DAN BARRIO

This Physical World

Dan Barrio (2002)

Sorry - no album cover at this time

review by Dene Bebbington

It's good to see new artists entering the world of ambient music. This is not an arena where musicians are likely to become rich and famous, so it must be more a labour of love. Dan Barrio has been making music for over five years, most of which has been for himself. He created a musical instrument, known as the "Metal Spring Thing," that was used to make spooky sounds for a piece played in the end credits of the film The Blair Witch Project.

This Physical World is Dan's first album release, and hopefully it won't be his last. The theme of this album is emphasised in the monochrome hand drawn cover notes of the CD. On the back this features a kind of cutaway section of a person's jaw and mouth showing some of the anatomy usually hidden.

There's a heavy feel to the music on this album; it has a darkness in the same kind of way that Steve Roach's On This Planet does: a sonically brooding and serious journey through aspects of the world we live in. Most of the eleven short tracks (the album is only 44 minutes long) feature reverbing synths whose refrain comes and goes - sometimes this generates the impression of gently bobbing about in a fairly calm sea. Though there is a darkness to the music, overall it is calm and doesn't make one feel edgy.

In This Physical World the listener is taken on a journey examining aspects of the world, the mysteriousness and solemnity of it all being highlighted by the music. To give a break in this journey there are two tracks, "Melodic Interlude no. 1" and "Melodic Interlude no. 2," where the mood lightens and some melody is introduced. These two pieces are welcome but do not lighten the mood so much that they feel out of place.

Dan has delivered a worthy first album that ambient and spacemusic fans are well advised to get hold of.