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It is hard to imagine that anyone acquiring a copy of .74 (51'18") by Maitreya (a.k.a. Simon Lomax), would use this disc of Ambient Music as a musical background to their everyday life. Forget about playing this album in hopes of enhancing a superficial activity. The eight tracks on this album are anything but "sonic wallpaper" as they draw the listener's attention rather than support its wandering. Exemplifying the concept of Ambient Music, the pieces on .74 have no beginning, middle or end, no distinguishable sections or movements, even the timbres themselves bare no resemblance to anything identifiable, yet they contain the same motion and depth of a more structured music. This album is dark and ambiguous with complex nuance. Escent (6'05"), the opening track, sets the album's bleak tone. A tranquil violin solo reverberates through the piece, the melancholic melodies providing a soothing narrative at the outset of this deep album. Further on, the electronic atmosphere creeps in and the mood turns toward the ceremonial. Throughout this work of absorbing minimalism, synthetic harmonies sooth... electronic bleeps build... shadowy effects sweep... tension builds... only to resolve into calm. One of the most interesting aspects of music as an art form is that it changes, and can be experienced, over time. Maitreya combines an unusual perception with creative thought within an art, a mode which is inexhaustible.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 16 December 2004 |
