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Artist: Alpha Wave Movement (including the recordings of Open Canvas) Reviews:
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Gregory Kyryluk (a.k.a. Alpha Wave Movement) has crafted some of the best rhythmic and floating electronic ambient albums in recent years, going all the way back to his excellent debut, Trancendence, and including recent releases like Drifted Into Deeper Lands and his collaboration with Jim Cole (of Spectral Voices fame), Bislama. But even with all that, I was unprepared for the superlative exploration of spacemusic that is A Distant Signal. Slot this winner alongside classics like And the Stars Go With You and Flightpath (from Jonn Serrie), West of the Galaxy (from Geodesium) and Planetary Unfolding (from Michael Stearns). It deserves to be there, goodness knows. My belief in the above opinion was forged when I went for a late evening walk (with Onyx, our lab-rottweiller mix) under a full moon along the Mississippi River Parkway near our house. I grabbed my portable CD player and put A Distant Signal in. Wow - talk about a synchronous experience! I thought I was going to float up into the dark night sky! A great collection of songs fills this entire album: the analog-sounding warmth of the opening track, "Mapping the Heavens," (with neat dialogue samples from the film Contact), playfully cosmic rhythms on "Outward Bound" (and its twinkling bell-like synth effects and soaring chords and washes), the mournful adagio number "Requiem for C.S." (written by Gregory in memory of the late Carl Sagan and filled with dramatic and sorrowful melodies), and perhaps my favorite track, "Portal Full of Stars" (a sly nod to 2001, perhaps?), which opens amidst spacy effects and deep rumblings, but evolves into an inviting, kinetic and trippy slice of outer space beats, lovely washes and synth chords, anchored by appropriately echoed sparse piano. While purists may claim that overt rhythms and electronic beats are verbotten in "true" spacemusic, I say "Phooey!" From the cover art of a nebula against a backdrop of stars to titles like "Lunar Sunrise," "Liquid Cosmos," and "Centauri Memories," A Distant Signal is spacemusic par excellence to this science fiction and astronomy fan. I love both the low-key drifting minimal yet warm tonalities of "Plasma Cloud" as well as the slightly spooky "No Man's Land," with its opening computer noises and snippets of radio transmissions flowing into breathy expanses of keyboards, which manage to be both majestic yet serene, and morphing into a driving propulsive marriage of beautiful minor/major keyboards and fast tempo beats. The title track similarly evolves from its beginning (lush layers of analog-like keyboards and spacy effects that gradually recede in favor of a circular synth-bell refrain on top of lush keyboards and a midtempo rhythm section - high-hats, bass drums, hand percussion effects - with the emergence of a lovely main melody line on Serrie-like synths). Other points of recommendation for A Distant Signal include the variety of shorter and longer (but not too long) tracks and perfect engineering, which makes playback on headphones a superior listening experience. Fans of not just Jonn Serrie but also Geodesium (a.k.a. Mark Petersen) are particularly encouraged to pick up on this recording. All in all, A Distant Signal is about as perfect as a spacemusic album can get, in my opinion. With equal doses of warm melodies, spacy synths, "cruising speed" rhythms, and floating ambient stretches that suggest the vastness of the cosmos, this album deserves to find a huge audience. It has to be in the running for best spacemusic recording of 2002, and probably one of the best of the (admittedly young) decade as well.
