REVIEW: Bryan Carrigan - passing lights

BRYAN CARRIGAN

passing lights 

Peonies Music (2011)

Electronic keyboardist/synthesist/rhythm programming expert Bryan Carrigan is garnering a reputation for crafting great electronic music – well-layered, flawlessly produced and engineered and laden with abundant hooks and infectious beats so that the tunes are damn near irresistible. I reviewed focus, his world-beat infused electronica release, for Zone Music Reporter. passing lights takes Carrigan's music into a more overt EM landscape, seamlessly meshing elements of chill-out, synth-pop, dub, rhythmic ambient, and retro EM into another tasty assemblage of ear candy. passing lights is custom-tailored to be driving music (hence its title, I'd wager), especially late night urban excursions along neon-lit city boulevards, although it could certainly make rural highway drives a pleasant occasion as well.

"balloons" kicks the CD off in fine fashion with echoed blips over a bed of retro buzzing textures, frenetic beats, thumping bass, and finger-snap accompaniment, all of which come before the lead melody emerges - a dramatic, soaring keyboard line that evokes traveling at high speeds. "the flickering" opens with shadowy, warbling noises, but soon becomes a bass-heavy snare/high hat dub-esque affair, meriting comparison to all those classic Waveform "A.D." releases from way-back-when. "shades" features shimmering tones of different types and pitches against a backdrop of downtempo thumping bass beats and shuffling rhythmic textures. "ten times two" lightens the mood and introduces subtle world music flavors via wooden flute and tuned metal percussion, but again a heavy bass beat anchors the music solidly in the electronic genre, which only intensifies when the lead synth line is introduced. The mood is somewhat melancholic, if, that is, energetic, driving beats can ever be said to be melancholic. It's a unique wrinkle, one that Carrigan delves into now and then.

"centipede" carries a hint of Asian or Indian spice, once again via sampled ethnic instruments as well as how the melody is crafted, while "you me equals we" revisits some of the same sonic elements first heard on "the flickering" but twisting them into something new nonetheless. Dub rears its head on the midtempo beat-fest "destination now" but it's dub spiced up with some world music touches that sound either North African or Middle Eastern to my ears, as if it this music could be heard at a cyber café located in a desert village town square. "drive home" dials down the beats to a slower tempo and heads into a jazzy vein with a swirling muted trumpet line along with what sounds like a Fender Rhodes electric piano (tweaked a bit, though). There are two more tracks still to come - the frenetic quasi-Berlin styled "hidden spaces" (which reminds me of Can Atilla's album Omni) and the sparse non-rhythmic closer, "beginnings" (interesting title for the last track!) - a drifting, ambient piano number, accented with swelling electronic drones and textures underneath the echoed piano notes. Being the only cut without beats, it's as if the artist is saying "Here, finally, is some time to catch your breath." It's an appropriately quiet, subdued ending to an album that revs the listener up and takes him/her on a ride across a rhythmic expanse of musical marvels.

As I write this review, I am also poised to write my review of Carrigan's brand new release, windows, which sees this talented electronic music artist head in yet another distinctly different direction, that being a merging of electronic-based new age and ambient music. It seems that Bryan Carrigan's bag of tricks is like Hermione Granger's handbag - bottomless and filled with wondrous items. 

The album is available directly from the artist (sound clips available here as well) or at CDBaby. 

Just arrived last week...

Lots of new music came to my mailbox last week...no images this time (sorry!).

• Isadar's solo piano holiday release, O Christmas features 10 arrangements of (mostly) well know traditional carols of the season.
• I also got a copy of guitarist Wall Matthews 2010 holiday release titled simply Christmas Guitar which, like Isadar's album, features arrangements of classics (14 tracks in all).
• Bryan Carrigan, a talented keyboard player whose 2011 release Passing Lights was a real ear-pleaser (look for my review of that CD very soon), has just released Windows and I have little doubt it will once again showcase his electronic keyboard wizardry.
• Michael Brant DeMaria has released some stellar work over the last few years, so I'm obviously looking forward to hearing his latest, The Maiden of Stonehenge.
• Danny Wright is in the processing of re-releasing the creme de la creme of his past catalog (which he recently acquired the rights to) and I received three of these anticipated discs: Black & White (in a special 25th Anniversary edition), Just Wright For Christmas, and Phantasys.
  
