BODDY/REUTER/MULLANEY 
493117
CD
TRIPTYCH

AMBIENT (SYNTH)

Release # 9 on DiN moves somewhere between the transient hinterlands of ‘Ambient’ and ‘Dance’, blurring the edges in swathes of lambent sonics, as layer after layer of shifting timbre and harmony coalesce into a music that’s expansive in its vision, and yet knowingly intimate in its detail. Fans of Ian Boddy's distinctive use of atmospherics and colour will not be disappointed by this music, as he combines forces with Markus Reuter’s heartfelt searing touch guitar and Nigel Mullany's innovative use of decks, where syntax and sound-pigments fall into forever. ‘Triptych’ is a perfectly magical 70-minute album that combines accessibility and innovation in equal proportions. It comes from a concert performance played with a unique combination of sound sources: Boddy's large analogue modular synth system - used extensively to filter and mangle the drum loops produced by Mullaney’ weird and wonderful turntable snatches, and the beautiful real-time looping of Reuter's 8-string Warr touch guitar. Together, they offer a seamless blend of improvisation and composition, featuring moments of real delicacy, robust experimentation and tangles of knotted rhythms with critical breaks and sequences. Whereas this is completely modern, contemporary and fresh sounding, throughout all of the musical invention on display, the trio never forget their musical roots, and indeed, there are parts of this CD that are guaranteed to have fans of traditional electronic music salivating! It features 6 tracks, the shortest of which is five minutes, and the longest is eighteen, and given that luxury of space and time, the musicians have the room required to expand and develop their compositions, as they travel through the varying musical worlds they have created. It is a relaxed, yet solid album, that has galaxies of chilled-out sounds, tonal light and shade, life bearing rhythms and echoed layers of deep space music, all working within one musical setting. They take in influences that span the work of the great 60’s innovators right through to the finest of modern day ‘Ambient’ players and producers. There are some melodic moments where layers of flowing keyboards meet up with deep atmospheric synth backdrops, and the trio of musical magicians even cast their spell over a passage of really cool ‘space-jazz’, using instruments and sounds such as: synthesizers, Chapman stick style bass, shuffling electro-percussive rhythmic splashes and some seriously good guitar work.

The opener is ‘Sienna Daze’ and it’s just amazing, with its whole galaxy of chilled-out synths, tonal coloration, heartbeat rhythms, echoed layers, resonant synth work and shuffling rhythms. Above all though, is a heart and warmth that embodies thirty years of deep feeling space music, from the early German pioneers of the late 60’s to the finest ‘Ambient’ producers of our time. It’s insistent; there’s a whole feel about the track that takes you along with it as it builds, develops, rises to a swell, calms and manoeuvres its way through the regions of deep space that it inhabits. It is surprisingly melodic all the way too, as the instruments weave their magical spells for over fourteen minutes. The first six minutes of the 2nd track ‘Mystertronic’ set the controls for the heart of space, and then all of a sudden the trio take off into what can only be described as ‘space-jazz’ mode, as undulating Chapman stick style bass, shuffling electro-percussive splashes and rhythms provide backbone to one of Boddy’s tastiest, jazziest synth and electric piano solo features you’ve ever heard him play, and the track travels on in this manner to the end of the piece. The twenty-five minute title track is a masterpiece of space, chill-out and synth/sequencer music. The piece is split into 3 movements (‘First Image’, ‘Second Transmission’ & ‘Final View’), and all the constituent elements flow effortlessly to create a track where you’ll hear everything from deep space synths and atmospheric textures, through to mid-seventies Tangerine Dream put through a progressive-meets-jazz blender, with some seriously fine electric guitar work from Reuter, before it draws to a dark, eerie climax. The final track, ‘Ionosphere’, returns to the shuffling percussives and electric bass of the opener, but with a more obvious lead guitar layer shining through, as Boddy’s synths frame the piece with layers of flowing melodic keyboards and atmospheric depth. Above all, there’s a feel to the whole thing that is at the heart and soul of modern electronic ‘Ambient’ music, but they take it from an older style angle. From start to finish, this is one of those CD’s that will have you interested to such an extent, that you will put it by the player and regularly return to it on many occasions from thereon.

Weight: 150.00 g