ALIO DIE AND MATHIAS GRASSOW - EXPANDING HORIZON
Enchanted Land
[10:19]15.5 Mb
Day of Fulfilment
[10:00]14.3 Mb
Radiant Clearing
[3:32]4.8 Mb
Organum
[10:08]15.5 Mb
The First Bright Light
[10:18]15.1 Mb
Amithara
[14:50]25.3 Mb
Dawn
[12:04]20.8 Mb
Dewdrops
[3:26]6.9 Mb
The Falcon
[11:40]17 Mb
The Poetess
[13:20]20.7 Mb
Serpents Hollow
[3:33]5.4 Mb
Tuscany
[15:34]23.3 Mb
The Elves Realm
[28:11]43.8 Mb
Alio Die and Mathias Grassow "Expanding Horizon" Album Review
MUSIC OF RENEWAL
This first collaboration between these two artists is one of the most beautiful ambient recordings I've ever heard. I have a few other cds by Alio Die (Stefano Musso) - every one of them is great, and his work just keeps getting better and better with each release. This album - a 2-cd set containing about 2½ hours of music - is, as another reviewer below stated, perfect for night listening. Night is a time of renewal - and this music has that effect on me. It's relaxing and intelligent - it can be enjoyed ambiently or attentively. There are keyboard-generated sounds, guitars, Indian instruments, and Stefano's trademark natural sounds (water, wind, insects, &c...). According to the notes, Stefano's parts were recorded first, in Italy, then sent to Mathias in Germany for his additions. The result is a very cohesive program - the pieces flow together beautifully, never sounding piecemeal.<p>Some critics write off this sort of music as `noise' or `sonic dabbling' - but in doing so they're simply showing the narrow ruts in which their minds travel. There's a great deal of thought and work that go into works such as this, and these two artists have created something very special and lovely here. I say keep it coming...and I'll continue to be on the lookout for more.
BRANNAN LANE - TROPOSPHERE
Tropospheric part I
[5:02]7.7 Mb
Tropospheric part II
[5:03]7.3 Mb
Mesosphere part I
[6:07]9.5 Mb
Mesosphere part II
[4:31]6.2 Mb
Odyssea part I
[5:45]7.4 Mb
Odyssea part II
[3:33]4.5 Mb
Solar Wind
[4:39]6.6 Mb
Thermosphere part I
[5:30]9 Mb
Thermosphere part I
[7:22]12.6 Mb
Stratosphere part I
[4:37]6.3 Mb
Stratosphere part II
[4:53]6.6 Mb
Brannan Lane "Troposphere" Album Review
An awestruck mood or fascinated mind-set pervades each piece
Lane subtitles this release as a "Soundtrack for Your Head" and indeed as a "sounds collection" - it is rich and varied. If you seek an experience, a journey of imagination, and aural props for some internal story line - do obtain yourself of a copy of Lane's ambient work. Much of this sonic voyage is too interesting to completely relax to, too involving to ignore, and much too mysterious and foreboding to find perfect "peace".<p>And is this music? Much of Lane's ambient art is not. There are places where space music elements come out but things rarely finally lilt into a musicality. This is a head-trip of synths and effects, panned left to right, whirling about, echoes, flanged, phase-shifted, droning, blipping, and ringing. It is very, very professionally handled and extremely effective for setting a mood. But what mood? That is a very difficult call. When relaxation might set in, there still is an edge-of-your-hearing "thing" happening "over there" or suddenly there's a "scene change" and you're off into another sonic scenario. If Lane were to vigorously market his skills as a soundtrack/ effects man to movie production companies, I can guarantee they'd be impressed and within a year or two he'd land a deal somewhere. His stuff is that good, really excellent techniques.<p>As a relaxation device or background ambience - I cannot fairly recommend Lane. At least this release and his other ambient work to date - all evoke an active participation, as they are predominantly mentally involving and keep grabbing your attention. In some places, during a few tracks, you will find a relaxing fugue or two but there's that shadow of "something's about to happen, I better watch out for whatever it is . . ." These are of course, my subjective feelings upon immersing my head in Lane's world. Yet, I feel confident in saying Lane leans towards a dark ambience of subdued tensions. An awestruck mood or fascinated mind-set pervades each piece. This is exactly the type stuff to listen to and find inspiration for writing sci-fi/fantasy/horror adventure stories.<p>So give Lane a spin and experience his strange world of mystery. It's a very cool place to cruise through. ~ John W. Patterson
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