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Artist: Spacecraft Reviews:
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Inside the Inside is a live concert recording by Spacecraft (Tony Gerber on guitars and synths, Giles Reaves on synths, percussion and processing, John Rose on synths, dulcimer and vocals, and Diane Timmons on synths and vocals) from one the "Gatherings," a concert series that has attracted many of the top names in ambient and spacemusic. These four musicians have played a lot together, both live and on other recordings - and it shows. Inside the Inside is a stellar recording (literally and figuratively). Unlike so many ambient and spacemusic concerts, Spacecraft exhibit amazing versatility, moving slowly but assuredly from spacier and more ambient soundscapes to dramatic vistas of Berlin-school EM, progressive fusion, and even retro-60s psychedelia. Putting it mildly, if Inside the Inside is indicative of their concerts, no wonder people rave about them! The opening track (and yes, there are distinctive tracks here) is "Appalachia" and it's a winner, with bells, slow synth washes, and subdued yet soaring space electric guitar that is a combination of long drawn-out notes and Jeff Pearce-like strummed chords. I could listen to this cut over and over and over (well, actually, I have in the process of pre-review listening). As the track unwinds, the sounds of frogs and crickets come out of the shadows, setting the stage for the next song, "Madden's Farm." Gentle and warm ambient keyboards merge with the calls of the nocturnal creatures, along with twinkling bells. This subdued beginning eventually yields to other textures which are folded in, such as mournful synth drones, before more active and overt Berlin-school EM elements cascade into the song: analog synths and pulsing sequencers, as well as powerful (but not too) electric guitar lead lines and what I assume are Diane's wordless vocals. The electric guitar dominates in some portions of the song, but the mix on this recording is so well-balanced that it doesn't overpower the other musical elements (and believe me, I've heard other CDs where that is exactly what happens). There are nine tracks all told on the CD, and while they are distinct songs, they also flow into each other nicely, each transition being gradual yet definite. "The Nameless One" is serene and new agey in feel at its start with electric piano and synth interpolated along with more spacy effects and morphing into a powerful darker ambient-like piece with quavering synths and drones. "Center of the Earth" sounds Bach-like, what with its pipe organ crescendos, yet this element is counterpointed by subdued electric guitar lead lines and delicate bells. "Plateau People" is another Germanic-sounding track here and may be my favorite - pulsing sequencer beats melded to hand percussion and lots of cool spacy synths. It's followed by the frenetic Tangerine Dream-ish "Future Ages" (slyly titled since the warm analog synths actually evoke a retro-nostalgia). "Venusian Bathysphere" a short song, is full of weird percussive effects and wavering spacy synths. By album's end, with the track "Return," we're hearing crickets and frogs again amid serene washes of keyboards. This concluding song goes through several permutations throughout its ten-plus minute length, from muted warm ambience to Jarre-like keyboard textures to gentle spacy EM and neo-Berlin sequenced beats, which is where it finally settles comfortably for the duration. Inside the Inside is, to my mind, the best recording yet from Spacecraft. That it's a live album is a testament not just to their technical proficiency (to say nothing of the excellent engineering by Art Cohen and Giles Reaves and mastering by Reaves) but also their shared artistic vision. For four performers to play this well together in a live setting and encompassing all these genres (ambient, spacemusic, psychedelic, prog and EM), frankly, leaves me somewhat in awe. I only hope I have the chance to see and hear them perform live some day. Until then, though, Inside the Inside will do - and do nicely. Highly recommended - and quite possibly, one of the best albums of the year.
Named after the Cybersphere Planetarium in Tennessee, this album contains music from two performances there. I believe that the lineup of Spacecraft is not the same on every album, so for those interested the musicians on Cybersphere are Tony Gerber, Josie Phelan, Giles Reaves, John Rose, and Diane Timmons. This is only the third album by Spacecraft that I've heard. By now I've noticed that they have a distinctive style, one which reminds me a little of early 1980s Tangerine Dream. This album doesn't hold any great surprises if one has heard Earthtime Tapestry. In my opinion the music has a tendency to meander at times, which is fine for some people but leaves me with a "take it or leave it" attitude to Spacecraft's music. The opening track "Creative Acceleration" begins with laid-back guitar and various synth effects which gradually build up, and some distant wordless female vocals are heard now and again. After about five minutes some sequencing starts up and leads the rest of the track along to the finish. Into the second track "Anima-Machina" there is a mysterious and contemplative mood for the first few minutes, with what could be the processed sounds of a wolf howl starting the piece. Repeating the general format of the first track it moves into sequencing mode after around five minutes. "Frasile" provides a brief change in pace with a quiet reflective feel to it. Following on from that is my favourite track "Tunnel" which has a more engaging sequence and those female vocals heard previously. The rest of the album is along the same lines as the discussed tracks - plenty of sequencing and quieter reflective-in-style pieces. I can't say that the feeling generated by the music matched up with the track titles. For instance, listening to "Blue Planet Blue" actually made me think more of Parisian streets due to the accordion-like theme. I'd expect Cybersphere to certainly appeal to Spacecraft fans, and anyone who likes Tangerine Dream from the late '70s/early '80s era should give it a listen.
