'KONDOLE PARTS 1, 2 & 3' - PSYCHIC TV (Silent, USA) Imagine if the Yellow Submarine kept travelling. Through the sea of holes, through the sea of monsters. Imagine if the consensual hallucination of the 1960s transmutated into a parallel quest for sentient enlightenment & political activity. Through oceans of time, through oceans of mystery. Eventually it would have chronicled the entire evolution of all life forms & states of consciousness throughout the omniverse. Doubtless in the process it would have encountered Master Voyagers, like dolphins & whales, whose voices contain precise threads of spiritual information. & doubtless it's return would prove that all beings are charged with discovery & navigation.
Prior to settling in California as exiles, Alaura & Genesis P. Orridge coordinated a campaign to expose & close down the Brighton dolphinarium. The Transmedia Collective eventually succeeded in rescuing & rehabilating 2 dolphins; released into the open oceans one year after the dolphinarium closed. The perseverance & passion of a few CAN win practical & permanent victory against the odds.
Psychic T.V. are now victims of the psychological warfare that is sweeping through Poor Britain as it degenerates into a withered mirror of 1930s Germany. They continue their enigmatic explorations of sound, soul & spirit (music, mythology & magick). Kondole has always beautifully haunted the senses, & this re-coded CD version is wonderfully presented with incredible artwork by RISE Communications. Originally conceived as a triptych, this latest incarnation contains three 23 minute film scores by Psychic T.V.
The first was created for the 1989 film, 'Deadcat' by David Lewis, featuring Derek Jarman in cameo. 'Thee Whale' was recorded one year previously; the soundtrack to a film in progress by David Lewis & Andrew Crabb. The third, 'Thee Shadow Creatures' was recorded in San Francisco, following the discovery of 2 imprisoned dolphins in the beautiful & liberationally historical Golden Gate Park. A video resulting from this disheartening discovery will be produced by Transmedia with Hyperdelicious. All three soundtracks are stunning, & feature submerged bass rhythms, drums that sound like earthquakes, gentle invocations, animal cries, wolves, whales, & breathing oceans.
One bright day Kondole will be recognized as a triumph, out from the shadows of exile. If conscience had form it would be a dolphin. A ritual soundtrack for sentient beings from every where & when. (10/10) Desmond K. Hill des@anubis23.demon.co.uk
'SOULCRAFT' - THESSALONIANS (Silent, USA) From a far distant galaxy.. Thessalonians are a musical collective dedicated to exploring spiritual disciplines within sound. This is ambient music with content & meaning; aural sculpture that blends layer upon layer, cross fertilizing ancient acoustics with contemporary technological sounds. 'Liquid Legs' is both timeless & ahead of its time. Driven by the tabla, it pulses with a shimmering energy. 'Be Here Now' (Red devils mix) is a drum laden, charging track like the devotional chants of whirling dervishes, until it ends, abruptly, leaving you exactly where you least expected to be. The most exhilarating noise comes from the track 'Soulcraft' - mysterious winding chimes, accompanied by the whirls & clicks of dolphins, calmly guide the soul as it leaves the body after death. This is music to bask in. A relaxed, tranquil soundtrack for an harmonious multi-disciplinary World culture. (8/10) Desmond K. Hill des@anubis23.demon.co.uk
'In A Garden of Eden' HEAVENLY MUSIC CORPORATION (Silent, USA) Recorded specially for the Space Age Lounge, a techno-mystical chill room amongst the beautiful beaches of Goa, this is Ambient in its fullest interpretation - atonal hi-tek noise crossbred with natural & found-sounds. The Heavenly Music Corporation create a texture, almost a sense of place, purely through music. (7/10) Desmond K. Hill des@anubis23.demon.co.uk
'FROM HERE TO TRANQUILITY' - VARIOUS (Silent, USA) Worldwide change is happening now. Established boundaries of culture are being dissolved. Ambient music is emerging as a soundtrack to the changes of this decade - evolving, formless, juxtaposing sampled reference points to blend diverse sounds from across the globe. Peculiarly, the most diverse & hypnotic material currently available is coming from the very edge of the Earth's physical terrain, the West Coast of America. The last undiscovered continent may well be the fragile & emotional interzone between humane beings & their jeopardized planet. The combined divergence of two currents - eco V. techno - represent an interface between creativity & technology that is already shaping the future. It is technological psychedelic music, like this.
