| Artist: offthesky Album: Gently Down the Stream Released: April 2005 | 
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On his album Gently Down the Stream (62'03"), offthesky (a.k.a. Jason Corder) re-envisions Ambient Music into something more lineal. The focus is tighter, more intimate - and the music less ambiguous. The fractured form of this album uses delicate rhythmic interludes of weightless electronica to disengage the mind, but the songs do more than just float by on spacey imagery. Corder's imagination finds form in sound and the preternatural calm of his work lends itself well to productive daydreaming, better experiencing slow time or just chilling out. Many of the 12 tracks crossfade one into the next, providing a fluid listening session. While the arc of this album fluctuates somewhat noticeably, it is a pleasure to have this music call attention to itself here and there. Dense sub-sonic bass pulses periodically rattle the low end while elsewhere grainy electronic effects offer to reroute nerve impulses. Throughout this dreamlike aural excursion, the rhythms are so slow and cool, atmosphere so porous, textures so artfully interlaced, that repeated listening is rewarded with a deeper appreciation for the craft of this artist and his alternative vision of Ambient Music.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 6 July 2005 | |
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