MORPHEUS MUSIC REVIEWS

MORPHEUS MUSIC REVIEWS

Ambient electronica with subtle melodies and occasional rhythmic structure. Stories From The Forest sees Thom Brennan constructing a suite of his trademark lush, sonic sound beds and then overlaying these with delicate melody lines carried by piano and keening sustain guitar in an evolutionary step that impressively deepens the artist's sonic mythos. The music begins gently - a misty build up of smooth drones winding like fingers of fog among light echoing piano and tinkling chimes, everything is in soft focus, steeped in colour, touched with mystery - subsequent tracks thicken the sound, rhythmic sequences welling up within the ambience, at times rising into a dense current of musical movement, sometimes little more than a breeze barely rufflling the stillness. Associating the sound with the theme - the listener 'sees' the unity of the surrounding forest in the broad pads and swells, 'feels' the swaying of the branches caught by the measured rising and falling of intensities and tone, the minutiae of twigs, leaves and underfoot tangle are gathered up in the rhythms and detail within the mix - short susurrations and chirrs echoing in fractured patterns. The tracks flow from one to another in a natural progression - shifts in the light, changes in weather, a fresh aspect, an altered viewpoint - the focus remains constant though; awe of nature, wonder of being there, drinking in the senses, complete absorption.

Thom Brennan has such a solid history in the ambient music genre, his extensive discography now is a compact and highly professional body of work reflecting a deep commitment to his art. Personally I enjoy the lightest aspects of Thom's work especially - parts one and seven of this latest album being an utter delight, drifting and ethereal, lifting the listener on silken currents that spiral and twist in sleepy reverie (I'm quietly hoping for more like this sometime). But these most blissful of passages are well located among the other intensities and densities of the album. In connection with this release the website holds the quotation "Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven" - Rabindranath Tagore. The CD is released through Thom's own TMB Soundworks, it seems that he has everything well sewn up right now - the website looks classy and elegant, there are plenty of listening options, music on disc or mp3 format and a new album that will cement his status as ambient heavyweight beyond question.

MORPHEUS MUSIC REVIEWS

International songs built around a fusion of traditional Middle Eastern instrumentation and subtle electronica. Niyaz brings together three complementary talents in enthusiastic unity - vocalist Azam Ali, player Loga Ramin Torkian and digital wizard Carmen Rizzo. The resultant sound is a cross cultural album that doesn't use world sound merely as flavour or simply for effect. The compositions are rich with Iranian, Turkish and other Middle Eastern arrangements - strings twang in deft wiry fretwork, chime in clear patterns or wind in bowed ectasy whilst energetic hand drums boom and clatter. Indeed much of the album is powerfully rhythmic, showcasing the distinctive beauty of this evocative percussion. Ali sings Turkish and Urdu poetry, folk verses from Khorassan and timeless Persian lyrics with her unique passionate, cinematic approach. Free of the heady beats and thump of the drums for a while on the atmospheric Iman, Ali's voice floats and swirls among airy flutes and synthetic drones in echoing reverie - reminding us why she is currently of such international renown. Guest musicians bring tablas, bendir, darbuka and flutes along with additional vocals to the mix. Carmen Rizzo manages to achieve an almost transparent smoothness to his electronic contribution - his synthetic underpinning warming the music, his carefully crafted FX dropping intriguing little shifts into the sound.

MORPHEUS MUSIC REVIEWS

Soft tranquil ambient zones and huge shadowy spaces. This is initially a very gentle, serene album of floatational minimalism that gradually shifts in character with the incoming night and opening up of infinite space. Brannan Lane uses light undulating drones and meandering phrases to create airy expanses and broad, atmospheric head spaces that relax and lull the listener in a similar way to cloud gazing on a warm evening. Underplayed melody lines on xylophone-like wood chimes, synth voices and blurry pads sometimes take a prominent role, at other times operating further back in the mix as if carried on the breeze. Effected chimes and reversed wavs glisten when sharp or lustre dimly, muted, subdued - sonic turbulence ruffling the softness. Indistinct shufflings and disturbances inhabit some of the darker corners as the music fades to black - cloud gazing becomes star gazing, the earlier nearness of crepuscular hues in the sky eventually replaced by an abyssal vastness. Percussive thumps and metallic booms appear toward the end, rattling shakers and tapping lattices working in uneasy rhythm - eventually echoing in emptiness.

