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review by Bill Binkelman Unforeseen, from guitar and keyboard artist Vincent Gabriel Antonini (assisted by Pascal Vincent on recorder, flute and guitar), is a somber yet beautiful affair that will remind the astute listener of two other musicians: Tim Story or Robert Rich (depending on the track). In each case, while similarities are obvious, Antonini should not be accused of imitating the other two. Specifically, from Story, Antonini mirrors the former's delicate miniaturism, whereby a musical phrase is repeated with subtle variations and textures added or subtracted as the piece develops (best illustrated on the opening cut, "Land Mime"). Similarities to Rich can be heard on more distinctly ambient/dark ambient tracks, such as the following song, the haunting eight-plus minute "The Desert Woman" which features swirls of synthesizers, sultry flute work, assorted dark shadings (such as mysteriously echoed rustlings), and arrhythmic wind chimes. Later in the song, dramatic classic spacemusic synthesizers further evolve the track into different waters. In addition to the great music on this CD, Antonini also incorporates an assortment of "found" sounds throughout the album. The sounds are sometimes used as if they were part of the music itself, as opposed to being "thematic" (as in new age music). "Off Shore Angel," for example, opens with the fluttering of wings and a sad/soft feminine sigh, later introducing the distorted sounds of what may be children at play, juxtaposed with waves lapping the coastline. These effects are heard under a bed of billowy synth washes. "Floating Innocence" is another Tim Story-like piece, this time featuring prominent reverbed piano with synth strings in the background and lovely but mournful guitar work. "Wheat dreams and fires" (Antonini also has Story's idiosyncratic way with song titles) is a disturbing number, fueled by a series of drones and horn-like samples, with just a hint of dissonance (barely enough to register), as well as the sound of crickets and water lapping at the shore and seagull cries. This track is followed by the one song on Unforeseen that doesn't quite fit - the title track. It's an acoustic guitar and echoed-piano duet which (aside from some synth chorus shadings) has a almost medieval/Renaissance music feel to it. Another cut, "At Truth Falls" is also somewhat uncharacteristic (being comprised of "sunny" sparkling guitar-loops), but it's much less of a stretch to consider this track as "belonging" to the rest of the CD. The remainder of Unforeseen features an assortment of tracks, two which clock in at nine-plus minutes ("Red Clay and the Dead" another darker floating ambient track, featuring multiple layers of washes and drones, some of which sound vaguely church organ-like; and "Condemned" which starts off with the plaintive cry of a blue jay, before layers of keyboards some whistling-like in sound, others more drone-oriented are introduced as the main musical elements). One more track worth mentioning specifically is "The Falling Veil (The Desert Woman Part II)" which (obviously) again brings Robert Rich to mind, even more strongly than "part I" of the song. Pascal Vincent's flute work on these two tracks (parts I and II) is excellent - deeply sensuous and primal, yet also ethereal and subtle. Antonini's assorted textures and keyboards serve as the perfect counterpoint (his use of wind chimes, in particular, is exemplary). Unforeseen is a strong first effort from Vincent Gabriel Antonini. With the exception of that one song (which I enjoyed, but it still seems strangely out of place given the rest of the album), this recording should easily please fans of the two similar artists I mentioned above or to those who enjoy melancholic ambient music that is part drone and part melodic in nature. The overall mood of the album is somber, sad, and disturbing - so don't expect to be cheered by this music. However, just as Robert Rich and Tim Story can mine the darker human emotions for beauty amid the sorrow and fear, so too does Antonini. Unforeseen merits a recommendation from me and I look forward to more from this artist. |
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