I don't know who came up with the idea of pairing Jim Cole, one of the most innovative and creative vocalizers in ambient music today, with Gregory Kyryluk (a.k.a. Alpha Wave Movement), a highly talented ambient/rhythmic EM soundsculptor, but give that person a medal. Bislama, the product of this coupling, is a recording so brimming with a combination of electronic and primal energy that it practically creates a whole new subgenre of ambient music. One of the things that surprised me the most about this album was how perfectly Gregory integrates his assorted keyboards and his electronic percussion with Jim's ethereal and earthy harmonic vocalizings and overtone chanting. I was suspicious when I heard about this album, fearing the collaboration would sound forced. But, far from it, the whole of Bislama flows from cut to cut with seamless ease, almost as if it were the work of a single artist! The opening title cut has a bell-like synth note, undercurrents of synth washes, hand percussion, droning harmonic singing, and bislamic tongue chants, accompanied (at times) by Jim's by-product whistling sound. There is a strong sense of fluidity to the music, despite the use of heavy rhythms. The hand percussion (perhaps synthesized) oozes primal urgency, but surprisingly, because of the bell-like tones, the cut plays markedly different from other recordings that mine the tribal-meets-electronics vein, such as the superlative Soma from Steve Roach and Robert Rich. The six other cuts that make up Bislama are actually more varied in musical nature than I expected. "Offering" opens with twinkling bells, rattles, and the crack of thunder and soon incorporates sweeping synth washes and various synth textures. Again, the primal element of the music is sometimes strongest (fans of the aforementioned Soma as well as artists like o yuki conjugate, Tuu, temps perdu, and similar musicians, need to hear this recording!). However, Gregory's liberal use of a more EM/spacemusic sounding palette of keyboards (on this song, it's an almost analog-like wash of sound) takes all of Bislama, not just this cut, into relatively uncharted territory. Not to mention the presence of Jim Cole, whose vocal talents contribute (to all but one cut) in varying degrees, but always with a sense of power and earthiness, tinged with an ancient sense of spirituality. With only seven pieces on the album, yet clocking in at over sixty-four minutes long, the music has plenty of space to breathe (no pun intended in reference to Jim's singing/chanting). Songs include the deep spacy drifting cut "Satari" (featuring some of Jim's best work - man, can this guy sing!), "Theidea" (a shorter, more ambient work, combining Tibetan bells, harmonic singing, and lush synth washes) and "Waking the Divine," (sparkling synth bells counterpointed by mysterious darker synth textures, that eventually yield into a slow tempo rhythmic EM number with an underlying tribal beat on exotic percussion). Bislama closes with the sublime "Samui," unadorned harmonic singing improvisation by Jim that slowly evolves into a quasi-Far Eastern song through the use of koto and assorted synthesizers. The harmonic vocals on this cut are chill-inducing, as they take center stage at times, buoyed by the string-play of the koto and the serene electronic keyboards. Percussive elements (some rather pronounced, but not disturbingly so unless you have the album turned up loud, then they may seem somewhat overpowering) are melded into the song to give it an air of subtle but pervasive power. Bislama (the word means, per the liner notes, a unique dialect drawn as a collage from sources in Micronesia and other locations) is an amazing alloy of the modern with the ancient. As I stated earlier, the almost uncanny symmetry that exists between Gregory and Jim is eerie. As unlikely as this pairing might seem, it yielded a CD that re-defines the tribal/ambient genre by infusing it with a whole slew of electronic textures and colorings that no one ever brought to the party before. Kudos to both of these artists for their brave and exciting venture into a future-primal soundscape. Highly recommended!
