Melodic
ambient and progressive electronic music. A Day Within Days
is an album of gentle, contemplative beauty. Delicate themes
and serene beats welcome the listener into a suite of poignant
compositions where piano and synthetic voices overlay dreamy
arrangements of soft, buoyant pads and washes. Orchestral
strings and somewhat operatic female vocalisations subtly
bring touches of classical grace. In places the intensity
amasses with rhythms built around a live drumkit sound and
lush, effected guitar patterns. The final piece sees Michael
Allison demonstrating that he has an appealing voice, this
song managing to maintain the spell and mood admirably.
Listen to this album in certain frames of mind and you'll
be equally likely to well up with tears or float in blissful
reverie.
ARTWORK
Presented
in tasteful monochrome, the focus of the artwork here is a
series of images that show the artist apparently deep in thought.
On the front cover Allison stands before a lush black and
white landscape five string bass in hand. When the jewelcase
is opened out, the insert is revealed bearing a small photograph
of lost friend Juan Maciel; a dedication is here and the touching
line - You Are Missed. The rear cover of the CD sees Allison
again in rural setting, framed by a dark doorway, track titles
running down the left panel of black. The inner section of
the four panel insert has a pair of paragraphs on one side;
a gear list and recording information; a thankyou list, wife
Nicky placed first.
OVERALL
Michael
Allison returns as Darshan Ambient with his latest release
A Day Within Days. This tenth album via the Lotuspike label
builds on the emotional expression of 2008's From Pale Hands
To Weary Skies. Nine tracks of wistful grace and relaxing,
heart-felt music that touches the listener right from the
start. The album is dedicated to Allison's 'lifelong friendship
with Juan Maciel' who passed away in 2009. This seems most
appropriate since the artist points to Maciel not only as
a past musical collaborator, but also as a mentor and an
influence on the whole outlook and approach taken up as
Darshan Ambient. A Day Within Days is a very satisfying
release from an artist that is gathering powerful momentum.
Listen to the clips at Lotuspike's associate site Spotted
Peccary.
Ambient
electronic glitchscapes. These remixes from the Hummingbird
originals have a delightful hazy fragility about them; reminiscent
of dusty, old flecked and scratched photographs found in
the attic, these mood pieces are full of subtle layers,
partially hidden textures and brittle fragments. The original
material comes to the fore in places; live instruments,
melodic forms, electronic constructs and sonic environments
but often these soft focus re-presentations submerge the
obvious and revolve around the essence of the music, the
source material distant and dreamy. Elegant strings waft
in the air spattered with clicks and pops or bathed is hiss
and static; doleful piano meanders over gently undulating
drones and carefully crafted noise. I like the term "implied
melody" used in the promotional material to describe
the hints of harmonic structure that ebb and flow in places
of equal prominence with the textural interweaving and effected
field recordings.
ARTWORK
The
artwork that I have seen to date is for the digital release
of this album. The electronic package arrived with eleven
high definition images, one for each track of the album. The
Facture
website explains its policy to packaging: "To aim
for an individual and bespoke delivery of digital audio, with
PDF digital photo booklets and further artwork with each release…
[each release will feature] extra context and content which
will expand on the themes of the release. And, in keeping
with our egalitarian approach, all files will be “name
your own price”. Physical packing of CDs appear to be
planned with similar care and finesse to mother label Fluid
Audio, Facture tells us: "Along with each digital release
the label will deliver bespoke limited edition cd’s…
There will be 50/100 on offer for each project and will come
delivered in a very special way!"
OVERALL
When
Fluid Audio released Hummingbird’s “Our Fearful
Symmetry” the identity of the artist responsible for
the music was kept a secret. All that interested listeners
were told was that Hummingbird "is the non de plume
of an otherwise well known composer". The limited edition
of the Symmetry album was a rapid sell-out and so the remixes
package is an opportunity to get your hands on a physical
package of this sensitively reworked music before that too
goes. The eleven tracks here maintain the high level of
musical integrity and quality that we have come to associate
with Fluid Audio. If you'd like a taste of what this intriguing
package contains, why not have a look at the beautifully
shot video on the Facture
site.
Neoclassical,
melodic ambient. Journey's End is a gentle, engrossing album
that takes the listener through a range of appealing instrumental
vistas. Opening with a drifting arrangement of warm ambient,
beatless drone and texture, the album progresses via some
delicate piano pieces into rhythmic sections with keening
electric guitar and ponderous pace, onward via a section where
the music takes on more of a 'new age' or ethereal electronic
nature with subdued choral voices to the acoustic guitar and
vibes lounge sound of the penultimate 5 Years before winding
down with the classically oriented strings and piano of the
emotive title track. For me the most poignant pieces are the
wistful, meandering Wax Branches where beautifully fragile
piano lines take the lead over airy synthetic washes and the
equally reflective Reaching Out, where the electronic soundscaping
is a little more prominent, suggestive of heavenly light and
weightless reverie, once more with sensitive, melancholy piano
phrases pulling at the heart.