The music on Spacecraft's recording Summer Town takes me back to my teenage years, and that is (in part) understandable. The music itself is a live recording of a concert/appearance of the group at Unityfest 2000 at Summertown, TN. Summertown is a "hippie commune" in the truest sense of the word, i.e. a sustainable and (as much as possible) independent community of like-minded individuals. The music was performed on a Sunday morning for the assembled masses and recorded for this CD. It features Tony Gerber on guitars, synths and vocals; Giles Reaves on synths, percussion and processing, John Rose on synths, flutes, and vocals, and Diane Timmons on synths, flutes and vocals. What I'm referring to, though, with my comments above, is the retro-spontaneity of this recording. I belonged to a student group in high school (in the late sixties and early seventies) called Media Diggers who held "be-ins" at which we listened to psychedelic music, watched weird light shows, and in general spaced out (some of us used drugs, others did not). It was a wonderful time. A sense of innocence and beauty seemed to permeate our existence at these events. It was hard not to be swept up in the feeling of "Groovy, man!" as we listened to everything from Crosby. Stills and Nash's "Our House" to Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun." And that may sound trite or cliché or even maudlin to some of you, but actually, I miss that feeling of simplicity and clarity. Summer Town reawakened that feeling in me. The music is wonderfully extemporaneous (or at least it sounds like it is). It's spacy, but not OUTER spacy. It's spiritual but not dogmatic. It's filled with improvisation and a sense of floating free of constraints. Vocal chants, fuzzed guitar, keyboards, flutes, bell tones, and other cool instrumentation contributes to a nearly fifty-five minute trip into some kind of retro-metaphysical haven for lost innocence. Analog synths produce retro-tones and notes while droning vocals evoke images of black-lights and quasi-Eastern meditations. All in all, this is a real blast from the past for reformed (or not) freaks (like yours truly). It's hard for me to be objective in regards to this album. Every time I want to evaluate it in terms of modern times, I listen to it and a flood of memories come back to me. However, if your taste runs toward a mixture of vocals, conventional and distorted electric guitar, analog keyboards, and (in general) a psychedelic blend of musical elements, Summer Town is a "trip" worth taking. I played it a lot before writing this review because, frankly, I enjoyed revisiting a part of my past that was a lot more optimistic and life-affirming than my present. I don't know how it would/will play to the ambient or spacemusic crowd, but (us) ex-hippies should either sigh with contentment or regret, depending on how satisfied we are with our present lives. Personally, and I mean this sincerely, I miss my black light, my posters, and my bell-bottoms when I listen to Summer Town. In the case of listening to this CD, at least as a modern-day Peter Pan I can go back (for awhile) to the Summer of Love.
After first hearing this CD my initial reaction was one of indifference. However, after a few listens it has begun to grow on me a little so that I can now appreciate its merits. Its theme is the way in which life is, to use their words: "woven together in an intricate tapestry!". Reading the liner and back notes gives me the impression that this is a very new-agey group of musicians! It's a fairly common practice for the first track to be the title track, and this is the case on Earthtime Tapestry. On this opener a simple melody is accompanied by various effects conveying a sense of mystery - which is fitting when one considers that in some respects life on Earth is mysterious. Then in "Living World" there is a minimalist piano like line running through as various synth effects continue to work on that feeling of mystery. Into the third track and a haunting and somewhat distant female voice is heard in places, this really adds to the atmosphere generated by the CD. Following on from this are two pieces which are in the spacemusic vein. Perhaps I should call this kind of material Earthmusic as it has textures and the style of spacemusic but has an Earth-based theme and feel to it. "Cycles" reminded me a little of Appears to Vanish by Paul Ellis with its sequencing. After that its back to the more "meandering" and atmospheric style, with the female voice coming in again. The short track "Seed" has a percussive rhythm that made me think of Earth by Vangelis (an old but excellent album). The closing track "Homage to Gaia" is perhaps my favourite, it's very atmospheric and includes the excellent female vocals heard earlier. I can appreciate what Spacecraft were trying to achieve with this CD, but am not sure that it always works too well. Earthtime Tapestry, according to the liner notes, was created using an improvisational method; this I think is both its strength and weakness. Nevertheless, it will undoubtedly appeal to many electronic music listeners. |
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