  And I forgot to mention these two fine albums in my last Just Arrived post, but want to make sure they get included here:
• Michael Allison, aka Darshan Ambient, has been one of my faves for years and years and his new one is Falling Light. Really looking forward to hearing this one.
• Two highly talented ambient artists (Richard Roberts, aka Zero Ohms, and Craig Padilla) team up for the third time on When The Earth Is Far Away, which I have little doubt will be amazing.

REVIEW: Jeff Pearce - In the Season of Fading Light

JEFF PEARCE

In the Season of Fading Light

Self-released (2012)

Jeff Pearce, the master of evocative ambient guitar and purveyor of sublime Chapman stick instrumentals has apparently decided that "the world is not enough," and has now added piano to his tool box, as it were. And, of course, he uses this new tool as artistically as he has his previous ones, evidenced throughout his piano debut In the Season of Fading Light [be sure to read the * footnote at the review's end for important information about the CD's origins and Pearce's charitable aspect of this release].

Graced with a startlingly gorgeous cover by Teodora Chinde (as beautiful, if not more so, than 2008's Rainshadow Sky), flawless mastering by Corin Nelsen, and graphic design by Hypnos label founder Mike Griffin, In the Season of Fading Light displays three distinct "personas" to Pearce's composing and piano playing. One of these is no doubt due to the influence of noted pianist Philip Aaberg (whose online piano lessons Pearce is taking). This style is reflected in pieces such as "Autumn and Regret II," "The Road and the Wind" and "Into Spring." These songs are less melancholic and possess a more defined melody, although could still be classified as tone poems. The second type of music on the album (which I would describe as vintage Pearce) may be best exemplified on the opening title track, featuring plaintive piano accented by Pearce's always emotive ambient guitar which sighs softly underneath the sparse, intimate moody shadows of the piano. "After the Frost" could also fall into this category, especially if one imagines Jeff playing the same forlorn melody on either Chapman stick or guitar. The heartrending sad beauty of "Words from the Rain" (with an expertly applied backdrop of falling rain) is indicative of the third type of music on the album, one that bears a strong resemblance to the minimalist chamber style of Tim Story (note the deeply echoed piano on this track, a device that Story uses on many of his solo works).

All of the thirteen tracks on In the Season… are winners, as the mood crisscrosses various moods and sensations: the subtle liveliness of "Autumn and Regret II," the somber yet slowly rolling fluidity of "Where the Rivers Begin," a faint whisper of hope (with a hint of church hymn music contained in the melody) in "Harvest Prayer," a dash of jazz amidst the sepia tones of "Newfallen," and the deep (almost funereal) drama of "Where All Rivers End," on which the cries of ambient guitar form a subdued wailing of sorrow amidst the stark darkness of the piano, accented by other ambient textures underneath.

It may be that long time readers of my reviews will view this gushing praise of In the Season of Fading Light as Binkelman going all sycophantic on yet another Pearce release. If such is the case, so be it. When I hear talent this obvious, I call it like I hear it – and I hear Jeff Pearce's genius once again in evidence.

*Twelve of the thirteen tracks on In the Season of Fading Light were originally released as the Provision Series, digital-download-only singles which were released monthly beginning in July 2011. Jeff Pearce donated a part of each sale to a different charity each month, taking particular care to select charities which were (according to the artist's website "… run through the databases of a few organizations that monitor a charity's activities." Now with the release of In the Season of Fading Light, Jeff Pearce is donating one dollar from the sale of each album to the charity Feeding America. More info, including Jeff's reasons for doing great work available is at Jeff Pearce's website. While I have no doubt he will bristle at my writing this, Jeff Pearce's example should serve as a beacon to all of us, especially given how many people in America (and elsewhere) are in dire straits right now. I applaud him for this generous gesture and his commitment to caring about the plight of others in such a direct manner.

