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review by Bill Binkelman Recording under his more common pseudonym Alpha Wave Movement (the other is Open Canvas), Gregory Kyryluk displays his versatility on Cosmology, an album that showcases the artist's talents across a wide variety of subgenres. Cosmology is a fine effort and when it "hits," it sends it out of the park. However, I found it less to my liking than his previous release, A Distant Signal. This was mostly due to two tracks that emulate certain Berlin-school elements that are not my cup of tea, so take my criticism more as a matter of taste than an objective fault of the album. Those two tracks are "Teutonic Voyage" and "Astral Navigator." In each case, Kyryluk sets the "way-back machine" to a time when trap kit drums and screaming electric guitars sat side-by-side with sequencers, mellotrons, and analogue synths. To be accurate, "Teutonic Voyage" only explores this territory during part of its fifteen-minute duration, as it opens with some nicely done deep space drifting washes. It bears mentioning that on "Teutonic Voyage" (and also on the track "Sailing Orion") Kyryluk's sometimes collaborator, Christopher Cameron, contributes additional synths (Cameron is part of the duo Thought Guild, along with Kyryluk). Cosmology contains some excellent music. "Prologue Sequence" opens the CD with dramatic spacemusic textures, morphing into a pulsing neo-Berlin piece, ablaze with rapid-fire sequences, hyperkinetic beats, and soaring synths that careen through the pitch black sky. "Sailing Orion" drastically changes course, as it mirrors the floating serenity of classic Jonn Serrie tracks, all awash with soft-as-a-feather cushions of synths, lush chorales and gently pulsing rhythms. What is most startling about this song, though, is that it's a live recording from a home concert in Connecticut featuring the impressive talents of ambient vocalist extraordinaire Jim Cole. Even though it's nearly eleven minutes long, this is a song that never wears out its welcome. I also enjoyed the space-lounge number "Rendezvous" (again, cut from the same cloth as Jonn Serrie, this time though his more rhythmic and "pop" side). The beats here swing and sway (assorted cymbals mostly, along with some nice snare drum work), while synth bell tones twinkle against undercurrents of theremin-like whistling textures. Other songs include another salute to Berlin, "Celestial Mechanics," which starts slowly but builds into a percolating number with mellotron, fat analog synths, and a toe-tapping midtempo rhythm, and "Deep Outpost" which starts off as floating spacemusic and folds in squishy analogue tones, twinkling synths, plucked string keyboards, what sounds like some electric guitar chords, and well-layered drum programming. The pace is restrained on this latter number so while it's not a floating slice of ambience, it is also not that frenetic either. The nine-and-a-half minute long "Distant Edens" mixes in discreet nature-sounds (birdsong mostly) with warm floating ambient/spacemusic keyboards and bell tones. This is probably the most "ambient" track on the CD, albeit "friendly" ambient in the same vein as Liquid Mind. As with all of Kyryluk's recordings that I have heard, this one is engineered and produced to high standards of quality. All instruments are professional-sounding and no one sound is allowed to dominate to the detriment of others (so many artists sometimes let trap-kit drums overwhelm keyboards these days). While this album doesn't sweep me off my feet like A Distant Signal did, it still represents solid work and offers some exceptional pieces ("Sailing Orion" is one of the best songs I've heard this year). I admire that Kyryluk attempted some new directions on this CD and it could be that others will enjoy what I did not on Cosmology. Regardless, this is an album worth getting if you have liked previous efforts from this artist. |
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