger, Stearns & Roach, which is a stellar project in its own right beyond the aspirations of this one, but this one is by far more pleasurable and listenable, while still having some harrowing shamanic encounters. Modern electrodub, produced in a roots style so it feels more "acoustic," but with generous doses of synthesizer EVERYWHERE. So even though there is a vast amount of acoustically recorded hand- played instrumentation going on here - - more than one usually finds in electrodub - - the spine of this music is definitely electronic. Very exotic with extreme reggae dub sections. Cybershamans will like this. People who think that the Underworld is the same as hell probably won't. People interested in exotic technoambient dub, like Sounds From The Ground, Cheb i Sabbah, Tu'u or Entheogenic could very well find this agreeable. Very trance-inducing with pretty active production, so it rather requires your attention while knocking you out at the same time. so: for lounging with your favorite herbal ingredients, deep cybershamanic work, active listening. 11-21-05 Chakra Dance Jonathan Goldman Spirit Music, 2004 GOLDMAN IS A CUTTING-EDGE FIGURE in the realm of Sound Healing now. His efforts of the last few years evidence his mastery of the major components of using sound to induce bioenergic states. His recently reviewed disc, "Tantra Of Sound Harmonizer," is a state-of-the-art aural document which can quite clearly demonstrate to the attentive listener that the resonant areas of the physical body ACTUALLY exist. On the strength of my impression from that disc, i backtracked to last year's. This recording is so packed with technique, it is almost over-the-top, ultimately resting on techno beats which are harmonic to the associated chakra high-pitched tone. There are synthed brainwave pulse rates. The overtone singing combines techniques from all over the world. There is, at times, speaking much like one would find on hypnotherapy tapes. And all of it keyed precisely to the chakra tones! Then my associate asked me, "but how is the music? is it hokey?" (This fellow being a techno musick aficionado, one of the very few i've met on this island thus far.) My response at the time? "Well, it isn't original." I had to report this momentary conversation as part of the truth value of this recording. The "techno beats" are familiar 4-bar patterns which my ancient Roland MC-505 could produce. Like each 8-9 minute piece, the beats drone on and on, with an occasional "break" where either only the kick drum sounds or there is an 8 or 16 bar silence. This is not hard techno for the dance floor, but more "Trance Dance" suitable for a downtempo room. It IS danceable, by all means!, but these are more shamanistic pulse rates and not the high-energy UFO rates typically associated with "techno." While very beautiful at times, due to some magnificent overtone singing, the vibe of this recording is quite gentle and transic. This recording produces an interesting tryp if one enjoys solid beats. The slow build toward the Crown is my preferred direction (the Harmonizer BEGINS with the Crown chakra and this can be quite disconcerting tryp factor.) As a solitary motionless meditator, i usually prefer beatless material, so this disc would come in handy for demonstration purposes, for a person like me. I would imagine that even the most insensitive person, if you could get them to sit still and BREATHE for five minutes and then quietly observe this recording, would be hard-pressed to deny that the kick drum is hitting different areas of their body with each successive song. Oh, they're not really "songs," but extended grooves. The narrative movement is not within the individual song, but within the entire movement from one piece to the next. This is not to say that the words sung and spoken don't mean anything, but they tend to be either instructive ("focus your attention") or to be associations constellated around the energies of the chakra. I'm giving this recording a definite thumbs-up for Sound Healers, Cybershamans and Visionary Music enthusiasts. Connoisseurs of pure hard techno, or even the stuff i like - - PsyTrance, TechnoDub, Electro and ElectroClash, &etc. - - are probably going to be turned off by the old-school drum pattern stuff. There is no mindless switching of the pattern every four bars, no gobbledegook and no non sequitors. The run amok hi-tec production values are not what this album is about. It is solidly in the realm of Trance Dance, and will appeal to those who like, for instance, Professor Trance, Gabrielle Roth and the Mirrors, drance drummers like Layne Redmond or Glen Velez, overtone singing like David Hykes or sound healing or chakra musicks in general Be ready for long steady grooves with interesting vocal and synth improvs over them. 10-15-05 Miranda Rings of Uranus Sphere of Io 3 CD's of NASA/Voyager Space Sounds Recordings all 3: Brain-Mind Research, 1990 PART OF A COMPLETIST MOTIF for my collection of actual recordings of space, i have mentioned the BMR recordings in numerous places at this site. These three are recordings of the radiation in the audio range that was recorded during fly-by's of Voyagers One and Two. I own many more of these, including the recordings of Jupiter (of which Io is a moon,) Saturn and a separate recording of her rings, Neptune, Uranus (of which Miranda is a moon,) and now also Uranus' rings. I also own the box set "Symphonies of the Planets - NASA Voyager Space Recordings," which is also excellent, actually being rather sonic sculptures in which sounds from various planets and associated phenomena are grouped together according to quality of sound rather than sources (my copy Laserlight, 1990, which might be hard to track down now.) Any serious collector of space music should consider these essential recordings. they are, in fact, nature recordings of celestial objects and environments. the seriously weird, while totally natural and familiar feeling, sounds induce profound states of peacefullness and bliss and deep meditative states. of the three i just purchased, "Miranda," is probably the most beautiful and magickal. "Sphere of Io" is very active in a restless way somewhat like the Earth recordings in the NASA/Voyager series and "Rings of Uranus" is rather a uniform glassy drone somewhat like Saturn's rings which is great for straight meditation. cyber-shamans should consider tryps on these atmospheres as absolutely key. and the plant allies LOVE this stuff! i should mention that Dr. Jeffrey S. Thompson is part of, if not solely is, BMR. These recordings have received "BMR Processing" which seems to me to be moving placement in the stereo field and possibly making loops of the basic rumble to make it consistent so there is, kind of, a fundamental "brainwave matrix" to the recordings. In other words, it does not seem that additional synthed or computerized voicings are in these mixes, but more like the basic rumble has been made continuous so it can be observed, meditated on or tranced out on. for all i know, of course, the basic rumble is part of the recordings. i only mention it because i recognize certain audio tricks even if i don't explain them too well. :)) if you would like to check these out on-line, go to the SacredSpaces.org website, type "NASA" into the search engine there and click on the "go" button. Sacred Spaces website Swept Clear 3B Gold Bob Dratch Dolphin Hyper-Resonance Institute 1995-2005 IMMEDIATELY MY FAVORITE of the various works of Bob Dratch that i have collected, "SweptClear 3B Gold" is on a level with Iasos' "Sacred Sonic Sounds" for putting out intensely positive spiritual vibrations that have palpable cleansing and purifying effects. While perhaps technically not on a production or musicianship level with top-ranking visionary artists, Dratch's scientific approach, the strict vibrational paradigms that emerge from these audio CDs, leaves no room for doubt that he is really onto something at a basic physics level. i only wish he would explain it more, but perhaps part of the fun is figuring it out for myself :)) seriously, tho, these recordings pretty much require that you don't fight resonating with them. very intense and more classically beautiful than his other recordings ("Cetacean Luminescence," with Michael Hammer's music, not being Bob's own original musical compositions, excepted, naturally.) This music i might try to describe to you as psychic UFO music. uh...inner crystalline "peer amidst" of geometrical forms...a vibratory "hairbrush" for your aura...synthesis of crystalline liquid that morphs and remorphs, entraining its signal into you, from super-high pitched beyond-the-crown-chakra tones down to hectic ultra-subwoofed hyperspace vectors and macrospace pulse matrices aligning your brain to a higher dimensional awareness. i would expect this recording to take one trans-dimensional under the appropriate conditions. it has been claimed elsewhere on the net that these recordings contain "Holoforms" (tm) for the Merkaba, pure 24 carat gold and White Light. These elements are then mixed in various combinations in successive tracks. this disc is not what one typically refers to as "music." it is repeated loops of certain vibrational-energetic ideas accompanied by a wide variety of organized noise and sound. it induces an agreeable transic state and seems to have a clearing and stabilizing effect on the listener and the environment when played through speakers. serious cybershamans will like this disc. people who are looking for discs that counteract emf or scalar radiations should check Dratch out. recreational music listeners will probably not be as interested in this type of recording, since it rather requires your attention, can be experienced as energetically challenging, and is rather static, looped sound holoforms (tm) of certain vibratory states than any kind of narrative or grooved kind of musique moderne. i acquired mine at sacredspaces.org. 10-05-05 ReJuva Shapeshifter Visionary Music, Inc., 2005 Shapeshifter Website ReJuva page ACTUALLY WRITING THIS DURING MY 1ST LISTEN... i found Shapeshifter years ago when googling "visionary music," as i am an aficionado of visionary sound arts. at that time, i made a full acquisition of their CD catalogue. a while later, 2001, Shapeshifter released the quite excellent "Shamballa" disc which has some incredibly intense portions that i aired on my radio show repeatedly, perhaps out of proportion because i was enjoying them so much myself :) The earlier Shapeshifter works display a steady increase with each release of compositional skill & complexity, and a progression in understanding of the use of the medium. i recommend 1993's "The Odyssey" as great backsound for yogic exercise, massage and other therapeutic activities. The 1996 4-CD set, "DNA Activation Series," has some spectacular moments but is overall deeply meditative, more darkly gaseous than iridescent, and while energetically interesting and transformative, somehow not coherent. the tryps involved were rather confused. "Shamballa," ! now THAT was an unqualified success that i can unreservedly highly recommend to anyone interested in channelled music. (o, did i mention? well that's what it was basically: an atlantolemurian Aquarian trasmission. electronica somewhere in the sethian/sirian region between angelic music and Steve Roach. dark like soul; penetrating like psi. Light at times, but mostly soulful. deep meditation. which brings us to the new disc which continues this great direction set by "Shamballa." a long disc by even today's standards, clocking in at an apparent 79:33, this is obviously well-considered narrative electronica, surging with auric undercurrents at times, then gentle as if handling a delicate flower. the disc begins with swirling astral waters, has a visitation from the solar power, visits the woods, soars through a sky of tranquility like a bird, then descends into deep meditation as if visiting the below spaces of the Emerald Tablets, the "Halls of Amenti" so-called (so it seems to me.) i don't expect everybody will be particularly stoked with this part of the journey as one's energy is somewhat challenged by a mysterious dissonance. this environment becomes deep space, filled with all manner of cosmic interactions, radiation and astral phenomena, where we are subjected to intense transformative forces. i experienced healing energies at work at this point. then, the voice of a karnatic singer and a didgeridoo shift the entire mood of the working to the long piece, "Light of the Grail," which while still carrying the mood of an lemurian-atlantean magickal working is able to cleverly inject a celtic flavour and a shift to druidism, this leads to a very impressive encounter with the Gaian earthsoul which is a mandala into which we dive ever deeper to then be shown the Lifecodes & Essences. this is the showcase of the entire album and really where the disc moves into clearly angelic Divine spaces. it is also the cutting edge of Shapeshifter's work in sound therapy. ending with a breathtaking harp solo over synth & voice, i must say it fully vindicates this acquisition! the final movement,"Rejuvenation," is both visceral and grounding, seeming to seal in and affirm the work that has been done and the changes that have been made. and promises of future work that will occur and tranformations that will be made! fading to a close on a very mellow groove, one comes out of it, at least i did, feeling clarified and nourished. [and quite energized, i was up well past my usual time for falling asleep that night] I must say on repeated listen the recording has new gems to reveal. this may be one of those discs that takes a number of listens for the conscious mind to start to "get it." Suddenly, one realizes that animal sound is sculpted into the voicing. On each listen, a new ethnic musical influence from a new region of the world is added to the plethora. the disc seems to expand in its ramifications with each new listen. "ReJuva" is a quantum jump for Shapeshifter, which continues to improve with every release! in this day & age, when people constantly ask me if i like this or that new "artist" and they mean Britney Spears or Green Day or whoever, *THANK THE DIVINE!