The album is available from Amazon, CDBaby, and iTunes.

Just arrived...

Here's what showed up in my mail box this week so far:

 Pianist Kevin Kern's holiday CD, Christmas (solo piano renditions of standards that I'll bet makes for great "in front of the fire" music this winter). Look for this review in my annual holiday music column at Zone Music Reporter.

An album titled Kailasa from the artist who goes by Mingo...I'll have to go to the artist's website to get the gist of this since I have no idea what it sounds like. Mingo is a musical persona pseudonym for Christopher Wilson. I see my pal John over at Hypnagogue has reviewed previous works, so this will certainly merit a spin or two.

From the new age music duo Mirabai Ceiba, their new one on Spirit Voyage titled between the shores of our souls (produced by Jamshied Sharifi, so it's bound to be highly listenable). I have reviewed previous releases from them in Retailing Insight (formerly New Age Retailer), so look for it there for sure.

Frank Macchia is the bandleader of Swamp Thang, a buncha cool cats who can swing with the best of them. Their second release is Fried Zombie Stew (just in time for Halloween). If it's anything like their self-titled debut, it's gonna be a mishmash of funk, blues, jazz, swing, and basically every kind of music that begs to be played loud.

Status update: Wind and Wire returning soon

My sincere thanks to those intrepid souls who responded to my last post (of almost 2 years ago) about this site possibly relaunching. I recently posed this question and its viability on a Facebook group (New Age and Ambient Music Business Forum) and received near unanimous support there as well (with the caveat that this wasn't me biting off more than I can chew). As to that latter point, I won't know if that is the case until I try. However, I do believe it's almost time to kick things into gear, as I can feel my reviewing zeal waning over the last year or so and I desperately need to come up with some way to kick-start it. I intend to continue reviewing for both Zone Music Reporter and Retailing Insight. For now, a lot of what is reviewed here will either be older releases that I never got to for ZMR or albums that came to me without being flagged for a review venue or were submitted to Wind and Wire. In the event a recent  album arrives at my door step with "Zone Music Reporter" as the addressee, I will contact the artist asking for permission to switch the review to here, if I am inclined to do so (with the possibility that the review here will be cross-posted there as well). This all sounds more complicated than it is bound to be (I hope). Once word travels through cyberspace that Wind and Wire is once again a viable source for reviews, I hope this shuffling the deck will not be necessary. This re-launch of Wind and Wire is a work in progress and you can expect some bumps along the way.

Until the first new review goes up, please let me know what you think about the "semi-new look" here (I have tweaked things a bit, added a site search engine, and a few other new wrinkles)

I want to give a tip o' the hat to my esteemed colleague, John Shanahan, who runs one helluva fine review blog himself as Hypnagogue (as well as a brilliant pod cast of great music) and has always been most kind to me with his comments and words of encouragement.

Wind and Wire to be resurrected?

I have no idea if anyone is reading this blog any more, but if you are, here's an important update. I am seriously contemplating re-launching Wind and Wire, in its original format, i.e. all sorts of reviews, not just ambient and electronica. Yeah, that means "new age" so if that makes you upset, well, bite me. I like reviewing new age too.

This blog would no longer serve as a "mirror" of the review site, but as a "signpost" allowing folks who want to subscribe for updates to find out when reviews upload, which I anticipate will be monthly. This blog would also feature all kinds of fun rants, op-ed pieces, and other commentary by you know who, which makes it more like a blog. Some of the entries will be about the music I review, e.g. what's with all the sucky cover art?, and other posts might be film reviews, political or social culture musings, or who knows what the hell I might be inclined to throw up on the WWW.