Gregory Kyryluk, who records as both Alpha Wave Movement and Open Canvas, is a lot like Richard Bone in that he deftly navigates the waters of distinctly different genres. In the case of Gregory, it's floating/semi-dubbish rhythmic ambient (Alpha Wave Movement) and sultry ethno-tribal ambient (Open Canvas). The fact that his output in both genres is excellent makes the comparison to Mr. Bone even more apt (Mr. Bone is the ultimate chameleon, in my opinion, with Gregory not far behind). Drifted Into Deeper Lands, his new release as Alpha Wave Movement on Groove Unlimited, is a nearly equal spacy and rhythmic (the nod would be to spacy, though) excursion into ambient music. Drifted Into Deeper Lands is a well-engineered and expertly produced CD and present an exploration of not quite dark yet still mysterious, and occasionally ethereal, sonic plateaus. As a bonus, ambient guitarist extraordinaire Jeff Pearce guest stars on two cuts (which I'll get to soon). The album begins with the title cut, a fourteen-minute stunner that blends classic space synthesizers (sounding like a blend of Roach and Serrie from both of their early heydays in the genre) with a subtle (placed back in the mix) quasi-Berlin rhythm track. I would hesitate to call this out and out Germanesque because it's muted and does not drive the track as much as it comes along for the ride, pulled along by the luxurious washes of electronic keyboards. Things pick up a little at the nine-minute mark, with an occasional piano-like/high-end keyboard note reverberating into the distance (nicely done!). The overall tone of the song is that of a space cruiser track, but the juxtaposition of the washes with the pulsing beat has a unique quality to it so that I don't like equating it with either cosmic cruisers or Berlin-school. It's somewhere in-between. Next up is "Silent Promise," which starts off very quietly and slowly builds into a soundscape of slowly shifting keyboard textures. Whooshes, washes, and other effects coalesce into inky grey clouds of music, drifting amidst subtle hints of rhythms that never seem to really form, but break apart like clouds blown by an ethereal wind. As the song progresses, a slow tempo rhythm does emerge as the song takes on more structured characteristics, resembling perhaps one of the less-spacy songs from Jonn Serrie's Tingri (a big compliment from me since I love Tingri). But where Tingri's songs had a slight "pop" feel to them, the feel here is more celestial and/or new age or even more spacemusic-ish, if you will. Whatever you want to label it, it's a great song. "Awakening the Sand Spirits" sounds more like Open Canvas than Alpha Wave Movement, with its tribal percussive effects, except that the keyboards have a more alien sound to them. There is the slightest hint of dissonance at times, but it's really more a creepiness approaching ambient noir than anything else. This song is a lot more active than what has come before. It may bring to mind o yuki conjugate from their album Undercurrents in Dark Water or Tuu's All Our Ancestors, except for a complete lack of flutes. Then from seemingly out of the blue, comes the soaring echoes of Jeff Pearce's guitar (an unmistakable sound if there ever was one). The rhythm track is gone now and the waves of synthesizers that ebb and flow are counterpointed by guitar notes that seem to sustain forever, issuing forth into the tribal wasteland. The transition takes the song solidly into ambient territory. The other song Jeff Pearce guest stars on is the melancholic yet beautiful "Another Time...Another Place." His presence here again is easy to hear, although the guitar is used here more as an ambient keyboard (which is his style, of course). Gregory's keyboards envelop the cut with patient washes of synthesized warmth, eliciting a feeling of reflection and introspection. Slow tempo percussive effects gradually emerge and the tempo increases, even as bell-like synth notes blink on and off. This song illustrates what has always been one of Gregory's strengths, i.e. his openness to allowing a song to evolve over its duration so that the listener is never sure what will happen next, yet it all happens so seamlessly that at the end of it, you realize you're nowhere from where you started. It's a great talent to have in the field of ambient music, where a lot of music goes through almost invisible changes (not always a bad thing, of course). The way that "Another Time...Another Place" eventually becomes almost a bouncy, yet still somewhat sad, number illustrates what I mean to perfection. There are two other songs on the album, including the great album closer, "Suspended in the Hanging Gardens," an almost Zen-like piece with arrhythmic bell-like tones and underlying warm washes of keyboards. The song is one of the album highlights (which is a relative statement because all of Drifted Into Deeper Lands is great). It is a rare artist who can make an electronic ambient/spacemusic album so openly inviting and listener-friendly without ever resorting to schmaltz or syrup. The drifting you'll experience while listening to this CD is accompanied by soft light, gentle solar winds, and an occasional hint of cruising speed. Settle in for the trip, you're in excellent hands with Alpha Wave Movement at the helm. Highly recommended!