* i can say "who? naw, i don't know that stuff" and go home to listen to Shapeshifter [or somesuch.] This disc again partakes of the growing emphasis on HEALING which has been the major motif of the Visionary releases this year. It can easily be included as an exponent of this NEW LEVEL in the use of sound as medicine. 10-04-05 Tantra Sound HARMONIZER Jonathan Goldman & Andi Goldman Spirit Music, 2005 HEALING SOUNDS WEBSITE I MUST IMMEDIATELY TELL YOU that this VERY cool visionary release from the consummate and pioneering sound healer and his partner. For many years, i have daydreamed about this albume. My daydream was this: if you knew the precise frequencies for the chakras and then, by the law of the octave, create brainwave matrices and even shamanic drumming that were in synchrony with the higher frequency, well you'd have a VERY cool album. [a superior album, for you would be able to entrain your brainwaves to be in synchrony with the vibrations of the chakras; a perfect tool for chakric meditation.] Intended for headphones, but very listenable over speakers, this disc rather recapitulates the cosmic cycle. it begins at the crown chakra, descends by four-minute segments to the base chakra (rather like involution, the journey of consciousness into mass)spends seven minutes at the base, then reascends symmetrically to end at the crown chakra (rather like evolution, the development of mass into consciousness,) all in under an hour. Each of the chakra pieces is a descriptive environment of its associated chakra. i've been wondering but haven't been able to check if the second half of the disc is identical to the first half or what. but i don't care! heck i'm konked out by that time anyway but fully resonating! and it is extremely relaxing and blissful. looking back at the discs i've reviewed this year, i notice a developing healing motif. following on Dr. Jeffrey S. Thompson's "Healing Sound System" a few months ago and Brian E. Paulson's angelic "Deep Release," which explicitly states it is for healing purposes, this album definitely is arriving right on schedule! these are resonances that your body says YES! to. i've had extremely potent healing shifts since beginning to listen to this on headphones after digesting dinner. and long poignant dreams. it seems to be more spatial like Weave's recent "Ten Minute Chakra" rather than narrative like the previously mentioned discs. so could be a background music at lower levels i think. but headphones! man! this is as deep, intricate and mind-boggling as any brainwave music i've heard. has binaural synthsound to sync the hemispheres of the brain, mixes of primordial nature sounds, AND Goldman's absolutely masterful use of mantric singing. i own numerous CD's from Goldman and this is the most technically impressive. theory and performance come seamlessly together. as a work of art, as a therapeutic device, as a quintessential exposition of the rising paradigm, aptly demonstrating to any honest listener that each area of their own personal body is resonant to the associated musical composition. while many people might be unable to sense their base or sacral chakras, most can get the solar plexus right away, the heart many get feel immediately and, oh come on!, the music for the head chakras is definitely moving something in your head, dude. admit it. this disc is probably the most sophisticated and accurate thing this artist has done. it is an amazing therapeutic tool, surpassing my expectations. it is also deeply spiritual, each recorded track having been performed with a conscious intention of Love. i would hope this disc would also give people pause to reflect on their own inherent resonant nature, how it seems to be associated with frequencies and pulse rates. feeling is believing, so go hear it. go hear all of them! for, in the visionary sound arts genre there does seem to be an increasing awareness of and focus of the use of sound for healing purposes. although i do own many Jonathan Goldman releases, i will strongly recommend Chakra Chants, Trance Tara and Ultimate Om. India Club & Lounge - Atman Remixed Various Artists - Atman executive producer World Music, 2004 STRAIGHT UP DANCE MUSIC FOR A NEW MILLENIUM This two-CD boxed set with Ganesh on the cover features 25 remixes by various geniuses of the classic turn-of-the-century release "Eternal Dance" by Atman (i have the 1998 Amiata Records release, but there appears to be an earlier one which was used as the source material for these pieces.) OH MAN i loved "Eternal Dance." a very joyous uncompromising album with a unique sound, not repeated by the artist, who moved in a more DeepForest/Enigma direction afterward (the new stuff is still interesting and bears repeated listening, but i find it more promising of a future musical turn that i will be really happy about! but "Eternal Dance" is marvelous. a psidelectro-hindu vision that seems very true to the source music. i remember wishing that, even tho i loved it, i wished the songs were longer and more deep grooves. well, that's what this is! thoroughly eurofied, deep disco grooves that can play London as easily as New Delhi. rock'n * swing'n. PLUS you get your head turned around for a whole new take on the tunes. but, here's the catch..... this is on'n'on midtempo club disco. if you worry about being thought of as gay, don't play this endlessly on your car stereo. for the rest of us, who cares! this is great!! :)) if you worry about being perceived as one of those "other" religions, don't let your parents hear these endless hindu mantrications. for the rest of us, brew up some sacred yogi tea, whip out the yantras, mudras and asanas and we'll lila with Lailah in the vibratory garden. actually, this IS the music that i'd wished was on the original, so i'm getting my wish! the joyousness is still in there! all quite beautiful if you like the vedasynth electropop. but....wait.....THERE'S A SECOND DISC! of "Lounge" music being some downtempo hiphop done up all India cartoon synthstyle. o man, THIS is what be chillin'! And some serious technochill paradigms happening. very cooool. slow romantic grooves. there are passages that would appeal to Talvin Singh, Karsh Kale or TJ Rehmi aficionadoes. and all this done as an internet contest where you could download the master tracks from a website, then upload your remixes. this is the cream of the crop & amazingly! there are no lame remixes AT ALL. wow. (of course, there are real stand outs, but one never feels intruded upon by some strange idea that has NOTHING to do with the music, as is oft the case on remix releases.) altho only two-thirds of the orginal material from the orginal 44 minute album, the disc seems to bristle with many new musical ideas as the reworkings expand and extend the basic concepts. fans of Makyo, Shpongle or DJ Cheb i Sabbah will instantly appreciate this if they relate to CLUB dance music. (in other words, are you a "Blue Monday" by New Order fan, yes or no?) in fact, comparing this release to the remix release of "Maha Maya" by DJ Cheb i Sabbah is not unfair. yes, it's THAT good. IF you can go with club and downtempo chill. fans of Natascha Atlas or Sheila Chandra really need "Eternal Dance," but this is great for the excellent female vocals & bellydance jams. At what should be a very reasonable price for two discs, i highly recommend this double-disc set for hindu ravers, high techno cybershamans and people who like synthesized world pop! And that Ganesh really knows how to party! SOMA DO! Three Friends Gentle Giant MalibuRecords/Columbia, 1972 FINALLY GOT THIS CLASSIC PROG DISC on CD! This band had as high of musical capabilities of any of the other big prog bands, but due to their rather whimsical musical constructions which still had all the tightness of fusion jazz, they were unable to gain the attention that others like Jethro Tull, Genesis or Yes attracted. yet they were too much the pop tunesmiths to gain the notoriety and influence of King Crimson. yet they have and had their own charm which is unique, probably never to recur. Where Jethro Tull was more of the Renaissance madrigal, Gentle Giant seems to be more the choral counterpoint of the Medieval fugue, plainsong and chant, although madrigal was part of their repertoire also. where Tull was the raucous laughter of the drunken scalliwag in the street, Gentle Giant was the hushed murmurs of the chapel and the hidden secrets of the overtly oppressed. even when raucous, Gentle Giant was more about bursting free from the ties that bind than about being a rebellious rake and sentimental fool. This album is one of their mellower recordings, but it still crackles with raw energy at times. high dynamics, like Crimson: very quiet stuff you need to turn the volume up for, then raging full frontal power chords. the counterpoint and very inventive choral arrangements make these tasty listens. and then the blistering guitar solos. all underpinned by competent understated drumming. multi-keyboardist Kerry Minnear was an astoundingly talented, diverse and quirky composer who deserved a greater recognition as a peer of synthwizards like Rick Wakeman, Tony Banks and Keith Emerson. very tasteful. other classic Gentle Giant discs, in order of my preference: In A Glass House, The Power and The Glory, and Free Hand. 10-01-05 Critter Cleaner Holoforms Bob Dratch Dolphin HyperResonance Institute, 1999-2005 DHRI.com I BOUGHT THIS DISC for $75 when it came out back in 1999. When i finally got around to trying to play it after my transition to Maui, it WOULDN'T PLAY in ANY of my cd drives. Well, not only was this one of the most expensive discs i've ever purchased, it was also part of the CORE COLLECTION and it's absence was, quite simply, unacceptable. Fortunately, i found a copy at SACRED SPACES.org for only $44. yes it hurt, but not as bad as it could have and this new disc is on a black cd, so i have hopes it will be more stable. [i should mention that following a phone call where i ordered more CD's from Sacred Spaces, the kind woman there gave me a price break on Critter Cleaners which brought it closer to $30.--more on the discs from this call later.] How to explain to you what this disc sounds like and what a "Holoform" is? err.... First of all, this is not music at all, but organized sound. the best way i can describe it is as vibratory CANCELLATION PATTERNS which make it impossible for certain types of nonphysical life forms to hang around. mostly structured noise and various gnarly synth cycles. but the effect is quite refreshing! definitely a cd which is ALL ABOUT how it feels and not how it sounds. i've used this as "sonic incense," where, before one of my cyber-shamanic workings, i would let this play in the space to be consecrated as a banishing, leave and come back an hour later after it was over. i believe that it does eliminate negative patterns in the room. [naturally, according to my personal experience, i have no problem whatsoever with the concept of nonphysical life forms, but i also am allowing of concepts of more abstract negative energetic or informational patterns -- clouds or eddies, if you will -- that can ruin environments.] working with it under the appropriate conditions, i found the described energies to be quite angelic in a Mourashkinesque sort of way. anyway, this is a key sonice device for cyber-banishing and i recommend it to the truly adventurous. Dratch also has other discs, one of which i reviewed some months ago. i am considering another one "Swept Clear" but these babies ain't too cheap :)) 9-21-05 New Life Dreaming Steve Roach Timeroom Editions, 2005 Possible Planet Steve Roach Timeroom Editions, 2005 SHAMANIC AMBIENT MAESTRO RELEASES 2 NEW DISCS. (since my last review, he has had releases that i've missed, such as Fever Dreams 2.) Steve Roach has been, for me, a presiding figure in this realm of Visionary Sound Arts. I became aware of him during the course of my employment by the belated KLRS Colors 99.1 New Age format FM radio station in the Santa Cruz area in the late 80s. I had been hired because of my former experience as a deejay at the University station where, in the early 80s, i did overnight electronic and ambient shows. (not to mention being program director *ahem.