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review by Dene Bebbington Prolific ambient musician Robert Carty has teamed up with Gerard Geary who plays Djembe (an African hand drum) and reads his "poem stories" in this latest offering combining spacemusic with some tribal motifs. Perhaps the most well known electronic music album to feature poems (that I know of) is Tangerine Dream's Tyger, in contrast the vocals on Mt. Meru are spoken rather than sang and take some getting used to because of the rather theatrical delivery by a deep male voice. Classic spacemusic gets the album underway in "When Eskimo Eyes are Shining"; light synth washes paint a serene picture as cosmic winds blow in the distance - one could be in outer space or with an Eskimo sat watching aurora colour the night sky. In contrast the next track "Zephyr Wind" sees the mood change significantly as a poem is read over parts of the track where driving drum rhythms and electronic effects rubbing quickly across the soundscape keep the piece moving. A good way to view this album is that it takes you on a quest, on the way you find Mt. Meru (the fifth track) but also continue on to see and experience other things. On the whole the mood is slightly heavy which goes well with the idea of a quest into unknown lands. My favourite track is "The Micellium Meditation" on which spooky synth sounds slide across the soundscape slowly morphing while the piece progresses and various effects, plus the occasional distant rumble, add to the atmosphere. The penultimate track "Moon Still Visible at Dawn" is also worth a mention, it's the shortest track and brings the album towards a close with bright celebratory synths and a sense of fanfare. I still can't make up my mind if the combination of luscious spacemusic with tribal percussion and poems/stories works, I like poetry but found that on this album it could sometimes be a distraction. Undoubtedly though this is a quality album that is not afraid to push boundaries, any comparison to spacemusic/tribal percussion combinations on work by artists like Steve Roach, Terra Ambient, or Dino Pacifici would only be superficial. Fans of Robert's spacemusic have much to look forward to and overall I have no problem in recommending Mt. Meru. |
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