Open Canvas's second release on Waveform, Indumani, is a state of the art trip into the land where world fusion and electronics meet, amid the shifting sands of the Middle East. It is easily one the best releases ever from this label and stands near the top of the heap in world fusion and electronica recordings of this year. "Liquid Shiva" starts things off with bubbling beats in a rapid fire pattern, lush washes of synth strings, and world music textures that snake their way through the song like a cobra. The melody on this song, along with practically the whole album, is superb - romantic, sensuous, and full of life. The second cut is "Puja" and it begins sounding more ambient and spacy with layers of keyboards and mysterious minor key shadings. Synth guitar and hand percussion adds a subtle Mediterranean flavor to the song. The midtempo rhythm kicks in, with dub-like synth effects melding with those sweeping synth strings. Soon a soaring vocal refrain and thunderous percussion erupt and the song dials up the intensity to a solid 10! I swear, this song stands toe-to-toe with Chris Spheeris' classic release, Culture (and that is quite the compliment!). Albums don't start much better than this one has so far! The keyword for Indumani is exotic. The mix on the album is a revelation of dense layers of electronics and rich world music influences. Check out the third cut, "Rajastan" which marries uptempo hand percussion and hand claps with high tech electronic keyboards to produce a dervish number that will have the spirited listener dancing around the house! Fantastic! There are gamelan-flavored pieces here too ("Prana [Life Force]") and even tribal shadings that may remind some listeners of artists like o yuki conjugate ("Season of Monsoon"). "Electric Karma" puts a bossa nova spin on things and kick starts some serious libido! Richard Bone fans (Coxa and Electropica) will love this cut! "Spice Caravan" has well-done percussive effects in one of the more low key (relatively speaking) numbers on the CD (again, I was reminded a bit of o yuki conjugate or the more tribal side of Robert Rich, although he seldom works at this fast of a tempo). The album closes with a more cyberized version of "Liquid Shiva" (subtitled "blue apple mix"). On this version, the beats are closer to true dub or midtempo house music. The world textures are still there but are severely muted. The cut is a solid closing number! Obviously, Indumani, while being securely anchored in the electronic realm, is also heavily slanted in the world fusion direction. If you are addicted more to the more typical Waveform style of dub or urban side of electronica, this one might be a tad exotic for you. Of course, I think its exotic aspect is also its biggest appeal. In addition, there is a smattering of vocals on the album, as well (mostly just a chant refrain here and there - nowhere near as substantial as most releases of this kind). Still, if any vocals at all turn you off, they are here (but, hey, it's your loss). Indumani is a triumph of style and substance for Open Canvas (in reality, Gregory Kyryluk, who also records as Alpha Wave Movement). This guy is proving to be one of the more creative, innovative and versatile EM artists currently working. This CD is exciting, lots of fun, heady and mysterious, sensuous, and downright infectious as hell! I must have played this album ten times before writing a review because I couldn't get enough of it. Congrats to Gregory, Waveform, and anyone with enough smarts to pick this CD up. Stating the obvious, it gets my highest recommendation.
Transcendence opens with a pulsing bass line while subtle synths swirl in the background. I was thinking, "Fairly standard ambient stuff." Then, a cool guitar sound comes in along with another synth washing over you. That's when I realized that this debut release from Alpha Wave Movement was something different and special. The first song, "The Passage of Moments" is a great ambient cruiser, combining the patient washes of synthesizer with an increasingly insistent rhythm of bass drum and synth bass, all with that great guitar sound. It's more accessible than I can describe because the elements work so well together. The music is not particularly dark, which I'm personally grateful for, but it's not lightweight either. It's trippy, spacy, and very infectious. It's also very fluid, in that it's constantly morphing and never stays the some for long. The title track starts out very hauntingly, with mysterious synth noises and minor key washes in the background. Then a bubbly synth tone enters and we're into some seriously cool ambient dub music. The rhythms are subdued at first (another plus in my book) but the song is still more of a cruiser than a chill-out piece. Eventually, the dub presence becomes more pronounced, but it's always pleasantly in the background. The recording quality on the whole CD is very good - crystal clear and well mixed. There's a lot of stuff going on here. I'd recommend headphones for this recording, at least for one of your first listens. For comparison's sake, Alpha Wave Movement's music is more indicative of the less frenetic ambient dub artists. If you like a lot of the stuff on the first two Baramundi samplers, this release is a good bet. However, Transcendence has the added benefit of longer songs (only two of the seven cuts are less than six minutes long) and the production is richer by far than many offerings on ambient dub samplers. There's the beautiful cascading sounds and washes of "Terra Nocturna" with its great synth bass undercurrent counterpointed by synth piano, and the eerie "Artifacts and Prophecies" which starts out like space music and then morphs into a slow rhythmic descent into darkness and otherworldly percussive elements. The album closer, the ten minute-plus "Veil of the Twilight Moon," is more in a floating mode than most of what comes before. Synth chords fade in and out and a warm feeling is evinced through the sustained synth washes that ebb and flow. After all the beats and rhythms, choosing this as the last song seems appropriate so the listener can truly "chill out" and float into a relaxed state of being. Clearly, Alpha Wave Movement (who already has at least one newer release out) is a rising star on the horizon where ambient dub, ambient, and electronic music meet. I hope that Transcendence is merely the beginning of a long career. We'll be fortunate indeed if that is the case. |