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review by Bill Binkelman Inspired by his love of astronomy and star-gazing, English new age music artist Kevin Kendle has released the first in a series of spacemusic recordings, under the subheading of the "Deep Skies" series. His first effort, Light From Orion, is stunningly beautiful "pure" spacemusic - floating, ethereal, lush and almost overflowing with a sense of awe. Joined by Brian Abbott (glissando guitar) on many tracks, as well with an assist on keyboards from Nigel Shaw, Kendle showcases a side of his music that will be new to his fans who have previously only heard the artist's more earthbound works, such as Eventide, First Light, Flowers and Butterflies. Only his albums with a slight "airborne" title (namely, Clouds and Aerial Vistas) carry a hint of what he is up to here. On those releases, he flirted with an ambient style of electronic keyboard music, especially on the last three cuts on Aerial Vistas. Light From Orion soars, floats, cruises or drifts into outer space, as if the listener were navigating amongst assorted nebula, star clusters, asteroid belts, and other astronomical phenomena. Only one track ("Bellatrix") contains some of Kevin's more "new age" style of music (a plucked-and-strummed guitar sound and short flute passage), but it is brief and is actually quite pleasant, fitting in nicely. The easiest way to distinguish Light From Orion as a Kevin Kendle album is the excellent production, sterling engineering, and meticulous attention to the highest caliber keyboard/synthesizer sounds. The ten tracks, totaling about an hour's worth of music, are all named for astronomical items within a cosmic "stone's throw" from the constellation of Orion (hence, the CD's title). Some are stars (e.g. "Alnitak," "Rigel," and "Betelgeuse") while others are more breathtaking phenomenon (e.g. "Horsehead Nebula," and "Great Orion Nebula"). Comprehensive liner notes and beautiful photographs of the assorted (titled) astronomical objects are a major bonus with the album. When I refer to Light From Orion as "classic" spacemusic, I'm defining the genre in two ways: 1) the presence of mostly major scale tones/notes/chords and 2) a much more "full" sound than the more sparse, minimal and quasi-ambient approach that newer spacemusic usually takes (such as the darker spacemusic from artists like eM on The Foundry label). Kendle's music is much closer to the dramatic soundscapes of artists like Constance Demby, Michael Stearns, Kevin Braheny or even a few newer "retro" artists like Telomere (Chris MacDonald). The music swells, soars, and then subsides, as Abbott's glissando guitar glides in circles around it effortlessly, as if it were driven by giant solar sails. Keyboard sounds from Kevin include choirs, an assortment of more "typical" cosmic sounds, and those massive washes of synthesizer chords so evocative of outer space. There are also moments when things quiet down momentarily, such as the transition between track one ("Horsehead Nebula") and track two ("Alnitak"), when cascading bell-tones and twinkling synths flit amongst a lovely undercurrent of lush keyboards. Light From Orion is not ambient music - it deserves your full attention (especially played in a dark room and away from distraction). The mix is intricate and detailed. However, you could choose to simply relax and let the many layers of sound coalesce around you, forming a cohesive "whole" musical image of cruising through the night sky. The tracks play as one long continuous suite (i.e. there is no break in music between cuts, although the songs themselves have individual characteristics). For example, there is the highly dramatic start to "Great Orion Nebula" (which opens with one thundering wave of crescendoing keyboards after another - think the most powerful part of Demby's Novus Magnificat and you'll know what to expect) and then slowly subsides amidst twinkling starshowers and serene washes to be followed by "Rigel," one of the tracks that showcases Abbott's brilliant glissando guitar, as it's set against a more subdued assortment of chords, washes, and background spacy synth effects. Be forewarned that if you are looking for something "quiet," this album is not it. Maybe some of you will wonder how I can declare an album to be "spacemusic" when the music is, well I guess you could say in some instances, it's "loud." I'd just steer you to Demby's aforementioned Novus Magnificat, Braheny's Galaxies, or Stearns' Planetary Unfolding for evidence that "classic" spacemusic was not always minimal or "quiet." After all, when one gazes up in wonder and awe at the majesty of the universe, it can certainly be a little daunting to say the least. However, Kevin does manage at least one or two songs where things calm down somewhat (e.g. the aptly-titled "Stellar Nursery" which is one of my favorite songs). Starting off quietly, the track does build but in a less powerful way than other songs here. Kendle's use of strings and synth-harp on this song is something special to hear - it's almost transcendent! "Anilam," for the most part, is also a more subdued track, although it contains stretches that are more majestic than minimal. While I have written less "detail" about the music on Light From Orion than I usually do in my reviews, I hope I have done an adequate enough job to pique the interest of those of you who enjoy electronic keyboard-based music that is accessible, yet not of a "structured" nature. If you are a Kevin Kendle fan and you liked those last three cuts on Aerial Vistas or the more dramatic music on Clouds, I think you'll almost certainly enjoy this recording. Likewise, fans of the particular releases from the other artists I have mentioned should also check this one out. Obviously, listening to Light From Orion isn't as good as "being there," but until we develop warp drive capabilities, and as long as we have music like this, we can at least envision how we might feel if we cruised in attack ships off the shoulder of Orion (shades of Blade Runner's Roy Batty!). Highly recommended! |
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