Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Michael Brook w/ Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois: Hybrid




MICHAEL BROOK W/ BRIAN ENO AND DANIEL LANOIS - HYBRID

EG Records 1985

SIDE ONE:
Hybrid
Distant Village
Mimosa
Pond Life
SIDE TWO:
Ocean Motion
Midday
Earth Floor
Vacant

(the rip is broken into two side-long tracks, as that is how i would listen to it anyway, and i'm lazy)

Michael Brook has kinda gone un-noticed for the last few decades. Best known these days for his soundtrack work for movies like Inconvenient Truth and Into the Wild, dude was at one point a deeper drifter tripper. This record, recorded in 1985 with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, is a perfect slow burner for a rainy winter afternoon. Sometimes i set side two on repeat on my record player and just drift away for hours. Michael Brook invented the Infinite Guitar, basically a pick up that acts as individual e-bows for each string. Here he throws that through a bunch of awesome 80's harmonizers and other effects, lets Eno and Lanois come up with some deeply drifted and tucked low-bit electro-afro beats, and lays it out slow and mellow. The guitar sounds like some sort of snake-flute languorously slithering atop the bed of a gradually shifting mauve and crimson sunset.

From Brook's website:
While still administering the artist-access studio Charles St. Video in his native Toronto, Michael helped Brian Eno prepare a series of environmental video-based installations, which the two subsequently installed in art museums around the world. Messrs.Brook & Eno would, on occasion, play in tandem with the video shows. In return for Michael’s technological expertise, Brian offered to help with the solo recordings that would yield Hybrid.

Sessions begun in Michael’s basement 8-track studio (The Crypt, located in Toronto’s Chinatown) migrated to 24-tracks within Daniel Lanois’ Grant Avenue facility in nearby Hamilton. Michael was well familiar with the Lanois studio, having recorded there previously with Jon Hassell, as well as for the sessions that produced Eno’s On Land. Lanois also ended up playing on Hybrid. Michael recalls the Hybrid sessions as a ‘thrilling time that involved much banging of my head against the wall,’ this being his first attempt at working in a proper studio, ‘having access to the sort of signal processing that people now have in their Palm Pilots.’ It was also the premier manifestation of what would become Michael’s sonic thumbprint: spiraling, Indian-inflected melodies articulated by his invention, the Infinite Guitar.


THIS RECORD IS STILL IN PRINT ON CD. MAYBE IF YOU LOVE IT BUY IT HERE

And you can make friends with Michael Brook here.

You can get an Infinite Guitar like device, called the Sustainer, from Fernandez Guitars. They even have a video section dedicated to it.
Or or there's also the ''original" mass-produced pickup mounted magnetic sustain device: The Sustainiac "Intense, predictable, infinite feedback sustain for guitars and other stringed instruments"........... or you could just get an E-Bow. or maybe you could try and build The Gizmo like 10cc...

WHATEVER IT IS YOU DO, DRONE ON IT.

Frank Perry - New Atlantis



FRANK PERRY - NEW ATLANTIS
celestial harmonies (CEL011)
1984

Temple of Sound
Rays of Sunlight touch the Healing Waters

another shimmering set of chiming gongs and bells loveliness from frank perry. some deep zones for the holidays. enjoy!

“Bells and gongs are representative of some of the most spiritual music,” says Perry. He is a master of his art form, understanding how each gong produces its fundamental tone, harmonics and sub-tones. He carefully blends to create the specific meditative mood he desires. “Admittedly, percussion is not a field of instrumentation or sound-source most usually associated with meditational music, but I have spent half of my life refining the potential usages and overcoming the initial restrictions imposed by this musical medium of percussion.”

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Steven Halpern - "I" A Cosmic Attunement







STEVEN HALPERN - "I" A COSMIC ATTUNEMENT

sri records 771

1977



first installment by sonic incense creator steven halpern. this is not my favorite halpern album, but its a good one. side A is an astrological suite, each track based on each sign of the zodiac. typical lovely electric piano drippings from halpern with some synth and chimes, etc. side B gets into some different zones. some bad acoustic piano and violin is relieved by harp bliss and more electric piano mellow noodlings. enjoy!



visit steven halpern's website here - http://www.innerpeacemusic.com.



Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Ariel Kalma - Music for Dream and Love



ARIEL KALMA - MUSIC FOR DREAM AND LOVE
1979

came across more sweet zones by ariel kalma. after having heard his album 'osmose' awhile back and sleeping on it a bit, i delved deeper into his discography and found this gem. deep meditative bliss. phased farfisa like synth, echoed distorted flute blankets, cosmic vocal incantations, ocean waves, distant filtered drums, etc. more kalma karmic bliss to come......

for optimum vibrational enjoyment, please listen to this record while sitting shirtless in the lotus position on the beach near the ocean (preferrably while wearing comfortable white pants).

"In his room under the roof in his Paris' apartment, Ariel had a music set-up playing for days and nights while he carefully tuned his voice with sound layers, echoes, drum machines... he would often enter a meditative state. Music for Dream and Love was recorded in 1979, on two occasions when Ariel remembered to press Record before embarking on his musical meditation."

visit ariel kalma's website here - http://www.ariel-kalma.com

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Peter Davison - Selamat Siang - Music on the Way...




PETER DAVISON - SELAMAT SIANG - MUSIC ON THE WAY...
avocado records AR-101
1980

here is a really lovely flute / synth / saxophone / harp / cello / guitar record. dreamy floaty episodic soundscapes. synths emulating birds and ocean waves. deep early 80's santa monica vibes here. it seems that peter is now a composer for TV / film, also scoring lots of music for gaiam yoga DVDs. he's tight with rodney yee. there is hardly a mention of this album on his website...but it looks like he made more albums in the early 80's. enjoy this one!

visit peter davison's website here - http://www.peterdavison.com