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review by Dene Bebbington Jonn Serrie surely needs no introduction, he's renowned for romantic, lush, and tender ambient and spacemusic. The Stargazer's Journey could just as well have been called Planetary Chronicles 3 for it continues a celestial exploration in music using his inimitable style. Anyone who's heard the two Planetary Chronicles albums could just as well skip the rest of my review and simply go out to buy this CD without risk of disappointment. A nice touch with the CD is a short essay called "A Hymn to the Night" in the liner notes written by astronomer David Levy, [in which] he talks about a stargazer's night and how Jonn's music connects to astronomical phenomena. It's paradoxical that a night sky can look so peaceful and beautiful, though the universe is also a very violent and unforgiving place. It's the beauty and romance that The Stargazer's Journey focuses on with hallmark lush shimmering synths and bubbling sequences. On most of the six tracks, the listener is treated to free form sonic textures which, to me, reflect aspects of the heavens - shiny like the stars, airy as a solar wind, expansive as empty space, majestic as the galaxies, and haunting as black holes. The second track "Eye of the Beholder" stands out; it's a sensual piece starting with lovely synth washes which builds up to a dance where subdued hi-hat and bass create a feeling of movement. It got me to thinking that what I particularly like about Jonn's spacemusic is how it reflects the wonder of the night sky while also having an intimate quality. Very few artists can make music that both caresses the listener and takes his imagination to the outer reaches of space. It's no wonder that Jonn has composed music for planetariums around the world; his spacemusic is superb and captures the sense of wonder one gets from looking at a beautiful night sky. The Stargazer's Journey deserves an unqualified recommendation. 2003 was a good year for lovers of Jonn's music as it also saw the release of Lumia Nights; let's hope that we can look forward to more excellent music from him this year. |
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