*) His Classic, DREAMTIME RETURN double cd had just come out and we were airing numerous cuts. the station also had his earlier discs. i particularly liked STRUCTURES FROM SILENCE as it as that time represented to me the cutting edge of "Ambient" as originally formulated by Brian Eno. It also had one very long track that all overnite deejays liked because you could take a 20min break *ha!* of the great deal of schmaltz we were airing, i felt there were a few outstanding artists and came to believe Roach was and is one of the foremost. STRUCTURES FROM SILENCE is a de rigeur acquisition for and true ambient collector. [well, i have my reasons for truly loving this recording for reasons other than its apparent simplicity and exquisite beauty; my first full blown white light ecstasy occurred while this disc was playing and i've used it numerous times to achieve ecstasy *under the right conditions.*] Anyway....Roach's early period NOW, TRAVELLER and EMPETUS releases all were explorations of motion. QUIET MUSIC and STRUCTURES were more explorations of spatiality and stillness. Starting with DREAMTIME RETURN, Steve embarked on a long shamanic journey exploring the depths of the psyche through metaphors of "primitive man" so- called *particularly the Koure or "Australian Aborigines* which led him into beautiful sonic representations of the Dreamtime. These discs, ORIGINS, ARTIFACTS, the definitely collectable continuum piece entitled THE DREAM CIRCLE, EARLY MAN and even WORLD'S EDGE were a period of very intense "CAVE MUSIC" as some friends of mine have called it. Numerous collabs around the same time also investigated a more organismic sensibility with explorations of marshes, bloodstreams, sea bottoms and the like. after this intense involvement with innerspace, many albums it seemed like, Steve suddenly released THE MAGNIFICENT VOID which seemed a meditation on depth and went on forever.... the fruit of his collaborative explorations was the beginning of the explorations of the fusion of techne and psyche, machine and human, and of various organismic developments (insectoid, reptilian, etc.)Into these ideas, decscended from his early discs i think, he began to bring an increasing radiance. so from releases like SOMA or STRATA with Robert Rich, or with Vir Unis like BLOOD MACHINE or BODY ELECTRIC we can see a sort of progression through to solo works like ON THIS PLANET, LIGHT FANTASTIC or CORE, all of which seem to me to explore the sense of urgency and being in the here and now. Steve's return to spatiality definitely has introduced feeling-concepts of Reverence and Sacred Space. collabs with Vidna Obmana like WELL OF SOULS or ASCENSION OF SHADOWS explored deep dark soulful places. Steve has migrated since to climes of more Light in the 4 Disc MYSTIC CHORDS & SACRED SPACES which is one of the most balanced mixes of Shine and Shade i've heard in music, a real artistic achievement for Steve and perhaps a watershed moment for him not unlike DREAMTIME RETURN. OK, so after a lengthy prologue in which i rather violently truncated Steve Roach's career in an attempt to indicate certain artistic "periods" he has grown through, i shall discuss these two new discs, NEW LIFE DREAMING and POSSIBLE PLANET. The first of these two is a descendant of, going back, THE DREAM CIRCLE, DREAMTIME RETURN and the pieces on that disc which were influenced by STRUCTURES FROM SILENCE. Five pieces ranging in length from 9 to nearly 16 minutes. While meandering in a dream-like way much like THE DREAM CIRCLE, this album also has moments of remarkable Radiance and Light. in fact, the first time i heard the first track, i was impressed by how angelic it felt. *Steve's doing Angelic now, eh?* :)) that might be why i think of STRUCTURES here, because the vibe you get has so much positivity, yet is quite mellow. There is shamanic drumming in the middle of this album, which gives way to ambiance and then the final piece which features piano and chorale much like Quiet Music or say Harold Budd and John Foxx. A pleasurable daydream of a recording that leaves me feeling great! Lots of Radiance and beneficent Vapours! POSSIBLE PLANET is much more dramatic, ostensibly being a long form continuum recording in three movements of the origins and development of a life form on a planet of some fantastic sort. There are deep synth drones throughout which sound like tambouras or some other monotone stringed instrument which has been digitally transcribed into the lowest possible audio ranges. so these are some DEEP drones. of course, we find ourselves immersed in liquid with interesting little goings-on which slow build and mutate over time into something very complex and intelligent. This is dark ambient in the theta and delta ranges, definitely good for after midnight excursions into the primordial. An intense recording which commands the presence of any space it is played in. Psychonauts will find some good diving here. This album has a cosmic oceanic feel reminding me of the classic PRIMORDIAL MARINER by Glenn Deardorff (who has unfortunately not released more material than this amazing recording) or of the Fayman & Fripp A TEMPLE IN THE CLOUDS. Of Steve's own work, i could only compare this to SLOW HEAT or Brian Eno's NEROLI, but it is a good deal more active and transforming than either of those recordings. and the movements are recognizable shifts in the medium. people who want to hear how deep you can go and still live will want to check this out After hearing the new releases by Steve and Robert Rich, both of which are very organismic but from different sensibilities (Steve's being more studies of life processes and development, while Robert's almost seems more involved with a nostalgia or fondness for the glory of childhood inquisitiveness which finds amazing things, aliveness and activity, happening in the dingiest of corners or deepest of woodlands,) i began thinking it might be a good time for them to collaborate again. they seem to be going somewhat parallel in this area right now. NEW LIFE DREAMING is a truly nourishing sonic experience great for daydreaming, therapeutic backsound and relaxation. The very positive vibe will attract listeners who have enjoyed the Light oriented works of Steve Roach in the past. POSSIBLE PLANET is more the cutting-edge Steve Roach, a Deep Dark Ambient working with intellectual appeal and good for trance work. it is involved with metaphors about biological existence and the reverence for its possible divine nature. People who have enjoyed Steve's Darkest Ambient releases will not be disappointed. 8-28-05 Dialogue Of The Speakers Entheogenic Chillcode/Cosmophilia, 2005 SWEET NEW PSYAMBIENT!! Look, I’m gonna be honest with ya right up front: some months ago, I struck up a cyber-friendship with one of the two people who inhabit Entheogenic. Not only that, I somehow ended up writing a curious little musing for them which got printed in the fold-out of this disc. The entire cover package – fold out cover and back are actually quite beautiful, evoking a nostalgia in me for Heavenly Music Corporation. They thanked me also. First time I got a “thanks” in a cd. Very happy about that. Ergo, even tho it’s a great album, I like this album, dig? Regular readers may remember that I have reviewed their previous albums in the column at times rather remote to now (in terms of the total length of the column itself.) You can check those against this one if I wax too enthusiastic. This is music very much in the realm of other groups I’ve reviewed recently like Hallucinogen, Shpongle, Ott or projects from asian massive like Makyo, TJ Rehmi or Adham Shaikh. It is super- dubbed-out electronic downtempo psytrance music. Even though these various projects are from the techno scene, even Shaikh finding himself in it, they are just as indebted to the electro of Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk, musics of various different ethnic identities around the world, and to the pioneers of reggae dub production from the Mad Professor to even Adrian Sherwood, who has been around long enough to give some credit to! That being said, don’t think Entheogenic is easily pigeonholed. Far from it. They have definitely created their own trademark sound and way of doing things that creates an intriguing atmosphere of mystery and play. Here’s what weget on the disc: Three new pieces with three re-mix tracks of the pieces by respectively Ott, Youth and Abakus, then three previously released tracks extensively re-mixed by Shulman, Vibrasphere and, again, Ott. Although owning the previous discs, I never had the experience of “hey! I already own this song!” if anything the entire disc is a further improvement on the Entheogenic environment. I’ve listened to this disc repeatedly and really have simply experienced it as more of a long continuum of psydub. Even knowing the older songs, I still just find myself flowing from one into another. Even the mutated bass line and rhythm from “Billie Jean,” that is in the new song, “Without Thought,” got by me initially, then I realized what it was and thought to myself that it’s been two decades since that riff ground itself into my head, so it was quite relieving to have it switched up a little bit. The re-mixes are all quite interesting with the Ott mixes making the tunes sound like out-takes from “Blumenkraft” and the Youth mix a very juicy dub excursion. Often on re-mix albums, one or more of the remixes doesn’t work, I mean: at all, but on this one they are all very well done. Since this last year I’ve been developing this psyambient interest, “Dialogue of the Speakers,” fits right in with what I’ve been listening to. All I need is a new Makyo now. All in all, this disc is perhaps the strongest release of psydub I’ve enjoyed this year. I think they’ve fully developed their production abilities now, having shown successive improvement on each disc. I am looking forward with great interest to the next all original studio album. [Addendum: i've had this CD glued to the inside of my portable CD player for six weeks now. it's really amazing. about the cover, the reason for the "hot chick" is obvious, if the plant was standing there all by herself, most people wouldn't recognise her as a person, much less how INCREDIBLY sexy she is. :)) so the svelte blonde is an image representation of the flower on the front cover as being a very attractive woman, which she is if you'd notice!] 8-24-05 Eye Of The Nautilus Numina Hypnos, 2005 Sanctuary of Dreams Numina Hypnos, 2003 SPACE MUSIC HAS SUBGENRES now. We find some more oceanic, others filled with Light and Radiation, some gaseous shades of grey bordering on darkambient, midnight-to-sixAM fathoming the depths of music. These two discs up for review here are incredibly dark space music as we've come to expect from Hypnos, and also with the trademark sterling production, which also have passages of great Light and emotional warmth. The overall feel of the discs however is not like a classical Demby or Stearns feel, but more akin Roach's deep space explorations. yet the crispness and flash of the classical approach is still there. Numina’s progression seems to me to be an increasing emphasis on Voidness. The atmospheres on each successive Numina dise in this review emphasize The Deep to an increasing degree. Void in which intense Hammerized angelic Light appears. The music is never murky, but rather hyperreal – the lines between Shine and Shade can be very high contrast – and also very VERY DEEP. 2001's "Evolving Visions" was a promising recording. While having something of the feeling of Serrie's space music -- warm sonic continuums and gentle synthwhirling -- it was more spiritual like Michael Hammer, who I consider one of the foremost angelic music composers on the planet, but darker. Hammer in space instead of heaven, i joked to myself. and indeed, my experience of Numina has been a progression of the Hammer angelic sound INTO deeper and deeper realms of dark space music. 2003's "Sanctuary Of Dreams" is still warm and the use of percussion reminds me strongly of Hammer, but the feel is more natural, the treatment of it uses much more echo plus effects, and the gong samples are far richer. the listener is emotionally supported the entire time and never dropped into stark Voidness (hey, i LIKE stark Voidness but i don't expect YOU to go there!) the emotional content is often decidedly beneficent there's no denying it, yet the sound is deeper than oceanic, *must be galactic* of the abyss, "abysmal" in the sense of immeasurably deep. 2005's "Eye of the Nautilus" further extends depth into more challenging realms where emotional support is less secure at times and the Light more intense, all the while a Shimmering Voidness ever deepening into contours of sentience. a fine mix of Shine & Shade on this one, but one must be ready to go deeper than the bottom. even so, stand out tracks are filled with Light, "Secrets of the Flame" being an example. The more I listen to these discs, the more Light I realize is in them. What I initially found to be deep space *morphs* into *profound* space! Just trying to decide what I really thought in order to write this review was educational for me. You see, to me, the music of Numina, what I’ve heard so far at least, has an overall “feel” of darkambient. Yet, there is also a presiding feeling of beneficent intention much as one finds in angelic music (tho I haven’t had any *lessons* taught me as you can’t help but get from say Hammer, Iasos or even Stearns. Still, I will continue my observations in this regard with further listenings.... These recordings describe pretty titanic transgalactic environments at times. Seasoned listeners to deep space music would like this I imagine. Psychonauts and astral navigators will enjoy them. If you like stuff on the Hypnos label, these two are great additions to that prestigious catalogue of visionary sounds. 