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Seven tracks
of pure acoustic ambience awaits your beckoned call in an
introspective, mesmerizing, journey through free form realms in a
thoroughly engaging amalgam of sonic intensity within the "The
Golden Portal".
Marco Dolce
is Xumantra
and has composed, performed, and produced this delightfully rich
acoustic journey, which unto itself is a rare find, in this E.M.
dominated category of music.
The very first time I pressed play
I immediately knew that "TGP" was something very special.
The musical "propeller head" in me awoke, immediately
dissecting the vast wealth of harmonic structures, richly woven
timbres, and sustained tones that seemed to pack the room with a warm
and rounded sonic signature for my listening pleasure. As amazing as
it may sound every harmonic texture one may hear is produced by
acoustic instruments. The back of the CD states "This
music employs no synthesizers, samples, loops, or machine-generated
sequences of any kind. All sounds were created in real time
with loving and conscious intent".
One of the perks of being a radio
show programmer is that you receive descriptive "one sheets"
with most releases these days. The two that arrived with
"TGP" are entitled "Program Notes" and
"Production Notes". Once again this calls out to the
days of old when copious liner notes were the rule and not the
exception. I believe there is a facsimile of the
"Production Notes" on the Website wherein Marco lists and
describes how each instrument sounds and is played. It is most
helpful in assisting those interested in picking out the Gongs,
Double Kalimba, Slit Drum, Tambura,Archtop Guitar, Fretless Banjo,
Ngoma Drum, Conga Drum, Ganta, and Tingsha by associating the
description with the sounds while listening. For those less
adventurous the Program Notes describes the instrumentation employed
for each track and the sonic part they play. Cool enough that I
would suggest contacting Marco and asking for a copy.
So once inside "The
Golden Portal"
what do we hear? Almost as if by magic the room filling,
exotic, resonance of the artists heart and soul are presented as you
witness the sublime exchange between his instruments and his
art. "Code Talker" places you within the realm of
multiple tongues passing hidden messages that swirl around the
provocative, trance inducing, framework of the rhythmic slit drums
bass part. The melodic call and answer of the inverted singing
bowls is simply mesmerizing. The light-hearted relief of the
fretless banjo during the blues groove of "Cosmic Turtle
Dance" conjures up long lost images of a tie-dyed tortoise
merrily rambling about a funky journey during altered states.
The altruistic themes of "Streams of My Beloved" are graced
by the western influence of an extended guitar improvisation as it
weaves in and about the drone of the singing bowls and Indian
Tambura. The balance of the disc then begins a meditative state
as the journey's tempo gradually slows and one encounters an air of
ritualistic and organic mysticism allowing the bodies pulse to enter
the cruising zone. Tracks four through seven are especially
soothing when set for an infinitely repeating loop.
Quality atmospheres await your
ears should you decide to enter "The
Golden Portal"
and enjoy the serenity and calm of the meditative states induced by Xumantra.
Reviewed by BEAR
03.18.01
The Sound:
The sound space and sonic timbre
of "TGP" is absolutely stunning in almost every
respect. The attention to detail in recording the individual
acoustic instruments and their signature ambient resonance's, simply
put, are a must hear to be believed. There is an honest clarity
that never crosses the line into brittleness or harsh tones.
The entire frequency spectrum is as honest and soothing as the music
itself. It is very obvious that great care and hours of
listening were spent during the production of "TGP".
The only real clue to discerning that this is a multi-tracked
acoustic performance is the complete absence of sound stage depth and
naturally occurring instrument placement. However the care
taken with the engineered placement and the allocation of space
around each instrument is done with artistic vision and is wholly
believable in the sense that it creates an ensemble effect. An
acoustically pure Ambient Vision indeed.
The listening sessions were
performed in the following systems:
(1) Belles XLM preamplifier,
Belles 200 power amplifier with Magneplanar MG1.6QR, & Sunfire
True Subwoofer speakers.
(2) The Holo-System: Musical
Fidelity A3 CD player, Musical Fidelity A3 Integrated amplifier with
Altec Lansing 510 A speakers. ( A relatively large system in an
extremely small room with only one small holographic listening sweet
spot) Additional listening done with Sennheiser HD 600 and Sony
MDR 7509 Headphones and the Musical Fidelity X-Can v2 headphone amp. |
