Lillie
Joined: Apr 09, 2010 Posts: 15 Location: LA
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:34 pm Post subject:
FORREST SMITHSON - DREAMING TIME Subject description: AMBIENT SYNTHESIST FORREST SMITHSON INFLUENCED BY AVANT-GARDE PIONEERS |
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AMBIENT SYNTHESIST FORREST SMITHSON INFLUENCED BY AVANT-GARDE PIONEERS
Now here is an ambient-music synthesist who says he was influenced by Frank Zappa and Walter Carlos early on, and then by such avant-garde pioneers as John Cage, Pierre Boulez, Milton Babbitt, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Steve Roach, and Jon Hassel. So musician Forrest Smithson comes from the musical school of envelope-pushing, cutting-edge exploration. He may be applying those principles to ambient music, but, as with everything in the genre, it is all done so softly, slowly and subtly that it does not necessarily stand out as innovative. But when that darn bird comes into the music in the third movement of his album Dreaming Time, I was mesmerized. It might be a crow or a raven or a falcon, but my mental image was that of a black bird, less Dashiell Hammett and more Edgar Allen Poe (the album’s third track is the darkest, most mysterious and foreboding in a musical way).
This is Forrest Smithson’s second album of ambient excursions and where many of his contemporaries stray toward space music exploring the cosmos, Smithson’s music is more grounded to this planet’s terra firma with sounds like waves, the above-mentioned bird and children playing (track four). The music is sort of cinematic. You might envision walking on a beach in swirling dense fog during Part One, meandering down a deserted city street in the wee hours of the morning while Part Two plays, exploring a dense forest or a haunted house in Part Three, and entering a cathedral (with a day-care center next door) during the Part Four conclusion.
Smithson shows a lot of promise with this recording. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here. This CD or downloads are recommended for any lover of gentle, quiet, new age music, especially those leaning toward liking ambient sounds. |
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Acoustic Interloper
Joined: Jul 07, 2007 Posts: 2067 Location: Berks County, PA
Audio files: 89
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Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 9:48 pm Post subject:
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Nicely written review _________________ When the stream is deep
my wild little dog frolics,
when shallow, she drinks. |
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