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 | Vidna Obmana:Echoing Delight (Extreme - 1993) You're floating in an unearthly atmosphere; a bit foreboding, yet strangely relaxing. Beautifully abstract sounds radiate and shimmer around you. Either you've died and are undergoing some heavenward journey, or you've popped in this Vidna Obmana disc. |
| Out of the silence something slowly evolves (the opener, Winter Mouvement, fades in so slowly you'll be checking your volume control) and even when it reaches its full strength, it's a very quiet, yet very living entity. Vidna Obmana is an electronic musical artist in the truest sense of those words; his works are created with "electronics, loops, processed tapes, drum programming, percussion, voice and didgeridoo".
The music swells and swirls; it seems almost gaseous, a vapor of sweeping tones. All the tracks are in fact built of the same amorphous material and follow the same cycle of fading in and out. Honestly, it doesn't do these pieces justice to dissect them; they're meant to be experienced, not scrutinized. My clumsy efforts cannot reveal the ambience that flows and washes over me during this tranquil hour. Crystal Travelling continues the ethereal shimmering, but also adds a light third world-ish beat and cymbal. The swirls of sound fade in and out, but always seem distant, unreachable. The aptly named Empty Night reminds me more of outer space than the others. It's beatless, a duet of starshine and void. It's also the CD's shortest cut at 7:50. The title track, Echoing Delight follows that now-familiar pattern (for 17 and 1/2 minutes). Slow fade-in, shimmer/swell with subtle percussion. The beat seems ancient, weathered, and the long sweeps sound faintly like angelic choirs this time through. The rhythm is more active, yet still quiet and subdued in Narrow Gloom (part two). Drum programming and percussion are handled on this track by Djen Ajakan Shean, perhaps that explains the comparatively busy beat. Glass Splendour is more of the same, with less percussion this time. Yes, the tracks are very much alike. It may sound tedious in print, but it's like having six days of perfect weather in row... they're all wonderful for the same reasons. So what if the only difference is that the breeze is blowing from a slightly different angle? |
| Though I love this stuff, it's not just anyday listening material; but when I want something soft, mysterious and unobtrusive, it creates a perfect atmosphere. You may or may not feel the same way. For overall artistic ambient achievement, I'm bestowing both thumbs upon this work. |  |
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