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On At the Still Point of the Turning World (69'05"), Robert Scott Thompson presents an alternative vision of Ambient Music. This album is weirdly unsettling while at the same time involved with the familiar and engaging interactions of space and sound. Infused with both thought and feeling, this work ranges from dense and textured to lithe and airy. Only the ambition of the idea puts a limit on the work, and Thompson is still finding new truths in his artfully woven nocturnal meditations. The sonorities are so different, so unique. The reverberant sounds of piano are certain but most all else is some sort of hybrid of synthesized tone and acoustic transient. Ethereal choirs and strings comfort the listener while elsewhere sinister chords swell in a slow rolling cloud of sonic turbulence. Finding equilibrium between complexity and accessibility, Thompson combines the push of his experimental tendencies with the pull of new age luminosity to realize music that is agreeable but by no means simplistic. In his work, Thompson seeks stillness, balance and harmony. Each track is a layered investigation into the lure of ominous atmospheres, the purity of light and the tension between these two realms. Ambiguity and uncertainty are basic themes in art. Using a form created from electronically generated sounds, Thompson renders the dreamlife of the artist and his relationship to the world.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 25 August 2005 |
