Steve Hillage does not own his electric guitar, he possesses it. Celebrating this instrument across decades with the likes of Khan, Gong, The Orb, System 7 and his independent projects and productions, he and collaborator Miquette Giraudy opened up a truly remarkable dream zone with 1979's Rainbow Dome Musick (43:45).
The only thing this album does quickly is go deep. At the same time as advancing a young rock star career, Hillage grew into a six string poet and innovator who left plenty of space in his performances for the freedom of the imagination. A full appreciation and enjoyment of the two side long tracks requires a refinement of the senses. The drifting Garden of Paradise and Four Ever Rainbow reveal a patient inner logic - as we encounter the heart and mind of the musician more so than on any of his other more conventional releases.
A transcendent work, Rainbow Dome Musick seduces with subtlety. The delicate interiority confirms all the unwritten rules of the Ambient Music classification - serving as auditory wallpaper to the sleepy or shallow, but coming across as profoundly layered and lush to those tuned in to the knowing production and uniquely expressive musicianship.
Yes, Hillage and Giraudy are found here playing notes. More significantly, they are creating an atmosphere - a wondrous, shared world of consonance, balance and bliss. In breathtaking shifts in texture and tone, supporting lively lead lines, warm sustaining synths, floating and fragile, gliding glissando guitar and a framing reverberant Rhodes piano they navigate each nuance by feel.
Along a perfect arc building through moments of inspiration and moving self-discovery, we reach for something substantial - the very cells of the brain becoming more reassured over each listening session. But even with all the knowledge and mastery, and joy and rightness from which this release was derived, we are struck by how even more distant the promise of this music seems today. Truly an inviting Eden of sonic pleasure and aural enchantment, yet intelligent and future-facing enough to raise it above the level of mere entertainment, we yearn for a world containing the values found emanating from turntables first spinning Rainbow Dome Musick well over 40 years ago.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 28 November 2024