8-14-05 Oceanic Space Robert Carty Deep Sky Music, 2005 AFTER SOMETHING OF A HIATUS following an intense period of creativity where he was releasing up to 4 new albums a year, the chameleon-like Robert Carty appears to be opening up a new chapter in his illustrious career in visionary sound arts. While retaining his trademark space music sound, Carty has boldly taken to the use of natural earth sounds, in this case burbling water, in a way which completely enhances the work by widening it and giving it even deeper textural ramifi- cations. This is my 18th Carty disc, not including various cassettes prepared for me by my friend and associate Eric Meece, and i can sincerely say that i wish i owned all of them. That's not to say that Carty's entire canon is of uniform excellence -- indeed some are more excellent than others -- but each album stands on its own as a complete and valid artwork, with depths of revealing worthy of repeated listening. On a single listen, i realized this was going to be one of my favorite Carty albums. The production has never been finer, the composition and execution shows a distinct maturing and an increased intuitive wisdom. This is space music, but underwater, and it emphasizes a dynamic aquatic Living, a deep respect and love for the bosom of the planet paralleled in few visionary soundworks. From my own constant and intense sonic inquiries from the last two years, this release stands out as a FULLY REALIZED work that not only leaves me completely nourished and satisfied, but ready to start at the beginning again. Describing Carty's music is difficult. It is primarily synthesis to be sure and space music is a familiar genre to anyone paying attention to electronica. But how is Carty able to incorporate Parsons, Stearns, Serrie, Roach, Hammer, Eno, Demby, Rich and a myriad other artists while in the final mix producing something completely unique and nonderivative? I don't get it! BUT I LIKE IT! Some may complain that water sounds, burbling, wave crashes and so forth are passe over-used new age ideas that date back to the beginning of the genre. Well, all i know is my body says YES! to it every time and i never get tired of hearing it used in a creative way. This disc is one of my very favorites by Carty and i eagerly look forward to his next adventure! Healing Mind System Dr. Jeffrey S. Thompson The Relaxation Company, 2005 THIS NEW PRESCRIPTION IN THE DOCTOR'S FORMULA finds us resonating in the frequencies of healing, which is one of the things i'm in the visionary realm to experience. Regular readers may recall that i have basically, well, complained about the production values of the last few releases by the Doctor. Mercifully, this new offering has a very clean production in which i have yet to hear a single annoying crackle. Perhaps he heard me. Don't get me wrong. I have always enjoyed his compositions and these discs i refer to do actually induce the stated brainwave states. i may be just spoiled on production values. This new release stands out from those in the "Mind System" series by actually giving the listen a palpable healing experience. previous releases induce creativity, lucidity, meditation, sleep, daydreaming and so on, but this one actually sends the listener into a healing trance. beginning with sampled guitar and harp, the music moves into some dreamy and complex ambient sections. towards the end of both half-hour pieces, (Revitalize & Retune,) there is a classical section with i believe cello which rather lifts one out of the trance in preparation for a return to waking state. the main course of the disc is replete with all of the Doctor's techniques: binaural sound, primordial sounds, and exquisite synthesis. as i write this i'm listening to it and it is sending me into the trance. i do think it is assisting my healing. it seems like every new release in the series, i say "this is the best so far." i REALLY mean it this time. Elemental Journey - Absolute Ambient Vol. 2 Matt Coldrick & Matt Hillier AbsoluteAmbient.com, 2005 A COLLABORATION BETWEEN Coldrick, formerly of Green Nuns of the Revolution, and Hillier, currently known as Ishq or Ishvara, this disc is a supreme order of beautiful technoambient surpassing, to my mind, Ishvara's recent, "Magik Square of the Sun." In other words, a total gas to listen to from beginning to end, filled with swirling electric curliques and synth lines that would make Jarre jealous. Better than your favorite candy and lasting much longer, the positivity and playfulness of this release just overflows into the room, rousting all bad vibes from even the most dug in of corners. If this disc doesn't bring a smile to your face, seek professional help. Like Shpongle only gentle and relaxed, like Makyo, but reclining in a venusian way, like Ishq but puppies like it too! I know, i'm not being a great help with letting you know what this disc is like. it is very positive and mellow technoambience that has some percussion but doesn't force you into grooves any harder than Jean Michel Jarre. Very sweet and child-like with no heavy scary sections. If you've heard "Magik Square of the Sun," it is much like that, but i think probably better, which is saying a lot! The Lonely Road Atman AtmanMusic.com, 2002 The Traveler Atman AtmanMusic.com, 2003 THOSE OF YOU IN THE KNOW are aware of the fantastic, highest recommendation, 1998 Amiata Records release, "Eternal Dance," by Atman. Until recently, i thought this was the final disc we could ever expect, but boy was i wrong! (thank goddess!) Lloyd Barde at Backroads Music (where i do a lot of essential shopping) was able to uncover these Brazilian releases (and a third one, 2004's double cd remixes of "Eternal Dance.") Thanks Lloyd!! According to the Atmanmusic.com website, these two discs are a musical interpretation of the stages of growth of the Hero as written about in Joseph Campbell's "The Hero Of A Thousand Faces" a classic study of the Hero archetype. Now, the sound of these discs is NOT like "Eternal Dance," but much more like Deep Forest. They are very eclectic not only in the use of ethnic instrumentation and musical ideas (samples from Heart of Africa, Heart of Asia, Distorted Reality 1 & 2, Deepest India, Voices of North America, etc.,) but also translations from various mystical texts from around the world (Rumi, Dhammapada, and asian & south american sources.) So, while ostensibly being asian massive recordings, the sound and feel of these discs are much more like the aforementioned Deep Forest, Enigma, Delirium genre musics. Now, i collect ALL that stuff, but you decide what you like. There was NO WAY i was not going to buy new Atman if i knew it was out there and i still INSIST that you get "Eternal Dance." :)) I will have to complete this last paragraph, telling you exactly what i think of these discs after i've listened to them a couple more times. La Kahena DJ Cheb i Sabbah Six Degrees Records, 2005 THE FIRST DISC BY CHEBIJI, "Shri Durga," was an incredible display of DJ science, setting a new level in the technical realm of Mixology. The next two releases in that trilogy each had their charm, but by the end of it i was rather, er, bored? i dunno, the last one didn't grab me like the first one, tho there's nothing that "wrong" with it and the extended ambient piece at the end worked for my sets perfectly. I saw DJ Cheb i Sabbah mix a dance set during my final year in Santa Cruz. I was very excited because his skill is so evident on disc. Imagine my dismay when his mix was totally crappy! The music was wonderful, but he seemed to be throwing it on randomly with no sense of continuity from one piece to the next COMPLETELY fucking the dancing audience up to the point where they gave up trying to dance and he didn't even seem to notice, just sort of lurking there chainsmoking. Although i said nothing, DJ friends of mine were not so polite about it but nearly shouting for their money back. Was the man on some strange chthonic drugs or recently jilted? we may never know. Anyway, i avoided his next release which was a compilation of other peoples music anyway and wasn't even going to get this one, which is not music from India but North Africa, particularly his native Algeria. But sort of impulsively decided to give it a go. This disc does for North African and Arabic music what "Shri Durga" did for the Raga of India. Anybody who likes those musics is going to LOVE this album, guarans. It is music full of exuberance and joy for living. The performances are beyond superb. The mix has the same sensitivity and boldness of the first album. my only regret is that i can't blast it on my stereo coz i'd get evicted. i would think that most people exposed to "La Kahena" would agree that it is a magnificent album from a technical point of view --the mix and production, the performances, the composition, and a wonderful performance by veteran miracle bassist imprimatur Bill Laswell, yeah all that -- but you need to at the very least admire world music, or specifically north african or arabic music to totally get off on this album. fortunately for me, i do have a small idiosyncratic habit in this regard and also the first 3 Chebiji releases, so this works for me. and in some ways it may be the best album i've reviewed today. but, really, Darv is going to be on the Carty, Thompson or electronica before this one. this one will require that i stop and pay attention to what is happening. well, maybe i can do housework with it. 8-06-05 Deep Release Brian E. Paulson 2005, Aeon Records AS WITH ALL MAJOR WORKS OF ART, what you acquire is measured by level of excellence, quality rather than quantity. I will tell you up front that Brian’s ambient/brainwave works are half hour discs, sonic paintings that convey multiple levels. The “quantity” is packed into the music, rather than extended over 74 minutes of uneven quality. All of his ambient discs are carefully crafted to not only provide the aimed-for mental or somatic affects, but also to inspire the listener with radical beauty that conforms perfectly to the aesthetics of ambient and visionary music. His 1999 release, “Mystic Rain,” which incorporates a sonic analogue of the maximum resonance of the photon emission of DNA is an ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE for any and all serious aficionadoes of visionary sound arts. “Brian’s Brain Buster,” released that same year, stands to this day as one of the quintessential brainwave music recordings. I could rave another two paragraphs about his other releases, but suffice it to say that his heart chakra resonance disc, “The Power of 7,” and his delta sleep disc, “Delta Bliss,” (which I actually prefer to play upon arising,)are also highly worthy acquisitions. Ten years in the making, Brian E. Paulson’s new “Deep Release,” is formulated specifically for the healing of emotional and physical trauma. While exhibiting his adept use of the medium and knowledge gained from years of research, this piece of ART is not only brainwave music, but belongs in the category of true angelic music. Featuring soaring grand piano reminiscent of Raphael and delicate synth touches rather like Patrick Bernhardt’s initial works,this 32-minute piece is an exquisite journey through sonic fields of peace and joy. It is better than getting the new Raphael cd that I keep wishing for (whatever became of him?) because Brian’s understanding of using resonance to attain specific mind-body states goes beyond intuitive understanding to a deeper intellectual realization of the actual “science” of it. While constructed as a classical “suite” with distinct movements, midway through its duration “Deep Release” has a mellow rock beat that effectively brings one’s entire body into entrainment. Just prior to this section, there is an amazing transition where the “tension” developed by the first movement is suddenly resolved. My somatic response to this was so profound that I had to refocus on what was happening, dumbfounded that it had snuck up on me so easily, bypassing my usually astute deep listening abilities. All in All, an excellent release from BEP, and a welcome addition to the collection of anyone who enjoys angelic music. A fine production and real-time musicianship to appreciate. Isle of Vibe Brian E. Paulson 2005, Aeon Records A TASTY COLLECTION OF WORLD BEAT with a joyous “feel” throughout. This is the disc where Brian gets to demonstrate his multi-instrumentalist abilities. As I first listened to this album, it brought to mind that section of my library that I think of as “vacation music,” wherein dwell my Jalan Jalan albums, “Bali” and “Bali Dua,” and Daniel Paul’s “Rhythms of Paradise.” It also reminded me of similar world music releases by Visionary artists: Iasos’ “Bora Bora 2000,” Brannan Lane’s “Carribean Dream.” Now, Iasos’ disc is synthesis with intricate rhythm programming which took him a year and a half of study in his meticulous way in order to produce joyous rhythms. Brannan’s disc is sincere while yet missing something, perhaps too studious and not enough joyous. Jalan Jalan and Daniel Paul are very exotic works inspired by the gamelan and other musics of Oceania. Paulson’s “Isle of Vibe” is very jazzy and the level of musicianship outshines these other recordings (well, perhaps Paul’s enthusiastic drumming and use of the tabla tarong – 16 chromatically tuned tablas – is at this level.) The pieces are well-crafted, moving smoothly from one section to the next and not just some odd riff for three minutes. I can’t help but think I hear the occasional Metheny or Weather Report reference. After adroitly moving through some carribean and african music influenced pieces, Brian easily moves into arabic and some specifically egyptian motifs. At the end there are some very humorous and marvelously fun light-hearted pieces getting extremely funky. The final piece is nearly 15 minutes of native american flute with traditional percussion accompaniment to chill the vibes to a meditative state. What impresses me about this album in particular, besides the aforementioned extremely positive and joyous atmosphere it produces for the listener, is Brian’s real-time playing of guitar, piano and wind instruments. This is obviously real talent that has also received some training, so the performances are confident, deft and well-placed. The compositions are for the most part a real gas to listen to. The less impressive are more whimsical and entertaining for that reason. This is definitely one of those albums I’m taking with me on vacation! 