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review by Mark Morton This recording harkens back to the days when "pure" ambient and new age intersected and is all the better for it. If you liked the pure quiet tones of Music for Airports by Eno or the new age/ambient hybrid sonics of Aeoliah, you will find a great deal to enjoy in this very enjoyable release. This release is "ambient" composition at its leanest. Some pieces, such as "1993-10" or "Red Wash 3' seem based on letting an idea develop and seeing what music results. This approach has its risks, but the ideas (overlapping seconds with very little timbre change but much layering or building complex dreamy sounding chords from layers of overlapping and transposed thirds) are complete enough to sustain the often short duration of each piece. The style reflected in each piece is similar and the listener could really just hear it as one piece. The timbres sound like a combination of low-fi string samples, synth pads, synth flute or similar instrument sounds with varying levels of white or pink noise mixed in. There is not much timbral variation throughout and the composer appears to associate these timbres with the color red. This generally produces a soothing sound if the pieces are not layered or a mysterious sound if many intervals are played together. The moods reached range form dreamy and relaxing to mysterious and anticipatory. Kucharz appears to have constructed these pieces carefully, but they do not appear to be harmonically structured. Rather, Kucharz , like Stravinsky and other 20th century composers, simply allows the overlapping intervals to create the resulting harmony as a by-product. The pieces generally consist of sustained tones that are gradually augmented or modulated with tremolo ("Red Wash 2") , intervallic transposition ("1993-4") and soft arpeggiation ("Red Wash 7"). The sonics seem distant, as though the "washes" are coming from another time or place. This distance enhances the material, as one can be drawn into the sound or relax and shut down while listening. The overall sound is one of peaceful, distant, pretty, drones Kucharz is to be commended for sustaining interest and varying moods for these pieces with minimal harmonic and melodic motion and little timbral variation. This is a very good recording to relax or meditate to and it lends itself to deep introspection as well. Additionally, like much good ambient music, the listener may also put the recording on as background and benefit from casual or occasional focus on the music. I enjoyed this release and recommend it to others. |
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