Wind
and
Wire
Seldom does an album's cover
graphic more accurately capture the music's mood then it
does on pianist William Linton's Piano Sketches. A
sepia-toned photo of a leaf-covered path through a forest of
bare trees elicits a feeling of repose and reflection. I
can't help but think the picture is meant to portray late
autumn, a time of year when we pause and dwell on our
thoughts. Fittingly, the nine solo piano compositions on the
CD are the perfect accompaniment for afternoons spent
remembering past regrets, lost opportunities, and maybe
devoting a little time to future dreams as well. You'd be correct if you
assumed that the music itself is on the somber and delicate
side. Linton displays a masterful command of nuance as he
gently plays in an impressionistic manner, reminiscent of
William Watson or Ken Elkinson. The notes are not as sparse
or minimal as George Winston, Ernesto Diaz-Infante, or Carl
Witt, but the songs are also less structured (traditionally)
than those from other contemporaries, such as Robin
Spielberg or George Skaroulis, although Linton's sense of
lyricism and melody is the equal of the latter two. The
music is somewhat improvisational in feeling; while some
motifs are repeated, much of the music is unstructured from
a conventional standpoint. There are nine tracks in
all, bearing titles such as "The Harvest," "A Path With
Heart," and "Out of Nothing." None of the titles are what I
would call esoteric, but they're not Hallmark Card
paint-by-numbers either. It would be difficult for me to
pick my favorite cuts &endash; I usually played the whole
album through and enjoyed it all. However, if pressed, I
favored "November Rain" with its more minimal and sadder
notes, as well as "Purple Desert" on which the silence
between notes evokes the wide expanses of the desert
landscape. Recording quality is
excellent &endash; top notch, in fact. I'm assuming the
artist engineered and produced the CD himself, so chalk up
the kudos for the technical side of the album to Linton, as
well as the artistic credit, too. I hope Piano Sketches
gets some major recognition &endash; it deserves to be
widely heard and praised. For my money, it's one of my
favorite solo piano releases of the last year or two. I
can't imagine a better late autumn or winter recording for
sitting by the fire. This CD serves as a perfect soundtrack
for remembrance. Solidly recommended, even to those who
normally shy away from piano music. review by
Bill Binkelman
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Wayfarer, by William Linton, is an excellent CD of various types of spacemusic, electronic new age music, and even some darker ambient music. Every track offers a different slant on both rhythmic and non-rhythmic synthesizer soundscapes. The recording is near faultless from the standpoint of engineering and production. Instrumentation quality is quite high and even though the individual tracks vary in mood and type of music, the segues are never too abrupt nor are transitions inconsistent. In short, this is a damn fine album! "Magician's Dance" opens Wayfarer with a kinetic blend of percussive textures while two over-dubbed oboe-like keyboards carrying an exotic yet accessible melody line. This song compares favorably to what Kevin Braheny and Tim Clark were up on their album, The Spell. The title track (which has two parts) is a mini-spacemusic opus (not quite eight minutes in length), with lots of twinkling synths, washes, and other various electronic studio wizardry. The discernible transition from part one to part two moves the music into Constance Demby-like sacred spacemusic territory with bell-tones, lush choirs, and huge expanses of synths. The mix of the various synths on this entire track is superb, by the way (production is by Linton and he has done a marvelous job throughout the recording). As I said above, every song on this CD contains plenty of great music for fans of classic electronic new age music as well as spacemusic from the golden era (late '80s to early '90s). But I don't mean that to infer that Wayfarer sounds overly "retro," because it doesn't. Some of the musical "impressions" are suggestive of music from that era, but the actual instrumentation is absolutely state of the art and current. "The Private Sea" will win over fans of Liquid Mind, Robert Haig Coxon, and Anthony Baskey, among others, with its serene patient washes, mellow synth effects, and celestial bell tones. Engineering on this track (at least on my copy) revealed (on headphones) a barely noticeable bit of hiss or background noise - but you really have to listen for it to hear it. It certainly didn't detract from my sheer enjoyment of the music. The album's longest song is the darker "Strange Tales" which carries the CD over into more ambient/dark ambient territory for a brief visit. Distorted vocal effects and what sounds like altered didgeridoo intermingle with lower register drones and eerie sustained cymbal-like noises. Yet, somehow, Linton brings musicality to this melange of elements (no small feat, that). As the cut progresses, it moves deeper into scarier soundscapes featuring eerie washes of high-pitched minor synths, heavily echoed, and disturbing atonalities - all of it done way cool! Later still, things quiet down but still retain an edginess and alien-vibe (Krell-like perhaps?). In the track's final stages, rhythmic percussion and a decidedly cheerier tone take over, as if the listener has cleared the border of this threatening landscape and is headed toward a friendlier destination. Two short cuts close out Wayfarer: the gentle yet lively "Rain" (again, there is a similarity to another Braheny and Clark CD, this time - of course, their classic, Rain) and the serene yet haunting fantasy-laced "Lorien." I honestly can't believe that this tremendously enjoyable and well-done album received so little acclaim when it was released in 2000. I can't rave enough about Wayfarer and William Linton's considerable talents as composer and performer. For once, a quote in an album's liner notes is an understatement. Per the back of the CD, "Music from the Hearts of Space called his (Linton's) work 'quintessential spacemusic.' " To that praise, I'll merely add "Damn straight!" My highest recommendation! review by Bill Binkelman |