Elemental: Thee Divine Imagination

ele-tdi.jpg (17k) Elemental: Thee Divine Imagination
(Aethyr Productions - 1999)

Working without MIDI or computers, Elemental (a.k.a. Steven D. Stokes) composes "old fashioned" synth music with his small fleet of keyboards. The dozen tracks of Thee Divine Imagination are infused with a sparkling quality which can best be described as "magical". The only sleight-of-hand though, is that of Stokes' fingers on his instruments.

Splendor is an apt-enough title for the rising swell of joyously dancing notes and synth-voice choir which opens the more-than-70 minute disc of beatless, mainly analog sounds. Humming with golden energy, 18k is a vaporous veil of shimmer and drone. Trickling water flows behind Thee Divine Imagination which wafts in slow, soft layers of sound which expand majestically.

The Solar Disc emits a spacey vibe within its darker, cycling patterns. Sweetly melodic overtones sweep over the surface of Solis Artus, while rollicking notes trill beneath. Even prettier, Faerie Magick revels in a simply lovely medieval tone. Tiny choirs are backed by a blur of woodwind- and organ-like accompaniment in this gleaming little jewel.

Flutey strains twine through Spiritus Lenitatis which basks in a radiant haze while following an almost-Oriental rhythm. Lovely, dense and animated are three adjectives which could eaily be pinned onto the rolling soundwaves of Kozmotron. Illumination is a hypnotically repeating motif which forms a seemingly endless interlocking pattern which surrounds the listener, before fading away.

Aethyria (11:22) is a gritty industrial space drone journeying through the deeper realms of the cosmos; while not as "pretty" as most of its companion pieces, the stellar wind, buzzing e-drone and void squall are beautiful in their own right. Like celebrational music from some neo-medieval space castle, Un Danse Petite (2:03) blends ancient styles with modern electronics. The sun sets with Solis Occasus which also seems somehow electro-Gothic (but not Goth) in its demeanor.

Steven may be e-mailed at revfever@olywa.net and Thee Divine Imagination may be ordered from: Aethyr Productions, PO Box 1664, Olympia, WA 98507-1664, USA

Like a pleasant case of living nostalgia, the sounds of Thee Divine Imagination are a blend of warm, fuzzy synth memories and arrangements which often harken back to even older styles (or forward to unheard futures). And therein lies the magic of Elemental's dreamy transportive synthesizer tunes; they gently lead to places that are neither here nor now. An 8.0 for sweet synth charms. 8-0.gif
This review posted October 27, 1999

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