This compilation offers a fine selection of empathic soundtracks. These oceanic myriads of timeless transcending provide a temporary oasis for cloud floaters, moonwalkers & star riders. SF is pioneering an explorative, new & progressive sound - The Dark Beautiful's mysterious 'Diaphenous' or the drifting 'Heart Ov Thee World' by XKP simply could not have been produced anywhere else in the world. When the majority of 'ambient' material is lazily indulgent & ill-conceived, there is a clear need for music that is pursuitist, instead of escapist. To find it, you could start looking here. (10/10) Desmond K. Hill des@anubis23.demon.co.uk
'199303' - VARIOUS (Silent, USA) [?nc jh] Aptly dedicated to the Roland TB303, the drum-machine that led a revolution, this compilation CD is filled with the bubbling, squeeking noise of hybrid acid vibrations; quite literally the current soundtrack to urban Western existence. Adam Douglas & Thad Jones, from the outfit 303 Terrorists have founded Flask, an independent label releasing 'technologically advanced trax' - music for smiley's people. "199303" is their first collection generated by themselves or with friends, & it is devilishly tempting. The outstanding tracks are the more intense & haunting ones by DTS & 303 Terrorists like 'Tremendous' or 'Synthetic'. Sharp & burning, electronic trance with wonderful little noises. (8/10) Desmond K. Hill des@anubis23.demon.co.uk
'LUNAR PHASE' - HEAVENLY MUSIC CORPORATION (Silent, USA) Listening to 'Lunar Phase' it's easy to imaginatively encounter the placid industry or tranquil momentum of urban existence in a metropolis like Tokyo: grandparents meditating beside archaic shrines in ornamental gardens, families eating together, parents talking to distant children on videophones, cousins making illicit rendezvous in rented plexiglass love motels, fathers drifting to sleep while shuttling home on commuter trains. Each of the seven sections is alive with a beguiling luxury of curative necessity, morphing & fluctuating an organic collision into refined synthesis. When ambient becomes too ambiguous a term, 'Lunar Phase' still defines space as it fills it.
The material collated on this third release from Heavenly Music Corporation was composed specifically for St. Giga in Japan, a satellite broadcast radio station transmitting ethereal audio harmony 24 hours a day. What makes this station otherworldly is that it's programming is motivated by tidal movements; the aquatic ebbs & flows of each day synchronize to the activity & intensity of the music broadcast. The function & physicality of sound has always intrigued producer Kim Cascone. He named his son (Cage) & record company (Silent) in homage to John Cage, the erratic composer who recognized music in every sound.
Initially a visual artist, Cascone was drawn to the aural collage of cinema soundtracks. He received formal instruction in structural arrangement & composition of electronic music at the Berklee School of Music until 1973, then went on to study with Dana McCurdy at the New School in Manhattan. After gaining experience as an audio technician, Cascone worked with David Lynch on both the syndicated television pilot 'Twin Peaks' & the movie 'Wild at Heart'. This definitive scholarship ensures that Cascone knowingly cultivates sounds that become environments within themselves. Seeking to extend the vocabulary of music with abstract noises & processing techniques, the methodology relates more to contextual programming than social content.
The initial full length recording from Heavenly Music Corporation, 'In a Garden of Eden', was equipped with "sublingual hypnosis" purposefully designed for the Space Age Lounge, an evasive escape arena of techno mysteries set amongst the beautiful beaches of northern Goa. "It's about reexperiencing the wonder of life; that's what we're about," offers Kim by way of explanation. There followed 'Consciousness 3', an album inspired by author Charles Reich's ecological opus 'The Greening of America', with its encouragement to revive a spiritual perspective. Invariably described as 'dreamy', 'mind-easing' & 'serene', the sounds of Heavenly Music Corporation address this need to foster greater empathy between beings, to nurture creative networks & establish open communication.
"I'm optimistic about the future," Kim remarks, in the confidence of a young father: "I hope that the new generation will draw upon their experiences of being young & growing up to understand both sides of the political & spiritual miasma, & make changes according to things that they have experienced. & there are so many changes to be faced." (8/10) Desmond K. Hill des@anubis23.demon.co.uk