MORPHEUS MUSIC REVIEWS

The artwork for Mossebo comes in a jewel case mostly adorned with colourful abstract imagery. The front cover is bisected by a ragged black strip parting indigo from orange that almost looks like a landscape turned on its side - heavy sky to the right, sunset sea to the left. On the back cover deeper, more saturated hues in abstract formation similarly suggest possible resolution. The tracklist is here each with a writing credit alongside - below more brief credits particularly drawing attention to the vocal work of Lisa Barra. Inside the album opens out to reveal first a photograph of a snow covered house (I'm guessing this is where the music was recorded in keeping with the album title). The insert further opens out to reveal a track by track discussion of the music, explaining influential ideas, recording details and various thoughts from the artist. A paragraph of thanks follows and finally Johan says 'Be kind to animals,' good advice.

Johan Agebjörn has been recording for some years now, perhaps he is most widely known for his work with Sally Shapiro the neo-italo electronica dance project; however he has also produced solo music through his personal label Husmus Media, named after the mice that formed his earliest audiences. That said Mossebo is presented as Johan's first solo album 'proper' - and brings together tracks composed mostly during the years 2004 through to 2007, with one earlier track initially written as far back as 1996 beginning life on an Atari sequencer. Based in Gothenburg Sweden, this time Johan releases his album via Lotuspike choosing the title Mossebo after the name of the house where he lived during the creation of the music. Eleven tracks in all make up this strong disc of diverse electronic terrain united by an interest in folk tradition and ambient expression with a slightly melancholy northern chill to the air.

MORPHEUS MUSIC REVIEWS

Smooth, luminous, mostly beatless ambience. The music here is frequently of silken softness, gently heaving beds of tone, welling drones and velvet textures. The CD opens very gradually, the music drifting in like mists from the ocean, undulating rhythms unfolding into easy motion. The surface is warm, consonant, harmonious, yet somewhere just beneath, the darkness holds uncertainty, a touch of coldness that might unfurl and envelop everything. As the album progresses various musical devices allow the sound to surround the listener with different environmental effect - liquid motion and burbling sonic bubbles suggest submergence, sequential patterns propel the listener through the soundscape, ethereal air movement and spiralling wispy vapours evoke enveloping weightless swirls. The density of the sound thickens in places to a heavy mass where lighter threads swell and glide within the pitching gloom - an almost choral tone lending a sense of dramatic mystery - before falling away once more into a thinner airy vastness. The final tracks are incredibly restful; serene meandering washes of tone as soft as sighs and delicate strings touched with a melancholy beauty establishing a blissful environment that eventually ebbs wistfully away back into the silence that opened the album.

Released in 2006 Shift To The Ghost is the third album from Numina released via Hypnos Recordings. Made up of seven evolving compositions, each unique and having its own distinct character, the album nevertheless runs seamlessly as one long-form continuous piece. The concept behind the music is to do with the life and death of the physical self - but of course, music of this nature is sufficiently open for the listener to let that mean what he will. Perhaps the most powerful impression conveyed is through the pervasive serenity and enduring peace of the latter pieces - this eternal possibility is welcoming and familiar. Jesse Sola manages to create a synthetic depth that in places rivals the richness of orchestral music, multiple layers and multifarious underlying detail, at times almost imperceptible, making for an engrossing listening experience. Building upon the powerful foundation laid down with Eye Of The Nautilus Shift To The Ghost further establishes Numina's creative individuality as one to watch.