ARTWORK
Journey's
End arrives in a jewel case with a glossy single sheet insert.
The front cover image is centred on the intricate silhouette
of a tree against a night sky, a matching shadow cast onto
the immediate foreground. This bedarkened scene has the viewer
peering into the image looking for hidden detail and enjoying
the obscurity of the natural forms. Track titles are on the
rear, each with running time alongside; relevant websites
are also listed here. The flip side of the insert provides
a paragraph on Howard Ferré himself and another introducing
the Journey's End. A repeat of the tracklist and relevant
credits lie further down the sheet.
OVERALL
Howard
Ferré describes himself as a Neoclassical / Ambient
composer who has been prolific in creating original music
and sound for the theatre for over 25 years. This debut album
sees the artist crafting a touching listening experience that
is aptly named; the shifting tenor of the music indeed transports
the audience both emotionally and musically. The nine tracks
here have a fine balance between melodic subtlety and thematic
beauty, for the most part hanging back in tasteful restraint;
rewarding to focus on fully or to leave floating in the background.
The Ferrestudios
website provides more general background on Ferré's
musical activities and the Howardferremusic
concentrates on his personal projects such as this. The album
is available at Amazon and iTunes if you'd like to try some
samples before buying.
MORPHEUS
MUSIC REVIEWS
----------Solar
Fields - [Origin # 01]
STYLE
Ambient
electronica and digital soundscaping. From the softness
of deep, beatless tone zones through multilayered pieces
of entwined beats, sequences and melody to guitar and vocals
(yes vocals with lyrics) Origin reveals aspects of Solar
Fields that both surprise and satisfy expectations. There
are some beautiful moments here, Next Waiting and Automatic
Sun for example, as glorious and full of climactic bliss
as anything off the other albums. The track Bigger Stream
is probably the most obvious deviation from the usual Solar
Fields sound; here Magnus brings his own voice to the fore,
singing his own lyrics in an underplayed, low vocal style
over guitar loops, balalaika and elektro modified sitar.
You can also hear Magnus' singing on the concluding Oct,
where a pacey train-like rhythm propelled by Per Stenbeck's
bass builds over fifteen minutes fifty seconds into a gradual
crescendo. This time the voice is heavily effected and most
prominent in the rather rocking final passage where the
drums are played like a standard kit and electric guitars
strum and twist among the electronica.
ARTWORK
Origin
# 01 is contained in a slim digipack free of all plastic.
There are two panels in gatefold format, all presented in
smooth shades of pale blue grey. Outside a single image fills
both front and back - a still winter scene with the unbroken
even undulations of the snow echoed in the steely sky. Frozen
trees break the horizon heavy with ice and frost. A horizontal
band holds titles and on the reverse, logos and addresses.
Track titles hang in the sky, white like snow. Inside another
single photograph fills the whole space; fir-like plant forms
surrounded by deep shadow dominate the right section. This
is where the disc sits, neatly slotted into a pocket cut into
the card. To the left is an extended track list with dates
and some instrumental information.
OVERALL
Ultimae
delivers Origin # 01 as a collection of archived recordings
from one of the label's brightest stars. These diverse pieces
are both typical of Solar Fields and at times unexpected.
All were created over the past decade and are laid out here
in no relation to date order, rather a coherent musical
journey guides the track progression. The promotional material
explains: "At times we'll be tempted to give a date
to the music composition because there's a specific feel
to it which reminds us of a moment or of an album; at others
we're thrown in the pure flow of inspiration and that is
timeless." These previously unreleased tracks are aimed
at revealing a broader insight into Magnus Birgersson's
sonic identity and there are more to come, with Origin #
01 being just the first of four albums. You can read more
and listen to the music at the Ultimae
website should you wish.
MORPHEUS
MUSIC REVIEWS
----------Aes
Dana - [Perimeters]
STYLE
Neoclassical
threads, ambient groove, delicate downtempo. Aes Dana returns
with a series of delightful downbeat mood pieces where intricate
programmed beats and light trance pulses drive doleful violins
and cellos and subtly emotive electronic harmonies. Lilting
strings (courtesy of Field Rotation) on the opening track
drift across lazy beats like mists over the landscape, this
blend of orchestral elegance and digital finesse suits Aes
Dana’s musical sensitivity well. The title track mesmerises
with familiar regularity of rhythm, the throb of trance bass
lines rising out of hazy atmospheric pads, beats ebbing away
to faint clicks and flickers or mechanically percolating in
pace with the bass; sparse melodic motifs of unusual tone
add periodic highlights. The backbone of the album is constructed
around similar format; hypnotic kick and bass against wistful,
floating synthetic texture, field recordings and peculiar
peripherals. Introductions to the tracks are unhurried, gradual
progressions from airy beatlessness or crystal veined spaciness;
percussives amassing almost imperceptibly. Interesting interludes
come in the form of the two minute forty eight second Xylem
and Antimatter Ante at three minutes twenty nine – intriguing
sonic environments of lustrous expanse.
