Bruno Sanfilippo - Subliminal Pulse (2011)

Bruno Sanfilippo – Subliminal Pulse (2011)

1. The Third Geometry – (5:52)
2. Santa Luminosa – (6:40)
3. Spirit Allies – (5:47)
4. Intrinsic Fluctuations – (14:00)
5. Subliminal Pulse – (5:58)
6. Slipped Time – (7:29)
7. Alchemical Powers – (6:29)
8. Pulsum Sacrum – (7:21)
9. Mantram – (7:58)

Playlist length: 1 hour 7 minutes 34 seconds

Summary: Masterful ambient excursions that evoke the classic ambient masters such as Robert Rich, Steve Roach, Klaus Schulze and even early Tangerine Dream.  These complex and intricate compositions range from airy to intense, haunting, mysterious and droning to harmonious and ethereal.  Taken in its entirety, the album might be interpreted as a journey from the beginning of time through the formation of life, or a similar evolutionary or developmental theme.  Bruno Sanfilippo is an accomplished electronic artist and his many years of composing and performing yield another excellent ambient collection here.

Artist’s Background & Details:
Bruno Sanfilippo may be new to some ambient listeners as “Subliminal Pulse” is his first release in the United States, due to his joining with the excellent “Spotted Peccary” label.

His works go back to as early as 1991 when, after several years experimenting with electronic music and studying composing, he released his first album “Sons of the Light,” which was later released by EPSA Music and then distributed in Argentina and some other South American countries.

In the 1990′s he searched for new sounds and experimented with every electronic sound device that he could.  He released a second work “The New Kingdom” in 1995.

In 1998 he created his own label “ad21music” for both his solo and collaborative projects.   From 2000 -2010 he released ten albums on his “ad21music” label, plus one in between on another label:

2000 – Solemnis
2000 – Suite Patagonia – a tribute to the Patagonia
2003 – Visuala (released on Neuronium Records)
2004 – Indalo – a collaboration with Max Corbacho.
2004 – Ad Libitum
2006 – InTRO – with a collaboration of Alio Die [Stefano Musso] on one track
2007 – Piano Textures
2008 – Ambessence piano & drones – a collaboration work with Mathias Grassow
2009 – Auralspace
2009 – Piano Textures 2
2010 – CROMO [piano & drones] – second collaborative work between Bruno Sanfilippo and Mathias Grassow

I personally had the pleasure of playing from many of his prior releases starting from the early releases “Suite Patagonia,” “Visuala” and “Indalo” for “Ambient Caverns” (Music Sojourn / Coolstreams) thanks to the artist sending them over.  Many of these albums have now been made available on Amazon.com in the US (though most show the add dates there of 2010 or 2011).  For newcomers, I recommend starting with the current “Subliminal Pulse” and working back through his catalog.

By Track:
1. The Third Geometry – (5:52) – Opens airy and soaring becoming infiltrated with heavier layering, droning and percussive elements, punctuated by tubular or heavy string like pulsations, drifting off into an airy void with some spooky vocalizations barely audible at the fade

2. Santa Luminosa – (6:40) – opens with a generator like pulsation takeoff into an airy, ascending, ethereal layered flight traversing past a variety of sound posts before climaxing into a dissonant sounding spiral out

3. Spirit Allies – (5:47) – opens with an electro- mechanical sounding pulsation becoming woven with increasing harmonious layerings of soprano and baritone synths and shadowy vocalizations

4. Intrinsic Fluctuations – (14:00) – opens soaring and hovering while added layers build a sense of conflicting themes, eventually descending into darker, brooding pulsating textures with metallic-like droppings and lathe cuttings, with a spooky spirit-like riff permeating the ending minutes

5. Subliminal Pulse – (5:58) – dark, spooky, and mysterious with dissonant keyboard-like riffs and chords and other-worldly vocalizations woven through various intricate layerings

6. Slipped Time – (7:29) – smooth, textured intro into an evocative, familiar piano-like riff and soaring textures, very reminiscent of past masters

7. Alchemical Powers – (6:29) – Opens dark and mysterious, suggestive of experimentation or origination and alchemy with boiling, bubbling underlayments, progressively more dark & dissonant and punctuated by bell and percussive soundings, degenerating into life sounds accompanied by thunder and ran backdrops, suggestive of primordial formations

8. Pulsum Sacrum – (7:21) – opens smoothly textured quickly augmented by male-like and then female-like vocalise layerings along with Tibetan bell-like soundings and explosive backdrops, use your imagination based on the title

9. Mantram – (7:58) – opens with smoothly textured layers joined with a soaring but morose cello-like layering, somewhat sad in emotion but harmonious in sound, a musical mantra as the title suggests.

