CRATER 93
804646
CDR
DESERT CLOUDS
ELECTRONIC (EURO-ROCK) ‘Desert Clouds’ is an instrumental CD that is essentially just one long track divided into four separate movements, and it’s just sensational! We’re talking melodic ‘ambient’, we’re talking relaxed, but not boring, we’re talking riveting, but not intense, and in the main, were talking total enjoyment for a wide range of music fans. This is instrumental music that just slips and slides over you like a warm summer breeze - so gorgeous and yet so substantial, with maximum use being made of musical space, chords and notes almost suspended in the ether as melodies languorously roll through the airwaves. It’s guitar-based, with synths and keyboards bathing the melodic guitar tones in gorgeous textured waves of sound, filling the soundstage with occasional steady percussive rhythms and spacey effects, with the main musical influences lodged in the genres occupied by Pink Floyd and Wavestar. A superb debut album!
The first track is pure laid-back Pink Floyd with a hint of Morocco, as the to-die-for Gilmour-like electric guitar lead kind of drifts and sways like palm trees on a tropical beach, backed by subtle Mason-style drums and even subtler electronics synth-like effects that almost imperceptibly swirl around the mix to create a totally spellbinding effect, as other musical subtleties creep in and out, but it’s slow guitar heaven all the way for that first eight minutes. Track 2 is, if anything, even better, and this time we’re in Heldon territory, but far from the cyclical or intense music that you might think, this is the reflective side of the band’s sound, as languid Richard Pinhas-style guitar leads and harmonics create the sort of spellbinding music that captivates both head and heart, and it’s not a million miles away from the ‘Ballade....’ track on one of the first two Heldon albums. Despite its slowly moving state, this is a seven-minute piece of really gorgeous, melodic music, with just that certain amount of bite to the guitar tones that takes it beyond the mere dreamy, atmospheric music scenario. The heart races faster and the smile gets wider as synth textures again flow in and fill-out the background in a very subtle manner and deep, deep bass gives the music real depth. All in all, this is a totally amazing track! Track 3 almost manages to mix both the aforementioned styles into one sound collage, but this time building things to more of a crescendo, and introducing a Tangerine Dream-style sequencer line at one stage, giving the piece more movement and developing the feel of the album a stage further. The electrifying guitar leads shine on top, while the composition itself still retains the feel of before, but this time with a greater range of textures, with a synth foreground joining the guitars towards the nine-minute mark and eventually seeing the track out in real cosmic fashion, with a swirling effect that leads directly into track 4. A feeling of nostalgia starts to creep over you as a sweeping, soaring synth line similar to that at the start of Floyd’s ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ opens the eleven minute (plus) 4th movement. As the synth textures develop, a gentle synth rhythm and a slowly flying synth lead is introduced, giving a suitably heartfelt melodic atmosphere to the soundscape being created, and then things really start to happen! Around the three minute mark, the drums, bass and guitar join in, then the whole track just takes off on a voyage that brings strong echoes of Wavestar’s music to mind, as the music makes a fleeting glance into the world of ‘Moonwind’ territory, with a beautifully flowing passage of soaring, melodic lead guitar, backed by string synths, Floyd-like rhythms and percussion, and the whole track climbs high into the heavens in totally in breathtaking fashion.
Weight: 150.00 g
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