Artist: Jeff Greinke
Album: Weather from Another Planet

Label: First World Music

Weather from Another Planet Jeff Greinke
Jeff Greinke - the one-man quiet storm. He came by this regard in part due to the meteorological themes which have always pervaded his music. But equally so, his presence in the underground electronic music scene is noticed more as a force of nature than as an individual artistic entity. Among the first generation of independent American Ambient music artists, Greinke's peculiar genius realized several acclaimed albums of evocative and introspective music. Having apparently fully explored the musical climate of his home planet and several inner worlds, in 2003 Jeff Greinke turns his attention elsewhere with the release Weather from Another Planet (56'29"). While not contradicting his earlier isolationist atmospheric works, Weather from Another Planet is definitely more interested in what can be discovered than in preserving what this artist is already known for. Upon listening to this album, we notice the overcast clear, the fog lift and the mist burn off as Greinke peeks his head down from the clouds with 10 shady sonic landscapes; each filled with tales told in a vocabulary of rounded edges and wide angles. The story tells what happens and the opening track "Sunday Afternoon" (4'38") sets the mood and brings into clear focus Greinke's musical image: as modern as tomorrow, as hot as cool can be. This track, along with others like "Big Stride" (6'15") and "Rolling Square" (5'17"), with their swanky, stylish rhythms and confident, laid back swagger, inhabit a unique Noir Lounge zone of stormy past lives and future gloom. In contrast, "Little Dust Devils" (4'51") portrays a more serious mood; its slow pace and somber tone combine to create a desolate panorama of brooding introspection. Greinke also explores other, brighter themes. His piece "Spin" (4'50") opens with a Reggae influenced drum roll, then quickly fills out into a quirky hybrid of steady beats and wildly weaving melodic accents, while "Krakatoa" (6'57") traces its ethnic influence to the Gamelan music of Indonesia. The album concludes with "Flight" (6'23"), a pleasant composition made up of electronic beats which support inter-connected melodies of plucked harp, electric piano and organ. Filled with "ethno-acoustic" music, Weather from Another Planet is the music for a newer century - one where the cave man and the space man co-exist.

- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END   9 August 2003

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