Genres (& sub genres): Ambient, Electronic, Space Music, Dark Ambient

Listening Impressions: electronic, space music, airy, atmospheric, classic ambient, ethereal, mysterious, alien, intense, haunting, complex, deep space, droning, chilling (not as a music tag), spooky, soaring, dissonant, discordant;

Similar to: Alpha Wave Movement, Between Interval, Rudy Adrian, Robert Rich, Markus Reuter, Klaus Schulze, Steve Roach

Website:
bruno-sanfilippo.com

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Amongst Myselves - Fragments (2010)

Amongst Myselves – Fragments (2010)

1. – Smell Of The Sun – (5:08)
2. – She Who Loves Silence – (6:14)
3. – Morning In The Bowl Of Night – (10:24)
4. – Field Of Broken Mirrors – (7:36)
5. – The Sunlit Tower – (6:17)
6. – Clouds Of Unknowing – (7:42)
7. – City Of A Hundred Gates – (3:27)
8. – Town On The Hill – (4:39)
9. – Haunted By The Ghosts Of Sounds – (5:26)

Playlist length: 56 minutes 53 seconds

Summary: There are many varied ambient excursions traversed throughout the uninterrupted 57 minute soundscape of “Fragments” (there are 9 track markers, but no fades or blanks between tracks). While the layered synths, guitar and environmental elements are fragments, they are woven on the album into a cohesive soundscape evocative of a continually developing theme.

Interpretations might include darkness to enlightenment, or an evolutionary process or cycle, whether in a petri dish, sub space, or dawn on an earthly wilderness – my dominant impression was the latter, perhaps as part of an exploratory wilderness journey.

The overall theme begins dark, brooding and minimal throughout the first 11 minutes (tracks 1 & 2), with the environmental backdrops intimating night or cavernous or dark void settings, the titles suggestive of deep night approaching first light.  Intensity picks up through “Morning In The Bowl Of Night” with the environmental sounds shifting from night ambience to a low heating or warming crackling / static.  “Field Of Broken Mirrors” evokes a further development of a lighting process (sunlight glistening), with an electric guitar spiral up interrupting the environmental ambience (sunrise), and the theme spirals continually higher through “The Sunlit Tower” to a climax ending at an oceanscape drifting into “Clouds Of Unknowing.”  There the soundscape introduces elements of uncertainty, which then develop into more ominous tones in City Of A Hundred Gates.”  The environmental backdrop of rain bridges “City Of A Hundred Gates” into “Town On The Hill,” which is light and airy, perhaps suggestive of exploration and discovery, combined with the environmental sounds of birds.  The final track unfolds with wispy ambient environmental sounds of people, footsteps, and other activity as the electronic layering builds, which might be an envisioning of the past inhabitants (“Haunted By The Ghosts Of Sounds”) of Town On The Hill.

Whatever your interpretations, “Fragments” is an engaging listen – especially in its entirety, and one that lends itself to repeated listens and re-interpretations without becoming tiresome.

Genres (& sub genres): Ambient, Dark Ambient, Electronica, Space Music

Listening Impressions: Ambient, Dark, Brooding, Gloomy, Droning, Other Worldly, Intense, Environmental, Space Music, Dreamy, Airy;

Similar to: Between Interval, J. Arif Verner, Rudy Adrian, Sante, Richard Bone, Jon Jenkins;

Web Site:

http://amongstmyselves.com/

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vols. 1 – 2

1. Unfolding
2. Move Over, Sunrise
3. Renewal
4. Eventual Morning
5. Miles
6. Submerge
7. Glass House
8. Incandescence
9. The Window West
10. Soleri
11. Far Rockaway (Gulls)
12. Radiate
13. Something More
14. Silver Maple
15. Violins/Escape
16. Infinity
17. Enigma
18. Well Lit
19. Riverside Park
20. Plateau

vols. 3 – 4

1. Stephanie Seymour
2. Serena
3. Getting Over, Or Trying
4. (The) Tapestry
5. Almost
6. Snow Day
7. The Thin Veil
8. Ascend
9. Blue Monorail
10. Life Support
11. Abundance
12. Daughters
13. John Hughes
14. Ireland (Imagined)
15. Solitude
16. Chasing Twilight
17. Kyoto (Actual)
18. The Unforgiving Fog
19. Teasing Trees
20. Kt-22
vols. 5 – 6