7-16-05 Fissures Robert Rich & Alio Die Fathom Records/Hearts Of Space, 1997 THE RADIO STATION I WORKED AT had this disc and I would use it for airplay and never picked one up for myself, so backtracking and very happy with the new Robert Rich “Echo of Small Things,” plus REALLY ENJOYING Die’s collaboration with Antonio Testa, “Prayer For The Forest,” (both discs reviewed here recently,) I decided it was time to acquire this dark ambient work, released on the sorely-missed Fathom Records label division of Hearts of Space. Just tracking through this disc and playing the cuts I thought were best sonically for my show did not really do the work justice. The aspect I noticed immediately was that, while lusciously subwoofed and spatially vast, filled with organism and liquid, this disc has a positive emotional quality not often found in ultradark ambient. Rich’s work has often been sombre, or at least inward and dispassionate, passion often flows from a struggle for survival. In this recording, there seems to be a free-floating bliss occurring with possibly a diffuse optimism about the future. Could this be the influence of Die? I have to admit I have not heard his solo work and can’t differentiate him yet. Perhaps that is partly what he does with other artists, elicits good vibes (?) For aficionadoes, I would say that this disc is somewhere between “Stalker” and “Soma.” The title “Fissure” makes me thinks of a volcanic fissure at the bottom of the ocean where certain lifeforms are thriving. This might be an apt image....the striking beauty, tradmark high quality/gloss Rich production and the amazing 3D separation of elements make this an extremely juicy listen. As a disc, it makes more sense to me now, back- tracking; i see how it was part of an evolution for Rich towards his current ambient sensibility. This is dark but glowing Ambient music good for late night/early morning listening. May be a little challenging for anyone who doesn’t like lazing about with the pond scum or squeezing through suboceanic lava flows. Keystudio Yes Sanctuary Records Group, 2002 WHEN I WAS A YOUNG TEEN, there was Genesis and then there was Yes, and then....there was all other music. I kid you not. My heroes, of course, went on to break up, go solo, make tons of cash, and then struggle with their own relevance as they got older. Unlike Genesis, who I gave up on pretty much when they released the album, “Duke,” I have always kept an eye askance on Yes (or would that be an ear askance?) I have an abiding fondness for the early Yes studio albums up to and including, “Relayer.” I have complex relationships with “Tormato” and “Going For The One,” but do enjoy them on occasion. “Close To The Edge,” the magnificent 1973 album which looks great! under the appropriate conditions, an impeccable prog rock disc, would be an immediate and obvious choice for any desert island collection I would be called upon to compile. I was so involved with New Wave in the 80s, and somewhat embarrassed by what Genesis and then Yes evolved into (but, heck, could I blame the guys for wanting the $$?) I still followed Peter Gabriel, of course, and would check out each new Yes release (no, I could not sit through the 80s Genesis releases.) “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” was a terrific pop hit, but the hard rock Yes was not my cup of tea. Yet still I kept a wether ear out. I did own the Anderson Wakeman Bruford Howe disc, “Union,” briefly. I’ve hear people say recently that it’s the best thing Yes has done since the classic period. It’s not. “The Ladder” had labels on the front touting it as “the best Yes album since Close To The Edge.” well that wasn’t quite true either, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it listenable. In fact, I was listening to it the morning of 9-11. Watching the Towers fall while “It Will Be A Good Day” was playing. What an incredible experience. I felt some trepidation with “Magnification,” which touted a huge backing symphonic orchestra. Yet it was gratifying. Now, neither of these last two albums was all that exciting in terms of composition and the execution by the artists more water than fire, but the magic of Yes was still in there. For me, at least, some quality time vis-a-vis what had been in the output the last two decades. The disc in question (was I rambling?,) “Keystudio” is the studio recorded material rather appended to the “Keys To Ascension” double live cd album in the late 90s, and copyright 1996. This is a pity, because that’s a great title and by all rights should be the title of this release. A late 90s release of even MORE live Yes was a bit of an embarrassment to me and I never bothered to check that out and, hence, foolishly missed these tracks. But I wasn’t about to shell out that kind of cashola for live of a band I saw live in the mid70s and was waiting for something good like some new material, huh!? So 2002, the new package of the studio material alone and naturally I was in transition and missed it so here we are 3 years later....sorry....and what a crappy name for this wonderful disc! Who is the brainiac who came up with that one? “Keystudio,” in my opinion, is HANDS DOWN the best studio release for Yes since Relayer, IF you like the prog rock that the classic period Yes was renowned for. This is the classic line-up of Anderson, Squire, Howe, White and Wakeman. (No Bruford, but -let me tell you- White is no slouch on this disc. The flailing, lost White of Topographic Oceans was just him adjusting to the band, that has been over quite a while. But White’s performance on this release is outstanding, a true prog joy! Anderson is in form equal to anything since the classics. I’ve always enjoyed his voice and lyrics, which are meaningful to me even if some find them mish-mash. A little abstract poetry and some people just fall apart I guess. I'd be listening to ANY Jon Anderson before i would be putting on a Robert Plant recording, period. Squire has never set down a less than stellar performance in any studio recording I’ve ever heard. Howe sounds relaxed and confident, while not sounding like he’s stretching for the arc, his level of artistry and vision in overdubbing is impressive and he provides a bit of shredding on occasion. Wakeman obviously WANTS to put in a good outing and I think he does it quite well. This is not the jaded Wakeman of “Tormato,” but almost that of “Henry 8th.” The abiding “sound” of this complex album is close to that of Tormato (perhaps because the presence of Wakeman just rather pulls things that way.) Obviously, with the advent of digital, the production is much cleaner. What I mean is the way the artists are relating to each other in playing the music gives them each a clear space to do their thing so it has that, er, “modular” kind of feel like “Tormato.” but the compositions are by far the most epic and intricate of recent memory. The Vision produced is that of communal Ascension and the lyrics actually are not as abstract as other periods in the band’s life. There is FIRE in these performances which I haven’t heard much at all from Yes in the last ten years (granted I missed this original release.) Anyway, this is the album that I’d hoped for when I ordered it and really the one I’d been waiting for for 20 years. 7-14-05 Robot.O.Chan Prometheus Twisted Records, 2004 OKAY, THIS IS TECHNO. loud, brash, intense, florid. Full frontal rave-style with some familiar bass lines and tricky thoughtful production. Taken on a level of just plain fun, or as an "energy pump" for those periods of focussed activity one enjoys, this album succeeds for being exuberant and exhibiting a level of technical production ability comparable to... who do you think?....of course, Simon Posford who i've had an interest in lately and with who Prometheus (actual name Bemji Vaughan) collaborated for the "Flock of Bleeps" disc reviewed recently. After hearing this album, which takes me back to my rave dj experiences (all those raves wow,) i reflect on how actually MELLOW Shpongle is, AND Flock of Bleeps. Practically naptime vibes for the adroit bachelor. Not so this album,overflowing, brimming over with insistent familiar percussion drilling us into an active energy state, the repeating bass line twirling me through some Bacchic Bachianesque curlique of intense Light, all somewhat typical of the hard techno genre, but the incidental synthweirdness production is truly magnificent, a cut above others in the field. But hard-driving, don't forget to breath kind of music really best for high energy states or using as an energy pump to get there. Oh, yeah: the motifs. This ain't Shpongle. It is way more science fiction and robot invasive. Let's see...hey, i just got it today, so lemme listen a sec....it has the Hal 2000 saying, "my mind is going."...I think i occasionally hear an influence from Future Sound of London circa "Lifeforms."... a lot of it does seem to be suggesting a living machine consciousness that we somehow can gain contact with.... ....the final cut is an electronic piece quirky with gongs being hit underwater and interesting beeps and boings somewhat like Cyber Zen Sound Engine that i would be able to feature in an ambient set. the rest of this stuff is the kind of LOUD DRIVING TECHNO SYNTH JOYOUS NOISE THAT DRIVES YOUR INNER PARENT CRAZY!! .....so in conclusion, this was an acquisition i obtained basically due to my Posford completist motif. i LIKE it and will listen to it a few more times and then it will take its place in the shuffle until we meet again.... 07-10-05 Slow Time Patrick O'Hearn patrickohearn.com , 2005 Beautiful World Patrick O'Hearn patrickohearn.com 2003 THE JUST RELEASED Patrick O'Hearn cd gave me consideration to backtrack a little and pick up also his disc of 2 years ago, "Beautiful World." Patrick has created some fantastic music in the past, such as his albums on the Private Music label back in the late 80's/early 90s, the self-produced short albums, "Trust" and "Metaphor," all of which i briefly owned as cassettes (heck, they may still be here amongst these thousands of tapes i have in boxes.) His album, "So Flows The Current," was a spectacular (well, for me) departure from his darker early periods. Filled with Light, Nature and Inward Dreaming, it is a mellow, optimistic, yet mysterious atmosphere reminding me of late spring days hiking along streams in the woods. The Private Music period was rather influenced by the New Age music phenom of its time period, while "Trust" and "Metaphor" were more shamanistic, influenced by the work of Steve Roach, with whom Patrick has recently collaborated on the disc "Fever Dreams" reviewed in this column last June. The two new releases here feature prominently the hand drumming of the 90s albums that gave them their tribal, deep cave appeal. They also carry the sound and aesthetic of "So Flows The Current" into new territories. The cd which was just recently released, "Slow Time," comes after his close association with Roach and is just what it says: slow. The first piece begins with vibraphone in a longer piece (to Frank Zappa) cognizant of Steve Reich and produced in a Gabrielesque way. But what follows becomes darker, more shamanistic and deep trance. Gorgeous production (as are "So Flows" and "Beautiful World" also.) This is middle of the night cave music. The energy and feel reminds of one of the GREAT Steve Roach release, "Dream Circle." Very comfortable and soothing environments, but with intellectual interest also. It is almost as if the extremely simple and exquisitely complex have merged into a seamless dream. "Beautiful World" is brighter and more energetic. Some- where between the discs which precede and come after it. Good for reading or writing and evocative of