Jeff Greinke: Lost Terrain

gre-lt.jpg (19k) Jeff Greinke: Lost Terrain
(Hypnos - 1999)

In case you missed it the first time around (on Silent Records), here's your chance to cover (or recover) Lost Terrain; the 1992 classic from Seattle's Jeff Greinke has been digitally remastered, repackaged and rereleased on the mighty Hypnos label.

When asked about Lost Terrain in his interview with us last year, Greinke said, "Of all my releases it's the most 'ambient' or atmospheric." This is an undeniable understatement.

Resonant piano notes ring and sustain, extending toward some unreachable horizon, occasionally bisected by glimmers of synth which light the Terrain of Memory. With Oriental-ish overtones, the various instruments of an unusual orchestra emit The Cry which, loping along in several directions at once, is quite interesting to behold. A mesmerizing fogbank swells across The Moor; sparse musical (and possibly organic?) activity is occasionally detectable emanating from its hidden, and perhaps dangerous, core.

Busily clattering (though softly muted) bamboo flows like a River of Wood, washing through a murky, dark jungle, alive with unknown sound sources. As if in a moonlit waking dream, moodily wafting curtains are dappled with slowly shifting shadows in Falling Away, a most lovely zone of introspection. Similarly gauzey in texture (and equally entrancing), The Precipice shapelessly billows, emitting occasional glints of piano and bells from within its hypnotic, cloudlike presence.

Thick organ notes pile upon each other in layers, building Spires (3:37) which rise amid a floating haze pierced by rays of brassy gold. Drifting strings are Rendered Motionless (8:24), held still enough to accumulate musical dewdrops which sparkle in occasional belltones. Phantom piano notes form a Confluence with the airborne hues which surround the closing track.

Under the touch of Jeff Greinke, "ordinary" instruments release supernatural soundshapes. This trip through Lost Terrain was an excellent choice to relive, and is hereby endorsed for any aficionado of spacious electronic loveliness highlighted by changing moods. Definitely an atmospheric classic, the audiophonic tremors which cross this terrain register a solid 9.4 on the AmbiEntrance scale. 9-4.gif
This review posted August 28, 1999

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