Why, against all sanity and logic am I doing such a foolhardy thing? Because, I need to write a lot of reviews for all the older releases I haven't gotten around to, and I think if I resurrect W and W, and tell myself, once and for all, that I have permission to write SHORTER and more concise reviews, and more importantly, CRITICAL reviews, I can handle this. I will not be leaving my review posts at either Zone Music Reporter or New Age Retailer but merely supplementing those venues with shorter, and more critically-angled reviews.

For too many years, I was afraid of pissing folks off. It's time I realized that it's just my opinion and if the artist or you fans can't handle my saying "What the fuck is up with this release?" well, tough for you. I have been at this for 13 years. If I don't have the street cred to be negative about an album by now, what does a poor Joe like me HAVE to do, fer Crissakes?

And, hell, if nothing else, just consider that I am doing it for the lulz!

Wish me luck - whenever the hell I launch the sumbitch!

REVIEW: KEVOZ - Digital

KevOz
Digital
Self-released (2007)
Rating: B+

An homage of sorts to the many faces of EM, KevOz's (Kevin R. Osborn) Digital is one flat out fun album, a recording with little if any pretension, which the opening "Whoo!" emphasizes with its chunky funky rhythm track and fake audience cheers. Unlike the artist's previous more mainstream new age music type recordings (e.g. Return to Lakefront) or the stylized SF-themed Into Orbit, this CD is pure electronica, laced throughout with nostalgic touches, a dash of whimsy, and more influential nods to music from the '70s through the '90s than can be recounted here. However, this isn't a mere throwback imitation. There are contemporary wrinkles scattered among the 15 tracks and top notch production quality flows through the entire album. The artist traverses an assortment of EM subgenre territories: laid back chill-out ("Unheard Wishes") bass-heavy funk ("Debonair," which also contains some interesting jazz riffs and a dash of spacemusic too), pulsing break-beat dance tunes ("Bliss"), moody echoed piano set against cinematic synth textures and chilled beats that ends on a Vangelis-like fanfare ("You're Not Here"), and even a track that sounds like it's from the soundtrack to the film Breakin' ("Dueling Dreams"). Another influence that I heard more than once was the film music of John Carpenter and Alan Howarth on tracks such as "Revolver" and the latter part of "Hypnosis" (echoes of Big Trouble in Little China), as well as occasional flirtations with Berlin school ("Spooky" and various other spots on the CD, basically wherever sequencers and certain synth sounds are heard). While this review may make Digital sound somewhat disjointed, it's actually anything but (no doubt because Osborn intended - and achieved - a unifying motif of sorts, one that's easily discerned despite the myriad influences). With this CD, KevOz reveals a whole other side of his musical personality, an aspect that I, for one, heartily endorse and look forward (hopefully) to hearing much more from in the future.