interesting mental images. The disc is playful and optimistic, renewing a theme which has recurred through Patrick's work of seeing the world anew, with fresh perspectives, as though with the eyes of a child and the exuberance and enthusiasm of innocent fun. Perhaps this comes from his role raising his children (who painted the outstanding artwork on the cover.) After beginning with two pieces that intimate animated movement, then flowing movement ("Facing The Sun" and "Magnificent River,")the recording moves from one beautifully luscious environment to another. A long piece near the end, "Approaching Summit," takes on David Parsons dimensions and becomes quite an adventure, then is followed by the concluding piece reminiscent of the best of David Sylvian called "An Evening Sky," which does seem to darken as it goes. These are two fine releases by a maturing, intelligent Visionary artist which should provide nourishment to anyone who thought "So Flows The Current" was great. Although, sadly, they are both rather short (45mins and 51mins,) the content is so gratifying as to be completely worth it. It makes me sniffle nostalgically and want to backtrack further to "River's Gonna Rise," "Between Two Worlds" and "Indigo." Putting them on the list.... Translucence/Drift Music John Foxx & Harold Budd Edsel Records, 2003 THIS IS A DIGIPAK repackaging of two Ambient albums which were released separately. "Translucence" has a predominant acoustic piano with surrounding lush synthesis reminiscent of Budd's work with Brian Eno on "The Pearl." "Drift Music" is spatial drifting not unlike Steve Roach's "Structures From Silence," but more mysterious gaseous and dark. As if one was in a quiet unlit cathedral at evening. Anybody who has heard these artists previous Ambient work and the other artists' mentioned recordings can pretty well guess what is on these. Impeccable production, faithfulness to the aesthetic and a real emotional honesty give this work a strength that makes up for its somewhat predictable melodic movement. Solidly in the Classic Ambient camp and a de rigeur acquisition for purists in the genre. A Flock Of Bleeps Younger Brother Twisted Records, 2003 STILL REVVING ON MY SHPONGLE JAG, i have acquired this disc which is a collaboration between Simon Posford, of Shpongle and Hallucinogen, and Bemji Vaughan of Prometheus (of whom, i promise you, you will hear more as i have ordered his work to be delivered to Darvadu.) Nuff Said, this disc is on a par with the works of Shpongle, Hallucinogen and Ott. Prometheus brings to the table some interesting sampling of recorded voices and a robotic, android flair which gives the whole thing a sort of tilt between Alice In Wonderland and I Robot. of the artists mentioned, this recording is most like Ott's "Blumenkraft." as usual, high energy, tryptaminphatic hi-jinks by High Adepts of PsyAmbient. This album is just plain fun. Probably looks great under the appropriate conditions, too! It's About Time Doof Twisted Records, 2000 I'VE OWNED THE FIRST DOOF RELEASE FOR YEARS. And while it does lean a bit into Goa Trance dance bits, it had a great sense of humour and fooling around that appealed to me. It also had some great SynthDub and PsyAmbient on it. So when i saw this second release (and it would appear the only other one so far,) i knew it was a matter of time before i would own it. gotta love a doofus anyway.... to my pleasant surprise, this album is way mellower than the first one, beginning with Goa Trance it slips imperceptibly through PsyAmbient into SynthDub and finally some excellent Technoambient Space cuts. rather runs the gamut and can't exactly decide WHAT it is, but great fun and tryppy!! it would seem the album is most comfortable in dub, but the whole thing is just an amazing cool down from driving beats into smoojed out chillization. a contemporary sound and the initial beats pace probably appeals more to the rave kids unless you're an old raver rager dodgy codger like ME. then it is a sweet time. rave on in the chill out zone. 06-25-05 Echo Of Small Things Robert Rich Soundscape Productions, 2005 ANOTHER FINE RELEASE from the Maestro of Glorp! This disc completely fulfils what I acquire a Robert Rich release for. While further refining the sound and texture of the incredible Somnium release (which I still think the radio edit cd would be worthy for a limited commercial run,) this disc has even more layers of wonder. Having an ambience generally reminiscent of Eno’s classic “On Land,” this one provides even deeper listening pleasure mainly because of Rich’s increasingly adept use of the medium. From start to finish, an intriguing, curious and deliciously delicate listen. This is ambient synthesis with flute, processed slide guitar and choice location recordings of natural environments. Rich’s music may come closer than any other contemporary sound artist at being true “organismic” music! Sound Vibrational Healing Volume 1: Chakra Kabbalah Sunny Heartley Etherean, 2005 I'VE ALMOST ALWAYS enjoyed new releases from the Etherean label and keep a weather eye out for them. I had to buy this album because it is what I am all about. Each track is keyed to a precise frequency associated with either one of the seven major chakras (bioenergic centers) or one of the spheres of the Qabalistic Tree of Life, or both. The music is produced with angelic synthesis, quartz crystal singing bowls (which produce a wonderful sonic foundation for these compositions,) and hand-made flutes specifically created for tonifying the chakras. The style in which Heartley plays the flutes is decidedly Native American while the synthesis is clearly, as I said, classical angelic, so it is an interesting mix. While not a breakthrough recording in terms of musicianship or composition, Sound Vibrational Healing does deliver what it promises: a skilled electroacoustic soundwave bath that would be great backsound for healing work. Nothing Lasts...But Nothing Is Lost Shpongle Twisted Records, 2005 REGULAR READERS OF THIS COLUMN may remember that I went into a technoambient motif last fall wherein I was collecting and discovering various projects like Hallucinogen, Shpongle, and Entheogenic. Much like the Metheny motif led up the release of the fabulous The Way Up, this technoambient motif has led me to the release of this disc. There is little way to accurately describe Shpongle. It is a heady mix of techno, dub, ambient and world music with a penchant for flamenco. You never know from one second to the next what is going to happen or where you will end up. Rather like a sonic rabbit hole. The production is top-notch, as one would expect from Posford and his Shpongle collaborator, Raja Ram. In the case of this disc, the fourth Shpongle if you include the remix cd, the emphasis is more on straight up techno dance beats. While never attaining hyperspeed, this disc has tempos just beyond that of dub. In this way, it is rather “busy.” The songs are relatively short: there are 20 tracks in 67 minutes. So, the whole thing roars along constantly morphing into exquisitely strange and highly inventive ooeygooeyheydiddleydiddley gobblegabbahey types of completely what the heck is going on? music structures. That’s about the best I can do to communicate this. Shpongle is not for the faint of heart, but for people who like modern dance music with verve. This stuff is quite joyous and slaphappy and I’ll be listening to it for a long time. Colors Healing Therapy Music New Life Records/Spike Ltd., 1999. Crystals Healing Therapy Music New Life Records/Spike Ltd., 1999 I DISCOVERED the Healing Therapy Music series at Amazon, listened to all of the samples and selected these two discs because I felt that they would be good additions to my library. I was quite surprised at how enjoyable and well produced they are. Listening to Colors, I was constantly reminded of Chakradancer by Brainscapes, which is one of those discs you always wish there would be more of. Radically beautiful synthesis underpinned by competent, patient drumming. When the disc becomes ethereal, it can be quite compellingly angelic. Crystals is even more light-oriented, with interpretations of the vibration of crystals which I recognized as being close to my experience and maintaining my intellectual interest throughout. Of the numerous cds I have heard and collected in which the different tracks purport to be interpretations of “crystal energy,” I find this disc to be the most successful. On yet another listen just today, i find myself quite happy i own such a recording. Having said all this, I should emphasize that these are basically “new age” recordings that won’t appeal to listeners who don’t trust music that is describing positive, loving emotions. I do feel, however, that for this kind of music there is true interest that is sustained through the recordings, making them not only good for backsound but also worthy of active listening. Fever Dreams Steve Roach Projekt, 2004 I WAS VERY FORTUNATE to come across a pristine used copy of this cd, which features Patrick O’Hearn playing bass on some tracks. Steve is one of my long term beloved recordings artists, yet I have been bypassing certain releases here and there, not just with Steve but with everybody, mainly because I’ve been in transition and been a little more money conscious, so it was cool to find this for six bucks and give it a go. It is pretty much what I expected: hip shamanistic backsound with some cool drum rhythms and fingerpainting on the walls of some deeply subterranean cave that only the heartiest of neolithic mystics could spelunk into. I have had friends who call this “Cave Music” and so it might be. Patrick’s bass provides solid support while never leaping out with frenzied finger twisting, to the point you almost forget he’s there. I could definitely see using this recording to good effect in an ambient room at a rave where I was going for a shamanistic environment. I could see playing it while chatting with friends. Perhaps what I am saying is that, for this type of music, it is pretty social. While well produced, stylish and gorgeous, I have a lot of this kind of music and am no more drawn in than with many of the others in this form. Who knows, though, some day I may click with it, realize new depths and be overwhelmed. This would not be unusual for a Steve Roach recording. Savory, but for special tastes. Prayer For The Forest Antonio Testa and Alio Die Greenhouse Music, 2002 WHAT A TERRIFIC RECORDING this is! The Greenhouse label produced some great stuff in its short life. I just LOVE this album! Inspired by the technoambient work of the Steve Roach / Vir Unis collaborations, this disc is from start to finish just a wonderful experience. A true reverence for deep woods and forests of all kinds is communicated here in what for me is a tour de force of inspired musical inventiveness. I guess I would characterize this as dark ambient with shamanistic rhythms, but there is a sterling shine to it reminiscent of Michael Stearns that makes it a wonder to behold every time. Hard to find and getting more difficult all the time, consider yourself lucky to hear this one. Creative Mind System 2.0 Dr. Jeffrey S. Thompson Relaxation Company, 2004 THIS IS A 2 CD SET just released, yet one is dated 2004 and is the disc which was previously released as Creative Mind System (see my review 10-31-04,) while the second, new one is dated 1999. While both discs do induce heavenly creative brainwave states, there are numerous glitches on both discs which appear to be machine noise from the electric piano and just weird production stuff. All four half hour pieces have prominent interludes of piano with synth strings. There are some interesting sections of synthesis but all in all much of what we have previously. I do find the head states energizing and can enjoy this stuff over speakers. the headphone trip has these machine glitches. i frankly think the best thing about this is that the brainwave states achieved really are creative whereas the awakened mind states are more focussed and intellectual. wish this was recorded as well as that was. I am a long-time admirer of Thompson's work and find that these recordings DO in fact enhance creativity and mental clarity. I just wish the recordings were cleaner. And i didn't like having to buy disc one again in order to obtain disc 2. this is atmospheric electronic synthesis with classical melodies woven throughout. 