If you've not already caught these reviews from Sweden's Stephen Fruitman (who occasionally posts to Hyperreal's Ambient Mailing List), here are his latest. Stephen's attentive ears and expressive thoughts are appreciated by many, and I'm glad to offer this forum to my e-friend. Edward Artemiev: Solaris. The Mirror. Stalker (Elektroshock) Edward Artemiev is a legendary name in the world of experimental electroacoustics. One of its true pioneers, he was academically schooled in Moscow and then introduced to synthesizers in the form of prototypes constructed by mathematician and engineer Yevgeniy Murzin in 1960. Artemiev quickly mastered the medium and became one of the most original soundscape composers around - as he still is today. In the West, his name will always be associated with his trailblazing soundtrack work for three of the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky's films: Solaris (1972), The Mirror (1975) and Stalker (1979). Elektroshock Records in Moscow (run by his son, electronic composer Artemiy) have now released a 76-minute compilation of the finest moments from these three soundtracks. Austerely packaged in a form befitting the visual world of Tarkovsky, this CD is the ultimate collection of these suggestive works, which seem not to have aged at all over the years. Tracks from the trilogy are interwoven to fine effect, creating a suite of unsurpassed imaginative force. These scores may just be the finest example of film soundtracking ever committed to disc, and the compilation is a fitting tribute to them, creating something new by combining the tracks instead of slavishly releasing them in their entirety on separate discs. Finally, the record closes with Dedication to Andrei Tarkovskiy, composed by Artemiev in 1989 in honour of his friend and collaborator, who died in Paris in 1986, aged 54. Artemiy Artemiev: Mysteries of Sound (Elektroshock) Mysteries of Sound is Artemiy Artemiev's fifth and latest collection of eletronic compositions issued on his own, Moscow-based label. Previous CDs like The Warning, Cold and Point of Intersection have all shown him to be an electronic composer of the highest water, whose talents have followed a constant upward curve in their evolution. However, last year's Five Mystery Tales of Asia, the result of his travels in Mongolia, China and Japan and incorporating sounds from these cultures, indicated how far he has progressed since his debut in 1993 - the relative melodiousness of his earlier works now becoming invested with something heavier, more elusive. This trend continues with his latest release, Mysteries of Sound. While this album could easily be slotted into the "dark ambient" genre, its subtle shifts of mood locate it far beyond a simple genre piece. The four long tracks seem to have subsumed the Asian influence while at the same time never reneging it. The opening Pictures of I. Bosch & P. Breugel is a sublime aural landscape shot through with dark, shifting undercurrents, a mirror held up to the work of the artists to whom the title refers; playful yet ominous. While one would assume that, given our history, a track with the title Cataclysms of the XX Century" would be the most cacaphonous piece on the album, it is actually the half-hour long second track, Mysticism of Sound, Part #1, which roars and groans with the clash of swords and noise of upheaval. Cataclysms... is a collage-like documentary exploiting reverb effects and perhaps indeed telling the story of our sorry century; it reaches its resolution after a quarter of an hour with a quiet, meditative mantra, with a whimper or a sigh, not a bang. Finally, the second installment of the title track allows the Asian influence of Five Mystery Tales... to once again surface, this time dotted with percussive elements and electronic embellishments. Artemiy Artemiev has proven once again that he is an exciting and innovative composer who deserves much more exposure in the West. Elektroshock CDs are available online through www.gamma-shop.com Jeff Greinke & Anisa Romero: Hana (First World) Horowitz and Deyhim's Majoun has now been blessed with a little sister! The proud parents are ambient composer Jeff Greinke and singer Anisa Romero. Hana apparently was conceived when the pair collaborated on two pieces for a multimedia installation in the summer of 1997. It continued to gestate in the studio and some months later the album was born, on Greinke's new First World label. This music is just lovely. Romero has a sweet voice, supple as a willow branch, swaying in and around Greinke's atmospheres, which are enriched on several tracks by percussion, filling the bottom out nicely. In common with Majoun, there is a very Near Eastern feel to this record as a whole, particularly on tracks like the opener, Horse Dance, and even an African nod as far as the percussion on Sweet Sorrow goes. The vocals are wordless throughout, with the exception of two "proper" songs, seamlessly interwoven into the whole. An evocative marriage of voice and ambience. Philip Glass: Circles (Materiali Sonori) A unique new interpretation of the works of Philip Glass. Circles is a collection of Glassworks performed by Italian pianist Arturo Stalteri. While on the two pieces taken from the composer's Solo Piano Stalteri follows Glass' own transcriptions to the letter, he allows himself greater freedom (with the expressed blessing of Glass himself) on other works, such as North