1. Changes From The Sea
2. Locusts
3. Spheres
4. Paper Kaleidoscope
5. Spiraling
6. Solenko
7. Goodbye, Richard
8. Past Life
9. Diffreaction
10. Lancer
11. Dirty Breeze
12. Squint
13. 4 a.m. (Bright Lights)
14. Ambivalence
15. Iron Lung
16. The Man With The Orange Shoes
17. Fluorescence
18. Flash Forward
19. Typewriter, Dentist
20. Mission Accomplished?

Summary: I have enjoyed and programmed Ken Elkinson’s New Age Instrumental piano solo CDs for many years now, but when a box set of 3 cds arrived, titled Music For Commuting Volumes 1-6, I was not sure I was going to get through 3+ hours of piano solos and maintain enough interest.  So it was a complete surprise to hear what played upon inserting the first disc.  Well crafted, engaging Ambient & Electronica sound bytes!  I use bytes because the 3 disc set contains 60 short (by current Ambient norms) 3-4 minute tracks (the longest track is 4:38), 20 per disc.  Obviously, this won’t be anything like Robert Rich’s Somnium, or the typical soundscapes of Rudy Adrian, Between interval, Darshan Ambient, etc., and the majority of Ken’s compositions are not quite that intricate, nor are they dark or brooding – more are airy and bright.  They are quite satisfying, however, and most will take you on a brief journey into a space or atmospheric realm of your choosing, or, when combined with the suggestion of the title, may evoke a new perspective on a specific segment of your commuting patterns.  The set is organized into Monday thru Friday volumes of 10 songs each (Monday & Tuesday on disc 1, Wed & Thur on disc 2, etc.), with the final 10 song theme volume titled “beyond”  including the intruging “typewriter, dentist” (beware that almost subliminal high speed drill).

I am impressed with Ken’s unexpected shift from the Ivorys to the synths.  While some ambient connoisseurs may shun the consistently short tracks, they are enjoyable nonetheless, with the only complaint that they may end a bit too soon after you have become immersed in the theme.  Noting that many tracks are, to me, reminiscent of earlier (1980s-1990s) electronic artists, one curiousity of mine is why Ken did not include the actual piano in at least some of these compositions because the closest comparison in that case may have been to perenial favorite Tim Story (“Plateau” in Vol. 2 comes closest to this sound). 

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Genres (& sub genres): Ambient, New Age, Relaxation, Electronic, Space Music, Electronica

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Listening Impressions: Tranquil, peaceful, relaxing, exciting, soaring, drifting, calming, reminiscent, harmonius

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Similar to: Michael Stribling, some aspects of Richard Bone, Alpha Wave Movement, and in Robert Rich’s Catalogue: Geometry (1988);
Many tracks are also reminiscent of earlier electronic music artists like Windsor Reily (The Move Of Life), Ray Lynch, Vangelis, Michael Genest, Peter Maunu & others.

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Notes from the artist / label: Ken will be donating a portion of the proceeds from this project to the ALS Association (fighting Lou Gehrig’s Disease)

Note to Ken: (refer to the liner notes to decipher): I do the same with spiders, stink bugs and other uninvited guests, though perhaps more to avoid the cleanup.

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David Mauk (2010) – Ground Swell

Released: May 18, 2010

1. Dawn In Pennsylvania 4:27 $0.89 
2. Summertime 3:56
3. Ground Swell 4:44
4. Chop Suey 4:26
5. Second Story Sunlight 3:44
6. Western Motel 5:04
7. Chair Car 3:43
8. Queensburo Bridge 4:07
9. Seawatchers 4:35
10. Cape Cod Evening 3:39
11. New York Movie 4:13
12. Railroad Sunset 4:38
13. Gas 4:11
14. Drug Store

Note that the package includes a DVD also, this review is only of the audio CD.

