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Review by Bill Binkelman This is one of the more mixed-bag approaches to ambient/new age music I've heard in recent memory, but Duglus Alun (a.k.a. Douglas Allen Dunlap) pulls it off. He accomplishes this by crafting music of consistent high quality no matter whether it is pan-Asian new age, forceful and dramatic EM, or drifting ambient soundscapes. Listeners with narrow taste may not appreciate the disc's variety, however to be honest, it's not like Dunlap put hip-hop and country music on the same recording. It's more a matter of disparate subgenres. For example, the opening track "heat lightening" earns its title as billowy waves of synths hover and coalesce while wind effects and "crackling" noises pepper the background. The next track, "mysterious precipice (zen theme part 2)," offers up gamelan-like tones and chiming notes, combined with overtly "synthy" textures, swirling strings, and retro cosmic noises. The third piece, "monastery in the clouds (zen theme part 3)" opens with ambient/new age electronic keyboards (sounding a bit like Emerald Web) wafting in the air with both delicate beauty and also buzzing about with forceful intensity. The title song has orchestral strings starting out slowly before escalating with violins moving to the forefront playing both short bow action and plucked strings; the song is strongly neo-classical in feel, almost adagio-like in its somberness, but also operatic later as a soprano female voice is heard. Drama is one of the watchwords for aggressive meditation. While there are ambient moments, there are also times that may either compel you to turn up your CD player or skip to the next "quieter" stretch, for example the Asian-flavored synth tune, "rain on bamboo" which is among my personal favorites. The short synth notes "fall" like drops in a steady cadence but with a randomness that suggest sporadic rain. Gently lilting flute lines bring some playfulness to the song during its later stages, and a Ray Lynchian arpeggio keyboard element also makes an appearance. "snow filled sky" features an opening juxtaposition between shimmering bell tones and darker rumblings, and as the bell tones take on a minor characteristic, the cut flirts with dissonance and eventually tilts over completely into an eerie soundscape of off-kilter cascading tones and mysterious ebbing/flowing drones. Other songs include "visiting spirits" which begins as a darker drifting ambient piece but moves into rhythm-laced EM/electronica/chill-out (rather dramatic, though, with wailing retro synths and a pronounced bass/snare beat), the jazzy fusionistic "opium den" (a unique blend of funky new age, with atypical synth-piano notes, thumping bass, snappy snares and later on some nice jazz flute work), and the guitar-led "transformation into bird" a song which begins with wind and sparse tones, as well as echoed percussion but introduces acoustic guitar to eventually morph into some kind of prog-folk song that folds flute and keyboards into the mix for good measure. As you can probably tell by now, this is not your garden variety recording, but instead throws multiple genres into the mix-master and sets the controls for "puree." I think adventurous/open-minded EM fans (there are more than a few retro moments here and there on the CD) will have the best chance of enjoying aggressive meditation, and ambient-philes who don't mind some drama in their music should also find enough drifting soundscapes with which to resonate. New age music fans, on the other hand, will be able to relate to the more delicate and pretty tracks, as well as to the subtle infrequent doses of Asian-influences. Even spacemusic aficionados can groove on the last cut ("gardens in outer space") to some degree. As I said at the outset of this review, aggressive meditation is a true mixed-bag from Douglas Allen Dunlap/Duglus Alun. In this case, the bag is full of some tasty morsels, provided you enjoy a variety of flavors. |
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