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Artist: Stephanie Sante Reviews:
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Midi-guitarist and keyboardist Stephanie Sante's previous two "new material" releases (Into Light and Immaculate Conceptions) received excellent critical response, yet her music was sometimes referred to as "too new agey" to be "real" spacemusic or too melodic to be "real ambient" music. With Inner Beauty, she has finally answered those criticisms with a full-on assault of spacemusic that not only eclipses her earlier efforts, but also explores new territory for the genre. Inner Beauty is her most accomplished masterpiece - mysterious, haunting, ethereal and, without a doubt to my ears, spacy and cosmic to the hilt. Inner Beauty opens with a drifting wash of minor key beauty, recalling the work of James Reynolds on "Leaving the Bonds of Earth" from The Mind's Eye soundtrack. Silken synthetic breathing is melded into bubbling Doppler-effect synth effects. The counterpoint between the repeating electronic bubbles (sounding like futuristic computers chatting to each other) and the lush underpinning is beautifully done. But this cut, as strong as it is, is merely the harbinger of the rest of the magic on this recording. "Interstellar Beacon" is one of those ultra-rare songs where the title truly is indicative of the music. A heavily-echoed tone bounces sonar-like into the void of warm romantic chords. A syncopated percussive effect beats away in the background. The mood is that of being adrift in space, looking for that "beacon" by which one might find the way home. Subtle bell-like tones reverberate in the background after the echoed "beacon" disappears. The listener may be, perhaps, lost, but is not panicked, merely lonely for a familiar sight in the cosmos. Every cut on Inner Beauty has elements of spacemusic to it - long patient washes, warm synth chords, the hints and flavors of artists long associated with the genre, such as Kevin Braheny (on the too lovely "Solar Gathering") and Steve Roach (on "Ocean of Emotion"). It's all there, and it's all spot-on. I played this album somewhere between fifteen and twenty times before writing this review and each time I heard a new subtlety or some nuance of music or emotion that had escaped me before. Some cuts, such as the aforementioned "Ocean of Emotion" begin in a drifting vein (hence my comparison to Roach) but slowly evolve into something somewhat dynamic and unique to Stephanie Sante, in this case, brief bursts of staccato midi-guitar. For me, the high point of the album comes smack dab in the middle with the song "Gentle Speaks the Heart." There is a delicate "call and return" tone of reverbed synth-chimes, under which assorted electronic/ambient textures and lush synth washes flow. There is even the muted sound of a heartbeat, a la Jon Goin's "Return to the Homeland," (one of Stephen Hill's staples from the late '80s/'early '90s days of Music from the Hearts of Space). The song is totally unforced, patient and serene, yet also never "sweet," maudlin or "new agey" (at least in my opinion it isn't). The closing three songs ("Inner Dialogue," "Opening" and "Taking Flight") all have their strong points and continue the Sante-unique take on spacemusic, featuring shimmering notes, warm washes of background textures, subtle yet insistent rhythms, twinkling effervescence and moments of mystery. "Inner Dialogue" ebbs and flows with an organic feel, mixed with some haunting sparse "space" guitar work. "Opening" (at over eleven minutes long) is a quasi-ambient soundscape, with a combination of Jonn Serrie/Stephen Philips-like flourishes scattered here and there. These comparisons I'm making throughout this review, by the way, are more to illustrate what the music "sounds" like than as a way of saying "Sante does Roach." As with many artists with whom I draw comparisons in my reviews, Stephanie is 100% original in that what she does with these "influences." "Taking Flight" ends Inner Beauty on a somewhat uplifting yet still ethereal note. High-pitched shimmering notes are played against a backdrop of warm spacy textures, with gentle bell tones somewhat reminiscent of (here's another reference for you) David Lange's Return of the Comet. It's a soothing conclusion to this wonderful album. I don't know if Inner Beauty will once and for all show her critics that Stephanie Sante can compose and perform spacemusic with the best of them. Personally, I never doubted she could. I enjoyed her unique genre-blending abilities on her previous recordings. Inner Beauty reveals Sante to be an artist at the literal top of her game. The album is expertly recorded, mixed and mastered to perfection, and filled with an abundance of stellar music tailor-made for those who enjoy cruising the cosmos from the safety of their homes. To have come this far in so short a time is a true sign of Stephanie's talent and her ambition, both of which are the equal of her contemporaries. Frankly, I'm amazed and impressed. Highly recommended.
