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 | Divination:Dead Slow (Subharmonic) Swirling ambience, rhythmic beats and a groovy bassline... that's very often what is found in this package from Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble, Mick Harris and Jeff Bova. These are some pretty big names in the business, though I admit ignorance to the details. All I know is what I hear here... and I like it. |
| Everything begins with the hazy, droning title track, Dead Slow. Like a distant foghorn with some otherworldy sustain, it's 4 minutes of murky sonic waves and cavernous vibrations
Baraka seems to be more of the same, billowing like a cloud for almost two minutes, but then the bass kicks in. You won't think it's 70's Motown, but the bass is very funky for the ambient world. It, and a very active yet quiet rhythm section, motivate this tune very nicely. The "traditional" ambient elements are all here; keyboard electronics, smoothed out synthetic bell tones, a weird "sproingy" sound. Sometimes they come to the front, often they're whirling around in the background. For 15 minutes, these various sound particles appear, disappear and reappear to intermix with each other. The musical equivalent of a cold dark night, Silent Fields resonates with the swells of an alien world. There is no beat and very little light. I find this brand of darkness quite inviting though. Evil Eye opens with the same black aura of space, but lightens up with some xylophone-like tinklings. A bamboo rhythm joins, followed with more percussion in the form of echoing drums, and again comes the electric bass, stamping the piece indelibly. These elements, once established come and go and frolic amongst themselves for 14+ minutes, like in Baraka, but sometimes quieter and more spacey. The ethnically third-world sounding rhythm makes itself quickly known in Dream Light. But the bass dominates the song, in a sort of "rock"-style riff; it overlays, then is overtaken by, synth flutes and a particularly driving cymbal/snare beat. Everything eventually fades into a ringing emptiness, then vocal (movie?) and flute samples emerge temporarily. This is my personal favorite. Journeys is aptly named. At least, with all the swooshing synthesizers and (jet- or train-like) rumbling, it sure sounds like we're going somewhere, some very strange place apparently. Interesting, but somehow not so interesting... |
| Dead Slow is quite a good ambient CD. The prominent bass differentiates it from most other releases I've heard. Everything about it points to total competence. It doesn't hold me in utter rapture, but it's solidly done. Here's my thumb that says so. |  |
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