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review by Dene Bebbington A few years ago Kerry started to record music again after working on music only sporadically prior to that. The Listening Room is one of two recent albums and shows that he made the right decision to make music again! The liner notes that give an overview of each track are helpful to see what Kerry had in mind when creating the music, and the musically knowledgeable will no doubt find some of the more technical details interesting. Getting the album underway is the longest track "Circle of Grey" in which warm, gentle, and shiny synth washes move about like slowly changing ripples on the surface of a slow moving river. As the piece progresses there seems to be a little more going on, and a nice touch is the sparing notes of a piano that come in about halfway through. The intriguing thing about this piece is how it's like travelling down a river that one got onto in mid flow and left before it reached its destination - a journey without a well defined start or end. The next three tracks are all parts of one whole paradoxically called "Teeming Solitude". Part one features a repeating refrain which changes ever so subtly and is played using an oboe like sound and string style synths. Part two is the odd man out on the album as it is mainly rhythmic with synthetic drums, while throughout glistening and droney synths provide a backdrop for the rhythm. The remaining two pieces are generally in the slowly drifting and changing vein, "Body of the Beloved" is especially notable thanks to it's various moods and a short and curiously comforting melody that could be used as a lullaby. The Listening Room is a totally satisfying ambient album that is not only aesthetically very appealing, it also has a welcome ability to bring calm to a busy mind. Whatever the circumstances in which this album is listened to it's always soothing and draws the attention. It's one of the best ambient albums to come my way this year, indeed, sonically and artistically it's the kind of music I've been waiting a long time to find - no music is ever perfect, but The Listening Room isn't far off! Highly recommended. |
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