| Artist: Matt Borghi & Michael Teager Album: Awaken the Electric Air Label: Slobor Media |  
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There is more than one reason to take part in a live to air broadcast concert on STAR'S END Ambient Radio. Most participants think that it is a good way to get their music out to thousands of radio listeners, which it is - or that this activity is just the thing to do after a stimulating performance at The Gatherings Concert Series, held earlier in the evening within the nearby church sanctuary of St. Mary's Hamilton Village. But Matt Borghi & Michael Teager used their late-night session to further explore and build upon that which was presented on their studio album Convocation (2013). This activity surprisingly yielded the quite magical Awaken the Electric Air, an album from the recording made on STAR'S END of 20 October 2013. Borghi & Teager were the third of three distinctive live sets produced on STAR'S END that night (also appearing were Dave Luxton and Vic Hennegan). Tasked with filling the 4:00AM to 5:00AM hour Borghi & Teager's music created the perfect atmosphere and mood to compliment this most deep and searching zone. Routing his electric guitar signal through a myriad of delays, reverbs and effects Borghi strummed, plucked and rubbed the strings of his instrument into a vast wash of gently undulating sound. Through this timbral front Teager contributed various saxophone and flute lines, beautifully reverberating into the soundfield and providing a sparse melodic narrative to bring the listener back from the slow thoughts of dreaming reverie. No synthesizers or computers were used during this realization, therefore Awaken the Electric Air (55'10") possesses a rare textured density, unusual compared to the flattened spaces of digital music. In their serious play Borghi & Teager lift the audience to a different place. A night time companion, small of gesture, large of heart, this album is subtle and in places moving - as it rescues us from the darkest corners of our own being.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 31 January 2014 | |
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