An excellent compilation of songs equally suitable for Ambient and New Age soundscapes.  David has captured, on some of the compositions, a more classic New Age sound reminiscient of some of the better sounds out of the 1980′s and 90′s, with some of the more ambient selections evoking some memories of early Tim Story, Ray Lynch, Iverson & Walters, and similar early electronica ambience.  This is certainly not meant to imply that the music sounds dated or old, it is meant as a compliment and invitation to those that still enjoy the early ambient new age sounds (as I still do).  My picks from this album are:  8. Queensburo Bridge; 6. Western Motel; 10. Cape Cod Evening; 12. Railroad Sunset; & 13. Gas.  Ground Swell provides a pleasing listen all the way through.  All 14 tracks are suited to New Age programs, my picks for Ambient soundscapes are tracks 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12 & 13.

Background From the artist (from amazon.com):

Hi, I’m David Mauk, the composer for the Ambient/Electronica/New Age CD, “Ground Swell”, 12 songs and 5 videos inspired by the art of Edward Hopper. (The physical album contains a CD for the music and a DVD for the videos). This is the follow-up to my first CD, “12 Months”, featuring the song “April (rain)”. I also composed the official background music for the current National Geographic Exhibits about King Tut and the search for Cleopatra.

I began this CD with the idea of ‘musicalizing” different paintings by the artist who awakened to me the beauty of Art. I was on a vacation when I first saw the painting “Cape Cod Evening” while walking through the Smithsonian, and I knew I had to learn more about Edward Hopper and his paintings. What I really like about them is that they almost seem like a story frozen in time, with clues to what might be happening lying all around the frame of the composition. I wanted to explore what these different paintings might “sound like”.

After I completed the music, I realized I had the opportunity to make some videos using period footage from the same time Hopper was painting America in the mid 20th century. So, I took 5 songs and edited the appropriate black and white footage from the period and came up with another view into the universe I discovered with the music. “Summertime” accompanies footage from Coney Island presenting a nostalgic look at the amusement park experience. “New York Movie” reveals an intimate video portrait of movie icon Marilyn Monroe, “Dawn in Pennslyvania” explores the struggles of Pittsburgh workers and families during the Great Depression, “Chop Suey” shows the whimsical side of newsreels from the period and “Queensboro Bridge” captures the building of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and Oakland with some eye-poping camera shots that are truly breathtaking. 

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Released: April 19, 2009

1. Heartwood 4:23
2. Drift 3:21
3. Eurydice 4:42
4. Winter 3:08
5. Hurricane 6:53
6. Light 2:53
7. Twilight 5:07
8. Children of Lir 4:35
9. The Juniper 2:46
10. The Birch’s Lament 4:07
11. Madron Well 3:53

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Richard Bone - Mind Environs Alpha Theta Delta

Richard Bone – Mind Environs Alpha Theta Delta:

Released: March, 2010:

1. The Theta Loops (10:12)
2. The Delta Loops (10:08)
3. The Alpha Loops (9:56)

From The Artist:  Richard has, in conjunction with Don McCarty of CodeDimensions, created his first iTunes application entitled “Mind Environs”. Now live on iTunes, “Mind Environs” is a meditation/ambient application featuring 3 separate “Environs”, each having a brainwave tone plus 6 ambient loops. The volume of all seven tracks in each Envirion can be adjusted by the listener to create almost endless possibilities.

“Mind Environs” is also available in a very limited edition thirty-minute CD or to download. This recording contains three 10-minute tracks — each track one possible mix of the  nearly infinite variations possible with the iTunes ‘Environs’. Ordering links, titles, samples and more can be found on Richard Bone’s Web Site (www.richardbone.com/) >>>.

Coolstreams Adds:
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Ambient Caverns: All Tracks;  Scott’s Picks: All Tracks;

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Robert Rich - Ylang

Robert Rich – Ylang:

Released: February, 2010:

Ambergris 4:14
Translucent 4:59
Attar 6:38
Verbena 5:03
Kalyani 8:09
Vetiver 6:25
Tamarack 5:38
Charukesi 7:11
First Rain 4:59

From The Artist: Organic, lush and sensual
Robert Rich’s first solo studio album in three years seductively blends languid polyrhythms with influences as diverse as South Indian Karnatic music, post-rock, jazz, and minimalism.

The title comes from ylang ylang, a flowering tree that grows in South Asia, with a mysterious fragrance that embodies elements of shadow and light, eros and gnosis, earth and sky.

