dreamSTATE

(Scott MacGregor Moore and Jamie Todd)

Passage

e-Space Recordings (2005)

review by Bill Binkelman

Composed and recorded to accompany a multi-media exhibit entitled "Bread and Water" in Goderich, Ontario, Canada, dreamSTATE's Passage is another example of how the duo (Jamie Todd and Scott MacGregor Moore, a.k.a. Scott M2) craft "pure" ambient music that operates sucessfully (if not brilliantly) on two distinct levels (as they did on their last release, Between Realities). When one reads the liner notes which describe the contents, intent, and inspiration for the installation (poems, photographs, etc. which tell a tragic yet ultimately hopeful tale), it's easy to "fill in the blanks" with the music. One can almost imagine the images that go along with the selections. At the same time, the music on Passage also functions on the level of ambient music, comprised mostly of electronic washes, drones, and textures (along with a smattering of field recordings of nature sounds) which weave patterns that alternate between a soft warm glow, sepia-toned neutrality, and dark ominous slices bordering on terror and madness. For myself, I prefer to listen to this CD in the frame of mind of the former state, where I mentally create a moving picture "story" to go along with the music. However, I consider myself a visually-oriented person to begin with, so take that as you will.

There are eight selections on the album and, like a good piece of fiction (although the story of the installation is based on fact), the recording follows a traditional dramatic arc, introducing "characters" (via musical motifs), creating tension and conflict, bringing things to a dramatic climax at about the two-thirds point, and resolving said conflict by the last act.

"Crossing" shimmers in electronic waves and undulates patiently, with some of the synths and keyboards having a retro sound to them as they overlap with each other. "Clearing," one of the warmer and friendlier pieces on the CD, also contains the only non-synth/electronic textural music that I could discern. After an opening series of spacy floating chords and washes, a steady rhythmic series of repeating guitar notes and chords arises and then dominates the track, buoyed by ebbing and flowing synths. There is a rolling sense of momentum to the music, juxtaposed by occasional birdsong elsewhere in the mix. There is a forlorn character to the track, but not to the point of being sad. The synths begin to swirl around the repeating guitar lines and then the guitars just sort of fade away, leaving assorted twinkling and shimmering electronics amid the nature sounds, but they return later on. "Watershed" begins the slow transition of the music into first neutral emotional territory before descending into darkness later on. This cut opens with pronounced nature sounds (flowing water, robins and other songbirds) on top of a bed of sustained washes and smooth warm whistling drones and tones, some of which have a reverberating nature to them. There is a shift in emotional resonance at a certain point which conveys an important event in the narrative, although the real change in the music occurs later in the disc.

This transition into a darker, somber, and eventually horrific soundscape occurs over four tracks in a row ("Fall," "Captive," "Stone and Sky" and "Gyre"), however the movement from neutral to dark is gradual, not particularly sudden. Brilliantly, Moore and Todd allow "cracks in the veneer" of the lead character so that her slow mental decline is first just glimpsed before the listener is finally confronted with the stark reality of her complete breakdown (which begins to happen on "Captive" and is portrayed musically by a series of eerie wailing drones and washes, almost resembling a sonic whirlpool of confusion and despair). "Stone and Sky" lightens the mood somewhat, although a palpable undercurrent of the potential for madness infiltrates underneath the warm analog keyboards which wash over you in long held chords. Taken as a separate entity, parts of this track could be considered "classic" spacemusic in the same vein as Michael Stearns, although I offer that only a sidenote to those of whom it would prove of interest. "Gyre" returns to the dark scary corners of the character's crumbling sense of reality, less dramatically then on "Captive" but equally as oppressive, carrying little in the way of hope. Instead, the music introduces a dash of sorrowful resignation, as if the lead character had surrendered to her inner (and also real-life) prison's emptiness. However, with "Watershed Reprise" Moore and Todd allow for some hope to shine through (as it did for the real life person who inspired the installation), turning the music's attention to uplifting ethereal washes and drones that impart the feeling of being lifted up from the pit and arriving once more in a place that offers serenity and maybe even love. The later stages of the piece are particularly evocative (when nature sounds are re-introduced) at offering a soothing soundscape that allows the visions of horror glimpsed earlier to lose some of their lingering effects.

Evaluating Passage as an ambient recording is easy. This is an excellent CD, provided you enjoy this genre as a textural experience, comprised of ethereal and glowing spacemusic-like washes as well as darker drone-style ambient soundscapes (with the exception of "Clearing"). The technical quality is flawless and the choice (by Moore and Todd) to separate the tracks with a few seconds of silence does not detract from the overall cohesive impact of the entire album. However, that said, the true power of this CD comes from integrating the "story" with the music, where you, the listener, immerse yourself in Aina's tale (she is the lead character) and allow the recording to walk you through her tragedy as well as (hopefully) her triumphant crawl from the abyss. It is within this context that Passage elevates itself from being merely a good recording to being an important artistic statement. I highly recommend this album in either regard.