ARTWORK
Ultimae
update their standard presentation with this release. The
traditional black letterboxing has been replaced with a
single dark band toward the bottom of the cover. The panoramic
approach remains: a three panel design showing the filigree
complexities of woodland twigs and branches overlaid with
vertical bands of light and dark that could suggest further
tree forms and beams of light or could as easily infer the
abstracted influence of technology. Titles sit within the
darkened band and track titles hang in white on the rear
section, each with playing time. The inner layout consists
of a spread of hazy green/turquoise grass blade images,
the disc capturing a heavy, soft focus bee in the centre
panel. There is a sixteen page booklet slotted out of sight
inside the right panel. Each track of the album has its
own page, a suitable photograph accompanying the brief credits,
recording details, thanks and dedications. The last pages
include a chiaroscuro profile portrait of the artist, facial
features picked out of blackness with a fine band of light.
Here are generous sections of thanks laid out in three paragraphs.
All in all a gorgeous package as always.
OVERALL
Ultimae
Records releases [Perimeters] as follow-up to Vincent Villuis’
2009 presentation Leylines. This fifth Aes Dana album has
a beautiful, introspective, melancholy dreaminess about it
powered by the periodic insistence of masterfully crafted
trance beats. Environmental recordings add presence to a number
of the compositions, gathered from the cloisters of Les Dominicains
de Haute Alsace where Vincent has been artist in residence.
The influence of German composer Christoph Berg is also cited
as a source of ‘new depth’ to the current music.
Exquisite production is, as expected, a match to the musicality
of [Perimeters]. Ultimae naturally has audio on the website
so that you can taste and see before buying.
MORPHEUS
MUSIC REVIEWS
----------Various
Artists - Kazem
STYLE
Psychedelic
trance and dancefloor electronica. Kazem sees a collection
of like minded artists drawn together by a common bond of
personal appreciation for Syncronize Records' label partner
Kazem. The pacey psychedelia here features thumping rhythms
and rapidly pulsing basses set against acidic phrases, elastic
motifs and corrosive zap tapestries. Melodic structures
tend to be brief and sharp, sometimes repeating in tight
cycles, sometimes arpeggiators taking the lead. Spoken voice
snippets echo distantly, muse, repeat and elucidate among
the plastic squeak and hi-voltage charge of the synths.
The tracks here are all dance-floor oriented with gutsy
130-150bpm grooves maintaining an unrelenting heavy momentum
throughout.
MOOD
The
mood of Kazem is primarily one of joyful submission to rhythm,
the mind is heavily stimulated by the intricacies and colours
of the arps and sequencers, the body by the urgency of the
beats. The ripple and pulse of the basslines defy stillness;
insistent, relentless, raw dancefloor material. There is an
unmissable power and vibrancy to this release, but once the
mechanism of the grooves is absorbed, the subtleties become
more evident; evolving patterns, emergent voices, rhythmic
complexities. Arising ethnic elements periodically surface,
morph and are absorbed back into the mix providing an earthy
tribal flavour in contrast to the strongly technical primary
emphasis.
ARTWORK
As
busy, lively and colourful as the music, artwork features
a collage of entwined and overlaid graphic weaves in bright
rainbow hues. The front cover holds simple titles and the
label logo, most space given over to the intricacies of the
visuals. A somewhat more muted palette on the rear sees a
similar weave backdrop with track titles overlaid in white.
The tracklist is repeated on the back of the two page insert,
the brighter yellows and oranges here adding to a Central
American Aztec or Mayan feel. Innermost, the scale of the
weave is enlarged and a hazy effect achieved by multilevel
transparent overlays. Here can be found relevant thanks and
a special note to Kazem.
OVERALL
Syncronize
Records return after a three year hiatus with their first
compilation album. Following the two debut releases Psychogenica
and Phantasmatika, the label went on hold since Axel was pursuing
other projects and partner Kazem sadly became seriously ill
with Leukaemia. It is the subsequent death of Kazem that prompted
the dedication of this album, the contributing artists almost
all being personal friends. Recordings come from Ajja &
Dymons, Zimon, Yab Yum & Apex, Genepool, Ajja, Ianuaria,
Gaspard & Ajja, Adrenokrohm, Yab Yum and Flooting Grooves.
The best place to explore the sounds of the album and read
up some more information would appear to be the label's Myspace
page where a player can be found running each piece on
the disc.
WHO
WILL LIKE THIS ALBUM
Kazem will suit dancefloor lovers with its
consistent upbeat movement. Clearly not aiming for the melodic,
atmospheric end of the spectrum, this is more a collection
for fans of energetic electronica littered with the sinews,
guts and muscles of synths pushed to the limits. A shadowy,
confident album that will not disappoint anyone who appreciated
previous Syncronize material.