Star and an aria from the opera Satyagraha. On Ave Stalteri borrows Harmonia's cellist Damiano Puliti, and the result is gorgeous. Stalteri is apparently working on a project featuring Brian Eno's music (working title: Before and After the Silence) transcribed for small ensemble, for eventual release on Materiali Sonori. I'm all ears. Materiali Sonori's website: www.matson.it. The Inspirational Sounds of Mad Professor (Universal Egg) With all the excitement generated by the new directions dub is taking - digidub, Laswellian dub translations, Berlin/Cologne minimal techno dub - maybe it's time for a refresher course in roots dub, which continues to thrive and jive unabated. Neil Fraser aka Mad Professor has been twisting dials and minds from behind the control panel at his Ariwa Studio in Great Britain for many a moon now, faithful to the tradition of King Tubby, Lee Perry and Augustus Pablo. Through his work and that of Adrian Sherwood at On-U Sound, their legacy lives on, not the least in the flourishing of new dub in the UK in the past few years (have a listen to Dub Revolution. UK Roots: High Steppin' to the Future on ROIR for unimpeachable evidence). In common with the Jamaican masters, the Mad Professor is so prolific and his work scattered among so many B-sides, white labels and CD collections that it is almost impossible to keep up, or even get a decent bead on the terrain. Where to start? This has now been remedied by the good folks at Universal Egg, who have now released a compilation of Mad Professor tracks culled from 20 years of material. Lovingly housed in a garishly-coloured foldout digipak including a thick booklet with interviews and other information, this is indeed the comprehensive guide to the Mad Professor's pulsating world. Several cuts have never been available on CD before, making this compilation an even more cherished possession. A great debt of gratitude is due Zion Train (the UK band behind Universal Egg) for making these obscurities and classics available for our enjoyment and edification. Check out www.wobblyweb.com/ue. Arvo Pärt: Alina (ECM New Series) The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's latest ECM release contains only two pieces, Für Alina and Spiegel im Spiegel, in two and three versions, respectively. They were recorded four years ago, and the reason for the delay in releasing them is not explained in the liner notes. But one thing is sure: It is certainly not a case of having no new Pärt product to peddle and wheeling out old outtakes to keep the punters happy. Für Alina is one of the seven works performed in Tallinn in 1976, when the composer broke his famed silence after several years of musical crisis, while Spiegel im Spiegel was written two years later. Both are utterly sublime. Pärt's compositional technique exploits the silences between notes, offering these spaces as places for the listener to contemplate their slow disappearance and be drawn inside the music itself. He once commented that he had found his new way of composing by asking a street sweeper he met in his hometown how one was supposed to write music; the man answered, "I think one has to love every note, every single tone". Alina is proof that he took the man at his word. Spiegel im Spiegel is presented in versions for violin or cello and piano, while Für Alina's two versions are actually selected phrases from pianist Alexander Malter's several-hour long improvisation on the piece made by Pärt himself. While his music has now become a standard part of the late 20th-century repertoire, appearing on endless recordings from around the world, it is still to ECM's Pärt CDs that one should turn to experience the true essence of his music. Alina is both a very good place to start for the uninitiated and an essential gem for those already enamoured of Arvo Pärt's unique sound. Corporal Blossom: S/T (Micropop Recordings) Long-time assistant engineer and tape editor for Bill Laswell, Layng Martine III has been contributing high quality tracks to illbient compilations for years now under the name Corporal Blossom. A late bloomer (how was I supposed to resist the pun?) in releasing an album on his own, his self-titled debut has now finally arrived. While several of the numbers are already available on compilations like Valis I & II and Crooklyn Dub Consortium, most of the tracks are new; either way, it's convenient having all this music gathered together on one strong fifty-minute CD. With a little help from folks like DXT, Doug Scharin and Skiz Fernando, this survey of Corporal Blossom's soundworld is ample proof that his debut was well worth the wait. The illbient collage aesthetic dominates the overall sound, but the groove is funkier than the dub experiments of his peers: the bass knows its place - right in your face - and the beats are judiciously selected to pound the message home. Radio and TV samples, vinyl crackle and electronics joust with live drums, sonic worlds collide and the resulting debris makes for a very satisfying mess. A nice surprise is the presence of soft wordless vocals by Lori Carson on two consecutive tracks (Martine recently produced her latest solo album). On the merits of this CD, the Corporal most certainly deserves a promotion. Info and other stuff are available at www.layng.com. Stephen Fruitman's Reviews were posted here on November 27,1999.

AmbiEntrance © 1999-97 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).