Musicians:

Robert Rich: flutes, lap steel , piano, percussion, MOTM modular & synths
Ricky Carter: drums
Sakthivel Muruganandhan: mrdungam
Sunilkumar Sankarapillai: bansuri
Haroun Serang: guitar
Emily Bezar: voice
Forrest Fang: violin
Hans Christian: cello
Paul Olguin: upright bass

Pushing the boundaries of Robert’s melodic world-fusion vocabulary, such as on Seven Veils or Propagation, Ylang blends Rich’s expressive steel guitar, shimmering organic electronics and yearning flute melodies with influences as diverse as south Indian Karnatic music, pulsing minimalism and pensive jazz; while its deconstructed drums and blurry guitar feedback might feel at home with Sigur Ros or Bark Psychosis.

Rich enlists help for this undertaking from a circle of trusted musician friends. The rhythmic scaffolding for the album comes from two very different drummers. Ricky Carter adds his intelligent sparse drumming, fluid with syncopation but complex in meter. These rhythms could be a slow tempo homage to Jaki Leibzeit from Can. Post-processing transforms them into rubbery chuffing abstractions. The other rhythmic foundation comes from the Karnatic mrdungam playing of Sakthivel Muruganandhan, which also wanders into Rich”s sonic blender, shifting from time- stretched blurs into organic live duets with bansuri master Sunilkumar Sankarapillai.

Lilting in and out of this heady atmosphere of South Indian music and minimalist space jazz, the wordless voice of art-pop virtuoso Emily Bezar adds a feminine intelligence to several pieces, and subtle melodic guitar additions from Haroun Serang augment Rich’s soaring lap steel feedback. With acoustic bass from Paul Olguin and string additions from Forrest Fang and Hans Christian, the sonic texture warms to a glowing woody earthiness. Rich’s audiophile production and delicate sound design glue the textures together into a seductive and inviting mossy nest. From these disparate elements, Ylang forms a sonic entity unto itself.

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Coolstreams Adds:
Ambient Caverns: ALL TRACKS;

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Robert Rich’s Web Site >>>

Alpha Wave Movement – Cosmic Mandala:

Released: December, 2009

1. Cosmic Mandala – Part 1
 I Liquid Macrocosm
 II A Rhythmic Wavelength
 III Seas Of Crimson Radiance
 IV Navigating The Realms Of Infinite Stars
 V Mantric Waves

2. Cosmic Mandala – Part 2
 Full Circle (Ohm…Om)

Coolstreams Adds:
Ambient Caverns Stream:
All Tracks

Davol - Good Sign

Davol (2010) – Good Sign

Released: February, 2010

1. Scarborough Days (5:06)
2. Good Sign (5:00)
3. Going There (4:26)
4. Nautikos (6:01)
5. A Place Here (4:34)
6. Truth 2010 ((6:35)
7. Stay (4:25)
8. Goodnight (4:30)

David Wahler - Antiquus

David Wahler – Antiquus

Released: May, 2009:

1. Antiquus 6:02
2. Delphi Dream 5:56
3. Kyoto Mist 6:08
4. Apollo’s Lyre 5:25
5. Teresa 5:32
6. Night Sky of Orion 5:41
7. Hyacinthus 5:24
8. Lune Mysterieuse 4:24
9. Angelis 6:32
10. Ancient Dawn 4:19

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Summary: Hard to believe it is a debut album, you’ll feel that you are listening to someone as accomplished as David Arkenstone.  David Wahler has created an incredibly masterful collection of compositions with a theme of Greek Antiquity.  10 beautifully layered tracks will transport you into the theme  or to your own vicarious interpretations!

Genres: Ambient, New Age, Meditation Relaxation & Inspiration, Electronic

Listening Impressions: Dreamy, airy, soaring, resonant, intense, transporting, layered, inspiring

Similar to: Kitaro, David Arkenstone, Vangelis

Track picks by Genre:

Ambient picks:
2. Delphi Dream 5:56
4. Apollo’s Lyre 5:25
5. Teresa 5:32
8. Lune Mysterieuse 4:24
10. Ancient Dawn 4:19

New Age Picks:
1. Antiquus 6:02
3. Kyoto Mist 6:08
4. Apollo’s Lyre 5:25
6. Night Sky of Orion 5:41
9. Angelis 6:32

Meditation, Relaxation & Inspiration picks:
3. Kyoto Mist 6:08
4. Apollo’s Lyre 5:25
5. Teresa 5:32
6. Night Sky of Orion 5:41
7. Hyacinthus 5:24
9. Angelis 6:32
10. Ancient Dawn 4:19

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