REVIEW: DEBORAH MARTIN AND J ARIF VERNER - Anno Domini

DEBORAH MARTIN AND J. ARIF VERNER
Anno Domini
Spotted Peccary (2007)
Rating: B+

Given Deborah Martin's past affinity (as I interpret it) for reflecting some spiritual influence in her brand of ambient music (on recordings such as Tibet, Under the Moon and Ancient Power), it might be inevitable that she would train her artistic eye on mining the ages-old traditions of Western sacred music. And that's exactly what she and fellow Peccary artist J. Arif Verner do on Anno Domini, a fascinating integration of the ultra-contemporary with the ancient, featuring state of the art synthesizers (as well as guitars, loops, percussion, and drums) sometimes serving as accompaniment to Latin vocals and other times weaving an ambient-spiritual spell all by their instrument-only selves. However, don't come to this party expecting a chill-out/club atmosphere Enigma-clone. Martin and Verner are plugged into something much deeper, more sacred and infinitely more somber than Gregorian chants blended with high-hats and beats. After just the first track, the beautiful and haunting "Kyrie," listeners will hear that this is definitively drifting ambient music, but occasionally accompanied by Martin's subdued (and heartbreakingly pretty) vocal refrains. All but one of the remaining six tracks are cast in this mold, i.e. somber yet beautiful drifting soundscapes, sometimes suffused with the musical motifs of sacred hymns (long sustained chords/notes, minor key melodies, and a palpable yet muted sensation of awe and majesty). Not all the tracks contain vocals, in case any of you are concerned about that, by the way. One instrumental selection is "Spiritus" which features layers of synths (both upper and lower register), bell trees, and crystalline shimmering tones, along with wordless chorals. "Anno Domini" is a vocal track, though, and Martin's sublime voice calls out from the dark backdrop of flowing minor-key synth washes and deep bassy drones. "Illuminata" contains a gently throbbing bass rhythm underneath celestial synth pads, eventually folding in hand drums and percussion, morphing into a piece that combines the previous musical motifs with those of entho-tribal ambient. "Dona Nobis Pacem" brings guitar into the mix along with the most pronounced drama and power present on the CD. This track borders on sounding more akin to label-mates Jon Jenkins and David Helpling's release Treasure (the track does stand out stylistically from the rest of the album for this reason, especially at its conclusion when things get uncharacteristically loud amid some thundering crescendos). "Inter Astrum" then concludes the CD in a celestial spacemusic vein.

I preferred the first five tracks more than the last two, but that's more my preference than anything else (although I wonder how the louder passages on "Dona Nobis Pacem" are received by listeners who prefer a more consistent musical message). One doesn't need to have either a predilection for or a knowledge of sacred liturgical music in order to enjoy Anno Domini, because when you get right down to it, it's more of an ambient/spacemusic recording than an outright homage to Catholic hymns (despite the all Latin language titles). However, an appreciation for hymns will likely result in a more fulfilling reaction to this recommended disc.

REVIEW: BETWEEN INTERVAL - Autumn Continent

BETWEEN INTERVAL
Autumn Continent
Spotted Peccary (2006)
Rating: B+

Stefan Jönsson (Between Interval) walks a path between two distinctly different ambient worlds on Autumn Continent: brooding dark ambient soundscapes and gently pulsing warmer rhythmic affairs. For myself, I prefer the latter, although Jönsson infuses even the more sinister and melancholic aspects of the former with human feeling so that even the drone oriented pieces here (such as the opening "Autumn Continent 2" and track 3 "Hidden Wastelands") flow with the organic fluidity of deep spacemusic (the latter of the two tracks could even be heard as a shadowy version of Telomere's work). However, it's when the artist introduces either more overt melodic components (the gentle resonant lower register bell tones on "Submerged" that percolate lightly over layers of luxurious synth washes) or when he allows rhythms to surface (the wonderful quasi-Berlin sequencing present on "The Tides of Time" imparts of sensation of movement underneath the oh-so-delicate reverberating tones, faintly melancholic whistling synth notes and echoed piano-like refrain) that this relatively new artist shines brightest. "Early Life Remainings" dials up the energy to a low boil, reminiscent of tracks such as Tangerine Dream's "Love on a Train," in blending a subtle yet throbbing beat with haunting and evocative synth pads. Make no mistake, though, that the drone pieces do dominate Autumn Continent, and while I would have preferred more of the other stuff, his skill at crafting deep spacemusic is such that even I was mesmerized most of the time, especially on the closing "Autumn Continent 2" a great track that fuses a deep sighing reflection of resignation with a gentleness and beauty that cushions the blow of the melancholy. The title Autumn Continent fits this CD like a glove since the overall morose and somber atmosphere of the music (especially the drones) paints with the appropriate colors for the season when one's thoughts turn inward and the world goes to sleep. Solidly recommended.