04-21-05 I covered so much ground in the last few weeks that i am probably going to resort to more capsulized reviewing this time. i wish i could say everything about everybody, but one should know their own limits....heh heh....this has been a time of cluing in to technoambience, but you will find two straight Visionary releases later in this post! Ishq "Magik Square of the Sun" Virtual, 2005 This just released, limited edition is a MUST HAVE for anyone who really enjoys spiritually oriented downtempo psytrance techno like Makyo, Mystical Sun, TJ Rehmi, or the like! This is the direction that i had hoped Heavenly Music Corporation would go in after the original release came out! Following the stunning "Orchid" first album, "Magik Square of the Sun" surpasses anything that i had hoped for. From the more liquid and thick environs of the first, we are introduced to a basically airey and spatial reality bubbling over with creativity. while beats are intermittently present, the disc rarely breaks out into a serious GROOVE, but seems to hover and shimmer, playfully shapeshifting into many floral and crystalline arrangements. Radically beautiful and genuinely intriguing, this album has untold depths while appearing to be very calm and on the surface. the whole FEEL of this album nourishes me spiritually too. (of course, regular readers and listeners know that my preference is for Light and angelic/beneficial atmospheres.) completely synthesis and worth every penny. this is, for me, an early contender for best technoambient of 2005. in very limited release. you might have to hunt. WORTH IT. Doctor Jeffrey S. Thompson "Dreamy Music For Sleep" The Relaxation Company, 2005 Dr. JST is, in my humble opinion, the leading exponent of brainwave music. He has produced a vast body of work which covers many different brainwave states. He has clinically observed response to sound for nearly 3 decades now, i guess. lately, he has produced various series of recordings based on certain healthy states in the delta, theta and alpha ranges. the "Music For Sleep" series has been going for some years now and this is the latest installment. This brand new release by the Doctor finds him experimenting i guess with a truly odd idea that i can only suppose was clinically tested and found to be effective: the sound travels from one speaker to the other and back again, around and around endlessly (or for the duration of the hour-long piece, whichever comes first.) there are long moments when one or the other channel is COMPLETELY DEAD. I mean, NOTHING coming out of it. the music itself is pretty and relaxing enough -- completely synthesized sound with simple melodies that repeat -- familiar fare for any regular listener to his work. i found myself paying much more attention to this left channel to right channel and back again business than to the music itself. granted, when i played this disc towards the end of my day, it would put me to sleep, BUT, unlike most of the other "Music For Sleep" releases JST has created, THIS one is pretty much a snoozer. "Ambient Music For Sleep" and "Natural Music For Sleep" actually had some intellectual intrigue worth staying awake for. this one is pleasant, but i'd set the alarm and pass out. maybe THAT'S the point? and that's from a guy who nearly always RAVES about the new Doctor JST!! John Foxx "Cathedral Oceans 1 & 2" (double cd) Edsel, 2003 THE ORIGINAL "Cathedral Oceans" was released in 1995. Foxx is a former New Wave recording artist who was one of the galvanizing components of Ultravox! one of my favorite electro-new wave bands before Midge Ure took over and made them synthpop. Foxx's trade- mark vocal style incorporates vocal techniques from Gregorian chant. this was present in Ultravox! and in his early solo works, which were still rock beats and detached rather like Gary Numan, perhaps moreso than! Anyway, the two discs here are basically visionary chorale music with electronica underpinnings. very clever, obviously inspired, although perhaps more melancholic than i should like. but very true to that original ambient sadness that was a part of Brian Eno's watershed "Ambient" work. On the back cover of the digipack there is this sentence: "....music for a vast, half-submerged ruined cathedral...." and so it is. two discs worth.now don't get me wrong, i do enjoy this release and i own solo rock recordings by Foxx and of HIS Ultravox!, and i also see "Cathedral Oceans" as, ultimately, a de rigeur ambient/visionary release. i'm just saying that emotionally it can get rather dark in here, seeming to cover the range of belated spiritual feelings like regret, loss, inconsolableness, loneliness, longing and the like. it's a very spiritual album that honors that dark side of our good nature. Gaudi "bass, sweat & tears" Interchill, 2004 THIS BASS-INTESIFIED ALBUM is the product of Gaudi's travels around the world, recording numerous artists playing acoustically and singing under various conditions and then bringing all those recordings home to the studio environment to mix them in a electrodub synergy. While this has been done before by such notables as DJ Cheb I Sabbah, Gaudi takes it to the MAX, using ultimate bass lines that probably CAN'T be played over speakers without causing the neighbors to pound on the walls, and healthy doses of synthesis and processing treatment that easily put him on a production level with the likes of Posford or Makyo. The mix of the electronic and acoustic is comfortable and tasty, which skillfully supports an admirably positive and enthusiastic emotionality. This album is ELECTRODUB, which means it is reggae with so much synthesis as to qualify as electronic music, even though it samples the acoustic playing and singing of over 40 people in their home locations around the planet. Bluetech "Prima Materia" Waveform, 2003 THERE IS SOMETHING LIZARD-LIKE ABOUT THIS ALBUM. i am a "blue person," so i always like to check out "things blue." i generally enjoy the more positive and playful releases from Waveform, but try to select from the label judiciously either because some is too simple and some is too ...errr... dark and trying to be cool, which is not so much my bag. Well, i got Bluetech mainly on the strength of name, title, cover art and label. it seemed smart and fun electropop, which i enjoy. (not all my music must needs be seriously intent on edifying the listener, believe it or not!) you see, ever since Higher Intelligence Agency stopped output (which was only 2 full discs anyway,) i like to keep my ears open for jangly, angular electro that has a positive vibe. This is all sort of my long lost penchant for the 80s Kraftwerk. A Positive Life, Alpha Wave Movement and even Senor Coconut have all given me this to a degree. the cool thing about Bluetech is that it has that Euro-feel, stays true to purpose, is consistently pleasant and inventive. it is also very angular and, i don't know what to call it but lizard-like, sinuous. it sort of makes me ready to start collecting Zero One.... this is brash, angular downtempo triphop that has intense electronica elements. there is some use of processed vocal samples which others do better, but is done competently. very bright colors and drawn with crisp edges. another reviewer somewhere referred to it as "designer sounds" and this is, somehow, appropriate. i feel like i should be designing architecture when this music plays. this would be good for studying or creative activities. it is more activating than relaxing, but might for that reason be considered a bit "busy." for serious electrobuffs like me, it is a delectable tidbit for the synthomunchies. 04-02-05 Todd Rundgren "Liars" Sanctuary Recordings, 2004. Okay, so i'm getting to this album A YEAR after it was released. I'm a Todd fan from the early 70s & his last couple of albums sounded so, well, pissed off that i was a little wary of coming around this one. Not that those were absolutely GREAT discs in their own way (well, actually i found "One Long Year" a real drag, but that's me.) i'm just saying, when i get my new Todd, i wanna hang out with Da Wizard, the True Star (*) groove with the cosmic vibes, BECAUSE, genius, that is what TODD RUNDGREN does best. and when Todd lets that genius come through, the politics aren't necessary because it is all right there in the REAL truths that Todd sings about, and what this album is about: the relative DEARTH of Truth in our modern day American society. how easily we lie to ourselves, allow ourselves to be lied to and eventually end up living a lie. But Todd, on this disc, takes these HEAVY issues up into the Elvish Stratosphere where we so enjoyed hanging out with him "Neverland-like" as it were, all those years ago. This is the best Todd since Mink Hollow, like a revamped souped up Nearly Human, all the classic references there to savor on as delicacies, the exquisite production yet another leap beyond. it has been said elsewhere, but i'll say it again: how many living rock legends still have their BEST album inside them? well, we know for sure, Todd can IS doing it. if you like old Todd Something/Anything stylee he's baaack! heavenly elvish paisley visionarytechno! 03-05-05 David Parsons "Inner Places" Celestial Harmonies, 2005 David Parsons "Vajra" Groove, 2004 After a somewhat extended silence, Parsons has returned with 2 excellent releases in less than six months! "Vajra" was released in Fall 2004 and wasn't in my hands until January, i think. I just acquired "Inner Places" this past week. David Parsons is undeniably one of the Masters in the realm of visionary sound arts. His works are mostly influenced by Tibetan mysticism. They are more like sonic paintings than structured, arranged "music." Each album takes the listener into deep meditative spaces (with perhaps the notable exception of "Shaman," which true to its name, evokes high energy shamanistic states and incorporates Siberian musical motifs.) Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the two recordings under review is the deemphasis on the use of Tibetan overtone chanting location recordings and a deeper exploration of the actual synthesis as the center of attention. In fact, my recollection is that there is NO actual chanting and perhaps only a single occasion of simple "OM-ing." "Vajra" is released by a European label known for a big, bold electronica sound with clear production and insistent sequencer bass loops typical of the Berlin school of synthesis. It would seem that this particular disc does share the Groove penchant for boldness and solid presence. It is very intense and electronic in places with high energy reminiscent of "Shaman." But this is only in places, and i'm probably making it sound more techno that it actually is. True, the tempos are pretty quick compared to most other Parsons releases, but the disc begins with a long dreamy piece that is quite familiar ground for the knowledgable aficionado. the second piece is a little faster and Lightens up considerably in the last half. Early in the third piece the sequencers kick in and the energy level picks up dramatically. the fourth piece is another long dreamy one. then the fifth is perhaps the first Parsons down-tempo techno piece ever. and HERE we have a brief encounter with a human voice. the sequenced struck bells remind me of Robert Rich's "Propagation" disc. with drum machine firmly in place, the crystalline synth riffs let us know why Groove went for this. the final piece rends the veil between worlds and we enter a Void that is not empty, but full of energy. "Inner Places" is much more typical of the moods Parsons likes to create. Sedate and stately. what we have is a vibrational trip through various levels of inward experience which is more open to interpretation beyond any particular mystical tradition than anything Parsons has done to this point. This disc is far more meditative than "Vajra" and will be a welcome addition to those who have valued Parsons' work for his uncanny ability to describe inward mystical states. In conclusion, these new works show an artist who continues to be in top form, trying some new directions but not overreaching. It is space music, but with dark ambient aspects as it recreates sensations of meditation in incense-filled temples and Void Explorations. as mentioned, "Vajra" is more active and dramatic. 03-03-05 BEST RELEASES OF 2004 It's always hard for me to figure these out, mainly because i obviously discover things from years past which are still new to me. This year, i've decided to do best by categories, k? BEST VISIONARY DVD "AV3X" by Christopher Oliver BEST VISIONARY CD OF 2004 "Everything Seeks Balance" by Vir Unis BEST TECHNOAMBIENT CD OF 2004 "The Warm Chill" by TJ Rehmi BEST DISCOVERED OLDER MATERIAL 2004 "In Dub" by Hallucinogen HONORABLE MENTION AS INSTANT CLASSIC 2004: "The Equatorial Stars" by Robert Fripp & Brian Eno 03-02-05 Michael Mantra "Sonic Alter" Silent, 1994 (Out of Print) Rod Modell and Michael Mantra "Sonic Continuum" Hypnos, 1998. I'M REVIEWING these at the same time because: (1) i was backtracking to Michael Mantra, since an edit of his piece, "Sonic Alter," opens the Silent Records' (now defunct) compilation disc, "From Here To Tranquility, Volume 3" (Out-Of-Print) which i admired it so much that i wanted to hear more of Michael Mantra's work; (2) these are the two discs i found; (3) i acquired them around the same fortnight; (4) the first one is Out-Of-Print, so you'd have to be an obsessive like me to get it anyway. (but, it IS out there if you dedicate to it AND my opinion is that it is more desirable an acquisition than "Sonic Continuum." But, to the review.... These discs are both dark ambient. really dark. primal soup and emergence of organism. there are no modern drum beats, but occasional sloshing sampled rhythm which is comfortable yet also intriguing. rhythms seem to be unidentifiable machines or processed water and the like. On each disc there are two basically half hour pieces (on "Sonic Continuum" they are a little longer.) Each piece is basically a drone at a certain pitch which is supplemented by what sounds like a metal bowl at the same pitch on occasion. On "Sonic Continuum," Modell provides more movement with synthwashes that repeat sombre, introspective 8-bar melodies that are quite beautiful and transic. His contribution primarily seems to be the wall of synth which accompanies the drone and bowl that can be found on "Sonic Alter." Surrounding this is Mantra's acoustic work which consisting of an endless array of processed water, unidentifiable machine noises and nature sounds like crickets, birds, etc, which have been synched to the overall vibe of the drone. One of the things i like most about Mantra's work is his use of cetacean (ie: dolphin, porpoise and whale) songs or sounds in the very inventive pastiches of samples he creates. I own many recordings of cetacean songspeak and some of these are priceless and really speak to me! His collection of these voicings, particularly on "Sonic Alter" is quite impressive and an addition to the works i use when mixing "cetacean" sets (ie: as a dj, i might mix ocean sounds, cetacean voices and music which is trying to convey something of the mind of our aquatic cousins who have advanced neural systems similar to ours.) this set is not large and Mantra's collection of voicings is certainly welcome. If i had an objection it would be that sometimes the machine noise is quite prominent and i find myself wondering, "what kind of a machine would sound like THAT?" *and then of course understanding that there ISN'T a machine like that.