Stephanie Sante's, Immaculate Conceptions, the follow-up to her critical debut, Into Light, begins with the sound of a thunderclap on the dynamic album opener, "Rainmakers." This is followed by unique and exciting arrhythmic exotic percussion elements (assorted hand drums, bells, and rattles) along with billowy synth washes and even a sparse strummed guitar. Talk about a change of pace from the opener of Into Light! But, what hasn't changed is Stephanie's "talentus maximus." This woman can compose and play some of the best damn spacemusic/EM this side of forever. She has stepped up to the cosmic plate and blasted this album out the park, somewhere past the Andromedan galaxy, and heading for the outer rim! Can you tell I love it? I sure do love that first track, cloaked as it is primal/tribal elements yet suffused with spacy and mysterious undercurrents. But whoa? What's next? "Topaz" is, dare I say it, possible even cooler! Strange fluid sounding rhythmic beats, those lush synth strings of hers, and just enough noir flourishes eventually yield to - what's this? Sequencer textures? Stephanie does Berlin? Oh yes! And she does it up right! Whooshing keyboards, thumping bass lines, and ethereal melody lines. Yet the song soon morphs into a dark and dreamy soundscape, full of strange whale-like sounds and alien noises, with an undercurrent of spacy synth washes. Well, I shouldn't be surprised at the abrupt change in this song. Stephanie is certainly known for shifting gears - always in pleasant and unexpected directions. "Radiance" begins with a synth crescendo and has the characteristics of Constance Demby's work, as it rises and falls in waves of keyboards. However, there is more going on in the song than a simple undulating series of chords. Assorted embellishments in the background bring an ethereal shading to the cut. Two songs later is the album highlight, "Giza," which revisits, to some degree, the same territory that Stephanie explored on Into Light's "Aton." Once again, quasi-Egyptian sound textures are welded seamlessly into her version of spacemusic. The result, as it was on "Aton," is a luxuriously exotic and sensuous voyage into pan-world fusion EM (how's that for a music subgenre?). At more than nine minutes long, the cut gets to stretch its musical muscles and evolve patiently. The synth chords float along smoothly as the assorted keyboard melody lines, gongs, and rhythmic elements, (along with some heavenly bell-like effects) weave smoke-like above the spacy undercurrent. Absolutely tremendous work on this cut! Bravo, Stephanie, bravo! The remainder of the album consistently delivers more treasures. "Iridescence" is a strange yet beautiful new age/EM number with twinkling chimes counter-pointed by an ebbing and flowing wailing keyboard sound. "Unseen," is sprightly and spacy, with plucked string synths, and shimmering washes of ethereal bliss, yet always retaining the Sante trademark of introducing unusual elements (this time some guitar early in the song). The piece is warm and inviting, with a chorus of crickets and faerie-like bells in the background later in the song. As I listened to the album repeated times before writing this review, the only thing I found frustrating was that Stephanie's music requires such lengthy reviews to do it justice. The songs simply evolve so much as they progress that just when I think I have one nailed - bam! - it changes! For example, "Alchemy" starts off in wonderful classic new age music/spacemusic synth territory but emerges into that quasi-Teutonic style again, with midtempo sequencer beats and melodic keyboard melodicism. I tell ya, artists like Stephanie Sante have no mercy for us poor music critics. Like another one of my favorites, John Flomer, Steph weaves such marvelous yet ever-fluxing music that I'm left typing, deleting, re-typing, and finally just realizing that the best thing to write is this: This album kicks cosmic ass! It's an excellent follow-up to Into Light, and even more polished and professional than that already solid debut was. Highly original, accessible yet never slick, and varied enough for anyone's taste, yet always held together by Sante's magic touch, this CD is a must have for fans of electronic keyboard music. If Stephanie continues with these fantastic excursions into both spacemusic and EM, she's gonna leave a lot of more "established" artists eating her solar dust! Set the controls for the heart of THIS sun, people. Immaculate Conceptions is one of the best releases of 2001 or I'll eat my monolith!
