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review by Bill Binkelman Paul Ellis' latest solo work is worth getting (for electronic music fans, at least) just for the opening track, "Icon," alone as it unfolds during its nine-plus minutes as a hauntingly beautiful slowly evolving composition, suffused with a combination of Berlin school sequencing and floating ambient textures, fine-tuned with an almost neo-classical elegance, thanks to the presence of a flute solo to die for! This is one of the best tracks released on any album this year and is probably the finest work Ellis has ever done (and he'll be hard-pressed to top it, as well). The juxtaposition of multiple layers of sequenced pulses and notes pulsating underneath the lilting flute and amidst sparkling sunshowers of synth notes is gorgeous. However, the Portland area keyboard artist is no one trick pony, as other tracks reveal his unique infusion of influences from Larry Fast (Synergy), Jarre, and lesser known EM pioneers like Patrick Gleeson and even new age guru Ray Lynch into his own brand of retro-futurism. The Sacred Ordinary is a work of both intelligence and passion, mixing accessible and melodic elements, often suffused with emotion and drama, with more cerebral soundscape elements and cyber-futurism. The title song displays Ellis' adeptness at crafting fluid ambient electronic tone poems, undulating with the occasional brief light from a shimmering bell tone or Vangelis-like horn sound. "Blue Heron" pulses with beats, semi-jazzy vibes, and a myriad of synthesized musical flourishes, some decidedly retro in characteristic and others more a hybrid of the new and the old, gradually building in intensity throughout its five minute length. "The Still Center of a Turning World" is one of my favorites, as its celebratory synths, echoing both Synergy's zipping and zapping and Ray Lynch's strong sense of classical melodicism, whirl around some celestial dance floor, waltzing and rejoicing in their own post-modernism. There is a true sense of joy within this song (I especially smile at the sounds which remind me of some sound effects I heard in the film Logan's Run, and astute listeners will know just what I referencing when they hear them). Whether he is embracing the Germanic sequencer-fueled speed and energy of "Presence," melding retro spacy keyboards, overtone chants (courtesy of Rudy Adrian, who also contributed some keyboards here and there on the album) and ambient beats on "Cascade," (sounding a bit like Todd Fletcher on this track), or crafting the somber electronic neo-classical adagios of "Slowly Beating Wings," Ellis balances the intellectual with the aesthetic in a way that showcases both brains and heart. The Sacred Ordinary earns high marks as a musical venture which pays homage to the past even while gliding into the future. Highly recommended. |
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