| Artist: Craig Padilla Album: Sonar Released: June 2014 |   |
|
In a world of daytrippers Craig Padilla's Sonar is an odyssey length voyage. On this overtly retro work he appears to have returned to first principles - showing us what it was about this music that initially grabbed him (and has never let go). This double LP fills our mental soundspace with Padilla's previously unreleased realizations from the 1990s. Finding sonic power in simple forms the mood of each piece moves between drifting weightlessness and easy sequencer pattern propulsion. Creamy synth leads and interacting sources of sound push the mind to move continually while phasing radiant chords and twinkling modulated effects caress and engulf our attention. From a dark fragility to glowing galactic bliss Sonar was made for the listener to participate in. This music seems to pull at us with more than just sound. The ebb and flow of dream waves and sleep currents carves a channel of darkness that is thrillingly cerebral. These early works show Padilla's masterful grasp of the technology and form of Spacemusic, and may act as a reference point from which to assess where his reach has lead him.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 5 June 2014 | |
| Reviews |