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David Parsons beckons to us again with the promise of far-flung fantastic escape. His 13 track double CD Atmanaut speaks anew to the dreamer inside all of us. Upon entering the Edenic atmosphere of this substantial release we set out to new places within ourselves. A journey at once vibrant and soothing, then crackling with live-wire energy, Atmanaut is more interested in reveling in the myths of World Music than in piercing them. A remarkable achievement of the imagination it offers paths of inquiry limited only by the mind's ability to become aroused. Conjuring translucent textures, from an ethereal simplicity to a riotously rare intensity Parsons pulls from different emotional poles. To satisfy the craving for faster tempo and weightier percussion we encounter propulsive rhythmic patterns. Through enlivening pulsations the listener synchronizes with the music, only to untether during zones of night-black synth textures - places where Parsons just allows himself to vibe out. The closer one listens the more one hears this album's glistening dark-edge fade into a ceremony of the spirit. Even in our broken and diminished realm it is possible - even necessary - to exult the mystical. Atmanaut offers otherworldly consolation - as we, like Parsons, take refuge in the beautiful mysteries that remain in our people and planet.
Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END - 28 July 2022
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