The new CD from space music/EM artist Sante reveals totally different aspects of her keyboarding talent than her debut hit, Into Light, displayed. Paramythos is a bold and unique collection of songs that may startle fans of her earlier recording with its unexpected dose of non-spacemusic EM versatility (which especially surfaces in the latter half of the CD), but lovers of electronic music from pioneers like Wendy Carlos, J M Jarre and Larry Fast (Synergy) will think they died and went to heaven. Paramythos starts with the dreamy floating number, "Lotus Blossoms," which gently unfurls, opening up like its title namesake does to greet the sun. Billowy synths undulate beneath an occasional sigh of electronic beauty. "Voyager" begins with a twinkling starfield effect with additional harp arpeggios. The song has a subtle but distinct feeling of cruising movement to it as well. Sante uses a wonderful theremin-like keyboard that imparts a retro texture to the song as it meshes with several different layered synths, including underlying chords that create a sense of calm even while the cut drives forward. On the third cut, "Whispers,"the surprises begin in earnest. Once again, that theremin is employed but this song is more uptempo. "Spacy" synths whoosh and whirr in the foreground, while a faster harp-like arpeggio flits back and forth in the mix. The piece harkens back to "classic" (a la '70s and '80s) EM. "Oriental Skies" starts off with ominous droning synths, soon joined by Berlin-esque keyboard work as well as more of the "retro" EM sound, featuring some Synergy-like textures. "Overtures" features drones, plucked-string effects, and pinging echoes to paint a soundscape of foreboding and formless shadow. A horn patch calls out a solitary fanfare, as it were, but the song retains its air of mourning and solemnity. "Sirens" is somewhat avant garde, but stops well short of abstract noodling. Instead, it reminds me of one or two selections from Wendy Carlos' soundtrack to Tron, in that it features arrhythmic synth pulses counterpointed by orchestral-sounding strings. I love this cut because it comes from out of nowhere with its vague sense of the bizarre. The Wendy Carlos/Tron comparison is also present on "Tribes," which can only be described as a retro-cyber walk into dark circuitry. I might like this cut even more than "Sirens." The more experimental side of Sante continues with "Bow." Lower register rumblings, ebbing and flowing washes of sound, sudden eruptions of exotic percussion, and what could be a hybrid of synth-pan pipes/synth-vibes all combine to produce a song that is equal parts eerie and exciting. The title track takes a dramatic turn as it progresses, as the music wanders over into more adventurous territory than anything else that has come before. I want to make it clear that while I call this experimental, it is also accessible, at least to a much greater degree than 95% of what I have heard in the genre (Sante shares this ability to be both daring and listenable with her friend, Susan Johns, whose CD, Phase Mask, is somewhat similar in spirit, but not musical structure, to Paramythos). If "Reaching For Heaven's Gate" does not remind you of one of Synergy's first three albums, I'll eat this review! Powerful buzz-sawing synths, zapping laser blasts, soaring crescendoes, and rapid-fire snare drum rhythms propel this one into the stratosphere! The song does an abrupt about-face later on and becomes an EM dirge of sorts, with warbling vibrato-drenched synths. "Digital Ecstasy" is Berlin-like with warm analog sounds flowing through the circuits, along with some of the most spacy and retro-futuristic sounding keyboard work on the CD (and this song also suddenly changes character, becoming a soft quasi-space drifting piece before reverting back to its lightning fast roots electronic roots). "The Oracle" closes the album out in dramatic style, featuring wailing synths, pulsing rhythms, and a great sense of urgency. There are few direct similarities between this album and Into Light. Paramythos is more of an overt electronic music album. Even though I frequently made comparisons to artists like Wendy Carlos and Larry Fast, I only did that to describe the music's tonal and melodic qualities. I don't mean to infer that Sante is copying those (or any) artists' style. Sante displays considerable talent and technique across a broad spectrum of styles on Paramythos. She does this by both paying homage to those who served as her inspiration and also infusing the songs on Paramythos with her own special vision. This is an exciting and daringly original album and is highly recommended.
Sante's debut recording, the inspired and exciting Into Light, is an incredible mixture of various space music and melodic electronic keyboard music that captured me (literally) from the very first listen (something not easy to do). Comparing very favorably to Jonn Serrie (circa Flightpath) and Mark Pedersen (a.k.a. Geodesium), Sante's (actually Stephanie Sante) recording is full of wonderfully soaring cruisers (like the grab-you-right-away opener "Airstream"). to more stretched out spacers like the cricket-accented "Waterdown." There are expertly-applied unique touches everywhere, like the mystical ancient Egyptian textures on "Aton" (an album highlight), the synth choral work on "Terra's Lullaby" and the mystery of "Anasazi" (these three cuts are in a row on the CD and work exceedingly well together). The CD's recording quality is excellent. The various synths (and it sounds like she has a real battery at her command!) sound superb. I love the variety of sounds and textures, unified by something that I can't describe but that I'll chalk up to "artistic vision." Stephanie Sante joins the ranks of women space music artists like Meg Bowles and Constance Demby with her ambitious and accomplished first recording. This may seem like a bold statement to make, putting her in such illustrious company, but anyone who can listen to Into Light and not realize he or she is witnessing the emergence of a major talent in the field of space and electronic music is either tone deaf or just plain ignorant. Go on, listen to the self-assuredness in the spacy spirituality of the album closer "Orion's Gift" and call me a liar - I dare ya! This CD is recommended without qualifications to fans of space music. I hope we hear much more from this promising artist! |
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