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Everything about Digiseeds (66'23") is thoroughly modern. Its production values, artist representation, synthetic sound and technological prowess, all add up to a top notch, present day, of the moment, youthful anthology of contemporary electronic works. What is not new, and is in fact nearly lost to our current day, is its concept of selecting, arranging and mixing music into a flowing, enlightening and pleasurable listening experience. Piloting this ambitious project is Lubos Cvrk. Known also as Ambientium, well does he do his job. Cvrk contemplates music in lengthy arcs of mood. It is not a straightforward climb, but through his guidance Digiseeds quietly reaches substantial heights. More than just a montage of 12 artists out of the here and now, Digiseeds manages to work on a scale midway between the human and the cosmic. After several minutes of spin, it will be difficult to keep up with where we are located in this album's playlist - which is the magic of this endeavor. To go into Digiseeds, we must remain open - meeting new ideas, talents and sounds at each expertly crossfaded turn. Its refined, assured, understated pacing and escalation disappears us into assuring zones of well-warmed synthesizers and assertive grooves. A spiderwebbing of force beams dapples diffuse sounds against a much larger background. Assured beats yield weighty expectations, as chords sustain and step one after the other towards confident sonic conclusions. The musical ordering and connecting of the dozen different artists on Digiseeds brings the listener into and out of a series of distinctive atmospheres. There are no dramatic climaxes, no revelatory drops to distract us from the real idea of this substantial journey. We find that the resulting soundscape is inhabited by people: the musicians and the listener. The result is a wonderful realization of a thing that is bigger than the sum of its parts. In a world that is fast, loud and shallow, where may we find space to simply wander in wonder? At every turn a tempest rages, Digiseeds is where we can go for refuge.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 25 February 2016 |
