MOOCH
379562
CD
STARHENGE
CLASSIC (AMBIENT)Most of this seventy-five minute album revolves around creating a mood with a particular set of soundscapes, and then developing this mood as the piece progresses, by subtly adding and subtracting instruments and layers, changing the nature of the music as it progresses. This method works to brilliant effect throughout this album because it is both spacey and rhythmic. The rhythms are fairly gentle, but they work well because they are predominantly acoustic drum/percussive in nature and are generally of Middle Eastern origin, fitting perfectly with the music that is unfolding all around. In fact, this whole album is just a beauty to behold, and most definitely on the side of ethnic-electronic music at its very best.
Tracks 1 & 2, are a perfect example of the ethnic, middle Eastern influences mentioned earlier - The first, ‘Catal Huyuk’ begins with an Arabic chant, undulating bass, distant strummed guitar, whispered percussion, tiny keyboard stabs and an exotic, Eastern sound that flows underneath – It’s a brief track that leads directly into the 2nd, ‘Starhenge’, which opens with sampled radio voices, gentle Eastern percussion rhythms and a lone space synth that soars and flows around a landscape of distant cyclic choral voices. Layers and sound bites of stringed instruments and electronics develop and unfold, and it is this very cosmic, slowly shifting musical universe that takes us through the fifteen-minute composition. Track 3 is ‘Osiris’ and it begins with more distant voices, string-synths, delicate acoustic guitar and background Eastern music samples, then it proceeds on into a magnificently moody, but delightful four-minutes of superb music. ‘Culture’ follows with over twenty-three minutes of dreamy music, beginning with layers of subtly soaring synths flying around the mix while Eastern-tinged drums and percussion weave slowly building rhythmic layers underneath, and a shimmering, echoed electric guitar adds to the sound panorama, with cosmic synths taking the lead role as a unique slice of rhythmic space music develops into a passage of full-sounding Eastern-tinged ethereal magic. The 5th track: ‘Abu Hureya’ and the 6th: ‘Dr. Strangelight’ follow a similar path within different background settings, but they both retain the same type of sonic heart as the others.
Weight: 150.00 g
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