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review by Dene Bebbington Musicians don't come much more multi-talented than Chris Conway. He's released many different kinds of albums including Jazz, World Music/Fusion, New Age, Songs, and EM; not only that but he's also been a guest musician on many other albums. Scanning Planet 3 is the first of two EM albums, both of which feature the theremin amongst other instruments. The title is a reference to our planet Earth (the third from the sun) and the music seems to be from the perspective of aliens scanning our world. An album utilising the sound of the theremin can take a bit of getting used to thanks to its weird and somewhat alien "wailing" quality, though this instrument is mainly used in the opening and closing minutes. It should thus come as no surprise that this is not a typical EM or spacemusic work, instead of going for rhythmic/melodic or floating/drifting motifs Chris has gone for a more experimental collage of impressions rendered in sound. The music is delivered as a continuous whole over one nearly hour length, track - of the same name as the album title. Over the course of the track the sounds change as the scanning of our planet shifts its focus, sometimes the soundscape is filled with effects - often of a distorted nature where the listener may recognise sounds from life and activity. There are some melodic parts too, notably a light and hypnotic melody (possibly played on the dulcimer) about thirteen minutes in that makes one think of good things as subdued wordless vocals provide a faint backdrop. By the end of the album it feels like the sounds we've heard have run a fair way through the gamut of Earth bound emanations of nature, human voices and transmissions, industrial activity (there's a stretch starting about twenty four minutes in that has a driving industrial rhythm) and even strife. Scanning Planet 3 is a good addition to any EM collection. It takes a bit of getting used to but is worth the effort when one looks past the weirder elements. |
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