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About
AV |
Michael Foster
AV's editor
Read the
Editor's Blog for
March 2008
updated 3-16-08
Ambient Visions
Supports independent Musicians
AV's
Q&A With
Forest
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A
Journey into Sound and Spirit |
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Pete Kelly
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AV's State of the Ambient Union 2008 Things have certainly changed from when I started looking
up ambient resources on the web a few years ago, some established sites and
forums have come and gone, but I think the main change is that the ‘ambient
world’ has become wider. Certainly for musicians, MySpace (in
particular) has really opened things up. While it has a lot of rubbish attached
to it, the networking side really does work. The correspondence I've had with
other ambient musicians has been very encouraging (the private messages thing
that goes on behind the scenes), as has been the comments and messages from
fans and 'friends'. I would say that the vast majority of previously unknown
artists' music I've come across recently has been from MySpace and the 'viral'
nature of it leads to a degree of 'cross-pollination' that I don't think exists
anywhere else. I get friend requests from people outside of the ‘ambient world’
and I find this very refreshing. It’s the whole social-networking element,
which has brought about this diversification. |
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Ann Licater Following the Call |
Following the Call AV talks to Ann Licater Ann Licater is a life-long silver flute player who discovered the inspirational and healing music of the Native American flute at a powwow. She uses her intuition and classical training to create beautiful, original melodies and breathtaking improvisations on these sacred instruments. Ann studied classical flute at MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, MN and Native American flute with master flutist R. Carlos Nakai at the “Renaissance of the Native American Flute” in Helena, Montana. In addition to recording, performing and facilitating workshops, Ann is a public speaker on the subjects of spirituality, creative expression and personal discovery. Other Artist Interviews on Ambient Visions |
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Jim Cole
Innertones |
Innertones AV talks with Jim Cole Jim Cole began practicing harmonic singing
in 1991, inspired by the unique vocal sounds of Tibetan monks and David Hykes
and the Harmonic Choir (especially their album Hearing Solar Winds). He founded Spectral Voices and then,
intrigued by the reverberant cistern recording of Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening, they found home in an
empty water tower. In 1996 he received
an artist fellowship award from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts for work
in harmonic singing, which supported the
production and release of Spectral Voices' debut CD Coalescence.
Jim has collaborated with Alpha Wave Movement (their CD Bislama released
on Spectral Spiral Music), Mathias
Grassow (The Hollow and The Last Bright Light), Kevin Makarewicz
(Labyrinth Walk Live), and has contributed to works by Paranoise
(Private Power, Ishq and numerous live performances - also with the
acoustic-based version of Paranoise: "Mawwal"), vidnaObmana (The Surreal
Sanctuary, The Contemporary Nocturne, and live in concert), Amir Baghiri
(Rooms), Steve Roach & Byron Metcalf (The Serpent's Lair),
Mike Hovancsek and Pointless Orchestra (Temporal Angels, Scattered
Meditations, The Angel Scratch Radio Project and Under Moons)
and several other projects. Other AV's CD Focus Features available on Ambient Visions |
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New Reviews on Ambient Visions
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Chuck van Zyl
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Star's End 30th Anniversary AV talks with Chuck van Zyl STAR'S END is (with the exception of "Music from the
Hearts of Space") the longest running radio program of ambient music in
the world. Since 1976, STAR'S END has been providing the "STAR'S END is a unique listening experience, not just
an exchange of information like most radio shows", says van Zyl. "Due
to the unique presentation and the subtlety of the music, the program really
affects people, often in a profound way". Other AV's Q&A Features available on Ambient Visions |
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Mark Dwane
2012 |
Artist Spotlight on Mark Dwane For almost twenty years, Mark Dwane has been an internationally acclaimed composer and musician. Born July 30, 1954 in Cleveland, Ohio, Mark began formal lessons on the guitar at the age of 10. Influenced early on by the music of the era, Mark continued his musical education and gained experience playing with many bands. Able to fluently read and write music, Mark continued to study music theory and composition with a wide variety of instructors. In the 70’s Mark began experimenting with guitar synthesizers, pioneering a unique fusion of electronic artistry and innovative composition . During this time, his band “ORB” performed throughout the northeast Ohio area and recorded an album entitled “Such Power Exists?”. In 1981 Mark decided to pursue a solo career and build his own studio. Teaching guitar for his livelihood with over 50 students a week, Mark now had the creative freedom to produce his music without constraints. Although involved in numerous projects, “The Myth” was his first un-official release from that period. A collection of essentially demo tracks loosely based around an archeological theme. The advent of affordable digital recording technology and a polyphonic MIDI guitar system brought about a paradigm shift for Mark in 1987. Inspired by Richard Hoagland’s book “The Monuments Of Mars”, he created a soundtrack to the enigmatic anomalies of the Cydonia region.