* (or is there? what do i know) this sometimes pulls me into my intellect and defeats the incredible delta/theta hover vibe. This is particularly true of "Sonic Continuum," which also has a serious Steve Roach influence, whereas i find "Sonic Alter" to more closely achieve its aim of deep relaxtion with intellectual interest. "Continuum" takes you to a much darker, more "glorpy," place than "Alter," which has a fair amount of radiance in it comparatively. People who would like these enjoy dark organismic after midnight no drums just incense kinds of music. the brainwave is clean enough to sink into & merge. One of the notable aspects of "Continuum" as compared to "Alter" is a better production, as befits a release on the Hypnos label, which pretty much only releases productions of the highest caliber. As most Hypnos recordings, also, "Continuum" takes you into the Deeps and Void explorations. "Alter" is more water and the cetacean mind, hence more Light. and that bowl ringing is well done! Both albums are good meditational devices. accurate tunings. with enough chaotic strangeness to keep it interesting but not overwhelming. for deep meditation or passing out, basically. 02-17-05 The Pat Metheny Group "The Way Up" Nonesuch, 2005 YOU CAN read about my long-term relationship with Metheny's music below in the addendum to my 02-01 entry. Since the release of the first album, simply titled, "The Pat Metheny Group," i have periodically checked in on Metheny's work hoping to find something that excited me as much as that extremely beautiful first time out. This is it. Ostensibly consisting of one 68-minute piece (there are four tracks,)"The Way Up" is a tour de force of incredibly enthusiastic and joyous artistry. This is a straight up fusion jazz recording with a very high energy level, top speeds, major shredding at times, and with some massive chord movements that approach progressive rock. The first track is only about five minutes long (perhaps a concession to radio airplay?) which begins with pulsing keyboards obviously influenced by Steve Reich (with who, i have read, Metheny had a passing association,) but then immediately launches into an up-tempo jazz piece that has so many elements and changes, you pretty much can't take your attention away from it. Guitars that almost recall the work of Steve Hackett (the amazing guitarist from Peter Gabriel's Genesis) and a final gush of exuberance that then mellows into languid beauty. A transition occurs into the next piece, where certain themes that were only touched on in the first track are returned to and developed with a majesty i can only believe can come from seasoned artists competely in love with their craft. Not only is the musicianship entirely compelling, which is to be expected from long-time jazz performers, but the EMOTIONAL component, so necessary for me to really deeply enjoy a jazz album, is so well done -- not only being able to draw me in but also fluidly move me from state to state -- that i HAVE to say that this is a watershed work for the composers, Metheny/Mays. Throughout the album there are touches which are so deft and insightful that i can't help but love "The Way Up" much as i did "The Pat Metheny Group." This is a fusion jazz album with the familiar "jazz sound" (horns, harmonicas and the whole bit,) but with that glossy and shining aura that Metheny and friends are so good at producing. Extremely positive and energizing vibes! 02-04-05 Gerald Jay Markoe "Meditation Music of Ancient Egypt" Astromusic, 2004 MY RELATIONSHIP with the music of Gerald Jay Markoe is interesting. I first came into contact with it because nearly every radio station i worked at in the 80s and 90s had his early cassettes in the shelves. His release, "Music From the Pleiades," opens with a stunning piece of space music, "Pleiades," which i loved and played repeatedly on my electronic shows. Yet, i found most of the other work, in my then view, as stilted and almost "dorky." Well, then he released his works that are under the name, Ancient Brotherhood, and i was blown away. I can still strongly recommend "Where The Earth Touches The Stars" as a GREAT Native American motif Visionary disc! I've witnessed people from many different walks of life fall in love with this album and want a copy. that disc has modern beats and a truly magical atmosphere. "Star Spirits" is more meditative, with the predominance of flute, but delicious also. Markoe then entered a classical phase, from which i acquired the initial release, but i again found it stilted. To his credit, his "Angels" and "Mozart" releases have been absolutely fantastic commerical performers in the new age sector. It was with the release of "Zen Meditation" that i sensed an evolution, a new understanding of the use of sound in Markoe. That album is a wonderful meditation device that i associate in my mind with the classic "Music For Zen Meditation" from the 60s. Only, Markoe's is state-of-the-art production and a wizened use of synthesis. So it was with some confidence that i purchased "Meditation Music of Ancient Egypt." this is actually an album that i've ALWAYS wanted ever since i got into Visionary music. using traditional tunings and improving on traditional themes, Markoe has created an environment so conducive to evoking/invoking the spiritual powers of the Egyptian mythos that it is simply, well, astounding. The "stiltedness" of Markoe that i once thought i heard or saw, is actually very appropriate for sitting upright in a posture conducive to meditation. in fact, i would say that where once Markoe was "channelling" what he sense as a Pleiadian kind of energy or influence, he has now expanded to be able to represent valid meditational states which are tinged with a representational "ambience" of a cultural world- feeling. anybody who wanted to tryp on an Egyptian motif would do well to design this album as backsound in the working. it would be interesting to hear Markoe's interpretations of various indigenous mystical traditions around the world. he also has an album of interpretations of Pramahamsa Yogananda's music which i may pick up. i'd like to see what he could do with the icaros of the ayahuasceros of south america! in sum, if you are looking for a meditative music based on authentic egyptian tunings, melodies, and instruments, but with a modern sound and synthesis, this would be a decent choice. 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. Karl Bartos "Communication" Home Records/Sony Music, 2003 BARTOS was a member of Kraftwerk for a while. This work stands in distinct contrast to Kraftwerk's recent, "Tour De France," in that it is an unabashed POP album. For those who liked Kraftwerk's smash pop hits, say as featured on their disc, "The Mix," this disc might actually be more satisfying than "Tour De France." i'd go so far as to say that it would have been a big eighties dance hit if it had been released back then. With a general theme of what it is to be human in the hightech age, "Communication" pumps out krafty electrodance tunes that are just plain fun and have memorable melodies that get stuck in your head forever just like POP was meant to be. But the level of expertise and thoughtful consideration here is quite impressive. the whole thing is almost like a modular sculpture. from the austere international symbols of the cover, to the way the cd case itself opens and the bonus and marvellous video one can play on a computer, the whole thing is superbly thought out. even the two songs i didn't initially like as much grew on me quickly. anybody who misses the space age party atmosphere of synthdisco kraftwerk circa 1980s will find some welcome vibrations here! excellent job! hope he makes more! Various Tidbits: XTC-"Black Sea"-Virgin, 1980/2001 THIS digitally remastered version of a classic progressive new wave album is spot on, beautifully done, includes the right bonus tracks at the END, rather than breaking up the original track order and is generally a great pleasure to behold. These are not just punk toons, or post-disco "cash in" toss offs, but an extremely well-executed and compelling disc that stands the test of time. While i highly admire "English Settlement" and "Skylarking," (and own numerous others,) "Black Sea" will always be my fave, blasting away the clouds of depression and angst with great musicanship and cheeky lyrics. LOUD rock. PAT METHENY-"We Live Here"-Geffen, 1995. I LOVED the first album, "Pat Metheny Group" and hoped for more like it, but Pat has a long and varied discography which occasionally returns to the jazzrock ambience of that initial release. While i enjoyed "Witchita Falls," i owned and sold it off TWICE. i would probably buy it again if a digital remastering came out. i WANTED to like "Watercolors" and "New Chataqua," but they were too soft and arty for me at the time of their release. I enjoyed and own a copy of "Offramp," which somewhat brought back that semi-rock flavour i'd so enjoyed. but i pretty much tuned out after that. i recently went on a pat metheny kick because he has SO many albums now. i hoped to find those that brought back the flavour. after listening to all the albums samples at Amazon, i decided to try "We Live Here." i can honestly state that i have an interest in "Still Life (Talking)" and "Imaginary Day." in fact, i probably will buy "imaginary day" eventually. anyway... "We Live Here" has rock beats for at least the first half of the disc. it's like having a Steely Dan instrumental album with Metheny playing solos over it! there are sly references to Marvin Gaye. the overall mood is very positive and uplifting. i was kept interested throughout and felt satisfied at the end. on repeated listen, it grew on me and i can HAPPILY place it next to "The Pat Metheny Group" and "Offramp" as a keeper! I just noticed that a NEW Pat Metheny disc was JUST released, "The Way Up," and i've already ordered it as i assumed my Metheny jag was tuning into the vibe of the new release. i'll tell you about it later. WARNING: this album is true Soft Jazz. it has that Metheny feel that is so familiar from Adult Contemporary radio (although Pat, with his longtime friend Lyle Mays, know how to write a good piece of music!) That being said, i think any big fan of Steely Dan would find this rewarding. i'll be on this one for years! 01-05-05 Steve Roach ~ Byron Metcalf ~ Mark Selig "Mantram" Projekt, 2004. THIS IS a continuum piece, 73:38 long, presented in eight movements. Synthmaestro Steve Roach teams up with Metcalf on percussion and Selig on bansuri flute to create a meditative piece that has north indian musical features, accented by tamboura played by Stefen Gordon, while also swirling in the familiar, delicious soundworlds of dark ambient bliss that Roach and his collabs with Metcalf are known for. Selig's flute playing incorporates Native American motifs with the Indian oneswhich give the atmosphere even further exotic possiblities. I would cast the time frame "feel" of this work as pre-dawn or post- sunset/early evening. The darkness is luminous and occasionally Light emerges softly then merges with the Night again. I could definitely see chanting using this disc as a vibratory pace. Steve allows the didjeridoo to be more emphasized in this recording and the common drone with the tamboura is new and interesting to those familiar with travel through the Time Room soundworlds. There is a reverence throughout which is reminiscent of his recent 4-cd set, "Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces," which i very much enjoy as a fine mixture of Shine & Shade. Although this disc does not break any "new" ground as what happens when Steve rips a completely watershed recording out of the Void, it is a fine and positive backsound for chanting, ritual work or yoga. I've been using it primarily for relaxation before bed, mid-evening. 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? Click here for reviews prior to 2005 Return to Main Page