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review by Dene Bebbington Aes Dana (not to be confused with the black metal group of the same name) is predominantly Vincent Villius on digital and acoustic instruments, storytelling and composition/arrangement help from Mahiane, and lovely female vocals by Pascale Auffret. The classy digipak package, including a sixteen page booklet, promises excellent music; happily the CD delivers it in the form of "deep morning trance and ambient". The story aspect of Memory Shell doesn't seem to be a continuous narrative. For those interested, the words for the story based tracks are given in the booklet. Whether you're at the tail end of an all night party, or more likely just after some quality music to pass an hour then this album will hit the spot. Hints of darkness and sensuousness permeate the album, sometimes I had a vision of a sleepy walk through side streets of a city in the early morning where revellers have earlier had an energised and happy time. The album opens with "Chernozem" and closes with "Chernozem (closing)", both are short at under four minutes and feature the sound of water rustling over shells and sand. Also in the mix are unsettled drones that ebb and flow like waves, spoken female vocals, and a slightly eerie push-pull refrain. Most tracks contain some rhythmic passages, and sometimes they can be quite intense and hypnotic. Where this album really shows its class is in combining trance elements with flowing and atmospheric ambience. A technique that Aes Dana employ several times in this respect is to have synth or vaguely choral sounds come and go as regular waves of sound. A track utilising those elements particularly well is "Dusts". It starts with various sonic waves rising and falling and builds up a little to include a nascent percussive rhythm and a quavering voice. Eventually the rhythm gets going properly with thudding beats and layers of rhythm, some of which have a clever "skidding" quality. The vocals of Pascale Auffret are used to great effect on the track "Shouting Valley". The track is a reference to people shouting, using megaphones, across a valley in the Golan Heights because Israel's border prevents travel. Starting off we hear distorted voices as though heard by a bad radio reception, reverbing synths form a subtle backdrop and then ghostly forlorn cries by Pascale come in - initially wordless but eventually resolving into words. Memory Shell is becoming a favourite of mine. The mixture of rhythmless ambient backdrops and melodic upbeat trance works very well, it can leave one feeling blissed out. Definitely recommended. |
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