Mark was continually upgrading his studio to state of the art specification and developing his production skills in the process. It was at this time that Mark began to employ his talents at production music. Working with companies in New York and Los Angeles, Mark's music has been used on National and International network / cable TV and film including: CBS, TBS, The E Channel (E!), ABC, The Playboy Channel, The Weather Channel, Lifetime, MTV, Univision, Fidelity Investments, Singapore Airlines, Sony, The NBA, The Canadian Winter Games, FOX Sunday, FOX Sports, Comcast Sports and the list continues to grow… A native of “The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame“ city, Mark enjoyed the notoriety of being selected as one of Cleveland Magazines most interesting people for 1996! In 1998 Mark released “The Nefilim” a mysteriously luxurious sounding limited edition CD. 2000 and 2001 saw the release of “Archives” and “Planetary Mysteries” respectively. The former was a collection of previously unreleased tracks, while the latter was his first collaboration with vocalist Michelle Nader. As all of Mark’s previous work had been strictly MIDI guitar, “Planetary Mysteries” also featured the introduction of electro-acoustic guitars, widening the aperture of his considerable guitar playing abilities. This trend continued and intensified on “The Sirius Link”, which was chosen as one of top 10 Essential ECHOES CD's for 2004! Spring of 2007 saw the release of Mark’s latest endeavor entitled “2012”, which went straight to #1 on ECHOES and was awarded CD of the month for April. As of this writing, “Variants” has just been released! A newly re-mastered, audiophile collection of alternate versions and alternate mixes from Mark’s existing catalog. Intellectually stimulating and emotionally powerful, Mark’s music has always been a direct conduit to his soul. Visionary, futuristic, highly melodic, romantic, otherworldly, mysteriously optimistic, are all descriptive adjectives of the music that Mark Dwane has created. He presently resides in Westlake, Ohio with his wife Deborah and their four Siamese cats. An avid aviation enthusiast, he also enjoys cycling, hiking, science fiction and a good sauvignon blanc. Click here to visit Mark Dwane's website Because of some problems with the way this link functions in Firefox here is the address to Mark's site that you can copy and paste into your browser's address bar: http://www.markdwane.com |
Sounds
to
Listen For
Fabrications
by M. Griffin
Kalitz
by Vataff Project
Poesis Athesis
by Robert Scott Thompson
Visions of Surya
by Colourform
Shores of Jupiter
by Nature of Light
Endurance
by Irezumi
Spiral Empire
Distant System
Read AV's review
Island
by Indigo Egg
Wanderer
by Solyaris Music
The Persistence of Ambience
by Sourcecodex
1989
by Disparition
Active Agent of Sound
by Various Artists
Inframundis
by Antonio Testa
Ambiethernum
by Psicodreamics
Secret Entries into Darkness
by Evan Bartholomew
Connection Failed
(unfinished works)
by Richard Bone
Mantle
by Brian Parnham
Asunder
by Nathan Youngblood
Sound Sutras
by Govinda
Caverns of Time
by Evan Bartholomew
Arc of Passion
by Steve Roach
Endless Rhythms of the Beatless Heart
by Schulman
Songs from the Forest
by Thom Brennan
Secret Journey
by Omar Akram
Radio Silence
by Betwen Interval
Dark Edges
by Diatonis
Devil in the Detail
by Various Artists
(read press release)
Deep Time Dreaming
by
Byron Metcalf &
Mark Seelig
w-Steve Roach
(read press release)
Glaciation
by Patrick O'Hearn