Wind
and
Wire
Jonathan Hughes' Trillium is a startlingly good ambient recording that offers up a unique blend of quasi-spacemusic drifting soundscapes, abstract floating ambient pieces, and "scratchy/glitchy" textural rhythms and atmospheres. It's a well-balanced exploration of moods both light (almost serene) to dark and at least somewhat disturbing. What Hughes does that is most interesting, though, is how he manages to cross-pollinate the light and dark shadings through his juxtaposition of dissimilar musical elements. This "hybridization" (if you will) of polar opposites (at times, you could say the album is Aphex Twin meets Jonn Serrie) makes Trillium a delight to listen to over and over, as it slowly reveals its many pleasures. I highly recommend you use headphones on this one. "Imatra" opens the album with a "deep space cruise" synth wash, a la classic Serrie, before a looped Hammond-organ like patch lends a quirky circularity to the piece. Way cool beginning to the trip! The spookily-titled "A Nightmare Dreamed of Thunder" is less foreboding than you might think, although sampled overtone chants at the onset had me thinking this was gonna be a track I'd want to pass on. However, at eight-and-a half-minutes, the piece unfolds nicely and introduces "typical" Foundry textural electronic/computer music elements. But underneath it is a warm drone and that is what I referred to in the opening paragraph, i.e. Hughes' steadfast decision to "humanize" even the more non-melodic ambient passages through subtle drones, washes, or other touches. "Alta" begins with glitchy scratches, but a warm synth wash flits about the periphery of the track, counterbalancing the vaguely disturbing rumbling effects and glitches. A more rhythmic feel to the "noise" evolves, even as the cut is anchored by the ever-present pleasant drone. Admittedly, being a Foundry release, ambient "purists" (those who believe ambient music cannot have rhythms unless they are either tribal or Berlin-school, or have anything resembling a discordant element) will decry some passages on the CD, such as on "lua," with its march-like cadence scratchy beats played out against treated piano and (analog-sounding) synths. Personally, I have no time or patience for people who cannot expand their "ambient" horizon to include works from musicians such as Hughes', label-mate Michael Bentley (in one of his many guises, such as eM) or the artists on a label like Warp. Sure, we're all entitled to like what we like and dislike what doesn't trip our trigger. But Trillium is every bit an ambient album to my ears - and a damn fine one at that. I love how "frozen, drifting" starts off as a series of (despite the title) warm synth drones/chords but eventually becomes a playfully kinetic trip into scratchy rhythms, buoyed by the same lush washes of synthesizers. And wait'll you hear the end of the last track "ganymede" with its out-of-left-field space "cowboy" touch - quirky and fun indeed! Hughes has released a solid, and occasionally outstanding, ambient recording. I must have listened to it about eight times and enjoyed it more and more on each trip, exploring the nooks and crannies of the netherworld where spacemusic meets "new" ambient music. As I have come to expect from albums released on The Foundry label (now through Hypnos), the music on Trillium is exciting, envelope-pushing, and thought-provoking. However, in this case, it's also quite accessible and can be appreciated from the very first listen (provided you're not an old-school purist). Recommended. review by Bill Binkelman |