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I’ve
had Deeperworlds in my possession for several months now but for some reason
did not get around to writing the review for Ambient Visions until now. Of
course that was my mistake because when I put the CD in my player it became
abundantly clear that this was a world class effort from Mystical Sun aka
Richard and I only cheated myself by not listening to it as often as possible. Richard
described this music to me in an e-mail as Atmostronica. He came up with this
word through the following formula, Atmospheres + electronica == Atmostronica. Richard
also said, “The music is mot purely ambient because it violates a few of Eno's
rules.” But regardless of how you label it this is one great CD and I’m sorry
that I did not pop it into my player earlier.
This
CD has been a work in process since 1994 and Richard has been fine tuning and
recording the material ever since. Normally I might wonder if all that time
really made any difference to the final product or if the artist was just over
doing the whole “it must be perfect before I release it routine” but in this
case I would have to say that the time was well spent. Deeperworlds is just a
tad over 74:00 minutes of music and is well worth the effort to spend the
entire 74 minutes listening to this CD from beginning to end.
As
you might presume from the term Atmostronica the music of Deeperworlds manages
to take elements of both of these genres (atmospheric ambient and electronica)
and blend them seamlessly into something that is neither and yet both at the
same time. In most of the cuts on this CD there is an atmosphere that floats
just behind the beat as it anchors the electronica portion of the music firmly
in the realm of ambient music. For a great example of this take a listen to the
track called Blue
Magnetic Ocean
which opens with an excellent expansive atmosphere that starts slowly as
something in the distance that beckons you and as you approach the music begins
to add a beat that ever so gently pulls you deeper into the forming landscape.
The beat never becomes quite a dance beat but it does highlight how well
Mystical Sun has taken these elements, atmosphere and electronica and made them
work together to communicate his visions and his ideas through the music found
on Deeperworlds.
Overall
the music has a smooth texture that allows it to be a part of your listening
environment and yet it never overpowers you with the beats or the rhythms. The
music itself operates on several levels and as you listen closely you will hear
layer upon layer of activity all operating together regardless of how deeply
you might want to probe. Richard has paid close attention to these layers in
his mixes and in the placement of the sounds within each layer of the music. This has allowed him to create a sonic treat
for the listener which is even more apparent when you use a pair of headphones
during your listening experience. One of the more aggressive songs but one that
I like as well is track 9 which is called Innerworld. It features a wonderful
female voice that only adds to the depth of what is going on in the sonic
landscape along with the heavier beat and makes this one of the more memorable
songs on the disc.
The
songs on this CD range from the longest cut which is 8:13 to the shortest cut
which is a mere 1:17. There are 14 cuts and I think that all of them are just
right when it come to the length. One of the short songs that I still enjoyed
quite a bit because of the slowed pace and the introspective nature of the
music was Dragonfly which leans heavily towards creating an atmosphere for its
brief 2:53 length and along with River Goddess two of my favorite cuts on the
CD. I can’t say that there is a week track on this CD but a few of the tracks
that I have mentioned in this review I liked a bit more than some of the
others.
All
in all Deeperworlds is a tribute to Richard’s 10 year effort to create a sonic
universe from the ground up using found sounds but for the most part making the
sounds himself so that his world would be as close to perfect as he could make
it. Deeperworlds never disappoints the listener with each track building on the
last and leaving you with a complete picture by the time you hit track 14. This
CD was meticulously crafted by Mystical Sun and as you listen to each track you
begin to realize how much work went into the creation of this music. The
listener might even find themselves drifting off into the new worlds that
Richard created and if not on the first listen perhaps in subsequent listenings
as you delve deeper into the fabric of the music. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Michael Foster, editor of Ambient Visions
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