REVIEW: DARSHAN AMBIENT- from pale hands to weary skies

DARSHAN AMBIENT
from pale hands to weary skies
Lotuspike (2008)
11 tracks: 56:53
Rating: A

After a three-year absence from the ambient recording scene, Michael Allison (Darshan Ambient) has resurfaced with his most ambitious and multifaceted release yet, from pale hands to weary skies. Before getting to the meat of the review, I’d like to first give thanks to all who helped him pull through his gravely serious illness back in April of 2007, most notably his wife, Nicky. More info about this is available as part of the album’s liner notes, but suffice it to say that I was relieved and thrilled when Nicky notified me that Michael had emerged from his coma, was recovering, and eventually rejoined the living, reuniting with his loved ones. The possibility of future music from him was, frankly, the furthest thing from my mind. Now, however, as this new recording sees the light of day, it’s like a bonus for the ambient music community since not only is Michael back with us, but he has apparently tapped into a wellspring of inspiration that has let loose a flood of creativity and innovation. From near tragedy springs newfound wonder and beauty.

Musically, the eleven songs on from pale hands to weary skies probably encompass more of Allison’s rhythmic side (e.g. as heard on Autumn’s Apple and re: Karma) than his more pastoral drifting soundscapes (e.g. The Zen Master’s Diary and Providence), although some tracks manage to meld elements of both, yielding an amalgam of the artist’s two disparate “personalities.” Even though I enjoy Allison’s duality, on this particular release I think I prefer his cheerful peppy percolating beat-driven pieces a bit more. The thing about Allison’s version of glitchy/rhythmic ambient music is that, unlike many contemporaries, it’s essentially “happy” music, not mired in moribund solemnity or shadowy darkness. However, it’s also not airy, puffy or insubstantial. By putting his reverbed/sustained piano against a backdrop of shimmering textures and punctuated by skittering rhythms and/or hand drum percussion, he achieves a pluralistic impact. The listener can’t help but smile with childlike delight, yet the warmth of the music permeates the soul with a calming sense of contentment.

Spotlighting tracks on the CD is difficult because describing the music itself would require a fair amount of detail, as Allison features an wide assortment of beats/rhythms and melodic structure (e.g. the hand percussion on the opening “The Furniture of Time” leads into the more glitchy rhythms of “Slowly Toward the North”). And not all songs have rhythms, as I indicated earlier. “The Look of Amber” (co-written by Jourdan Laik) layers guitar ambient textures in a lazy-hazy collage evoking summery sensations while “Suffering Softens Stones” reminds me of the minimal piano and soundscape beauty of previous releases such as Autumn Light (which I think is sadly out of print). “I Await You” is simplicity incarnate with sedate classically inflected piano set against swashes of atmospheric guitar.

But it’s the percolating pieces here that make me want to play from pale hands to weary skies over and over. The skitching rhythms of “Palace of The Windowed Rocks” skip lightly over sustained guitar, gently plaintive piano notes and occasional sighs of muted chorals. More propulsive insistent bassy beats march underneath an assortment of quirky electronics and textures on “Multiplication of the Arcs,” while “The Rapidity of Sleep” (another song co-written by Laik) features pseudo-tribal percussion mixed with more contemporary electronica beats.

Since there is no detail listed about the album’s specific instrumentation, I’m assuming what I hear that sounds like guitar is, in fact, guitar, but in today’s recording world, who really knows. What I do know is that from pale hands to weary skies is a triumphant return for one of the more under-appreciated ambient artists out there. While Michael Allison believes this is his best work to date, I can’t wholly agree but only because I’d be hard pressed to make that statement about any of his releases since, frankly, so many of them are uniformly excellent. However, this CD is, to my ears, his most complex from a musical standpoint. He’s really pushed his personal envelope. I certainly wish he and his loved ones hadn’t had to suffer what he and they went through but all of us can take some measure of comfort that Michael came through the darkness into the light and this album is a testament to him and the power of love from those who surrounded him in his time of need. Bravo, Michael, and Welcome Back!