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AMAZING SOUNDS No.143 / February 21, 2005
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CONTENTS:

NEWS

DOLORES CASTRO PRESENTS HER ALBUM "FIFTH DIMENSION"

REVIEWS:
JOSE BONET: "ENTRE AYER Y HOY" E.G. Tabalet
OZONE PLAYER: "FROZEN PAINT ON BOILING CANVAS" Visual Power
SHARON WEST: "CANVAS OF MY SOUL" Dusty Dreams Productions
RONALD LLOYD - GUILLERMO CAZENAVE: "PARTHENON" Astral
ECHO US: "ECHO US" Absolute Probability
IURY LECH: "INSTORMENTS" Amorfik Artifacts
Sampler "OCEAN OF LIGHT, BEST OF A. D. MUSIC VOLUME 1" AD Music
DAVID WRIGHT: "RETURNING TIDES (BEST OF 1991-2004)" AD Music
POCKET UNIVERSE: "PRIMAL" Fyrewind Productions
GNOMUSY: "ETHEREALITY" Non Profit Music
VIC HENNEGAN: "PURE CREATIVE SPIRIT" Alien Tribes Music
GUITAR GARDEN: "CHINA ROSE"
EMILY HAY: "LIKE MINDS" pfMENTUM
BERNDHARD LOIBNER: "TRANS/MUTE" Allquiet
THE GREAT KAT: "EXTREME GUITAR SHRED" (video DVD) TPR Music
EL KAPITAN: "RETROSCAPE"
FATELESS FLOWS COLLECTIVE: "SHADOWMATH" Fateless Music
JEFF KAISER AND ANDREW PASK: "THE CHOIR BOYS" pfMENTUM
TOM McNALLEY TRIO: "TOM McNALLEY TRIO" pfMENTUM
VERPLANKEN: "AUTOPSY OF A DREAM"
ERIK IAN WALKER AND MARIT BROOK-KOTHLOW: "I HAVE NEVER TOLD YOU"
Bottomfeeder Records
BERNDHARD LOIBNER: "FRAGMENTED MEMORY" (video DVD)

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NEWS

Latest releases from Neuronium Records:
"Sensorial" by Michel Huygen
"This is my life" by Nadia
Sampler "Casa Alexio Ibiza dreams"
Sampler "Maspalomas Chill-out"
The new album by Neuronium, "Mystykatea", will be released in the next weeks.
More info:
http://www.neuronium.com
and
http://www.blancoynegro.com

On July 2, 2005, Michel Huygen will give a live performance at the Insolit
2005 festival (Barradas auditorium. City: Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain)
More info:
http://www.insolitmusic.com

====================

DOLORES CASTRO PRESENTS HER ALBUM "FIFTH DIMENSION"

With her first album, "Fifth Dimension", Dolores Castro, a formerly unknown
composer up to now, has caused a very good impression in the specialized
music press. And not only because, unfortunately, there are few women
making electronic music, but rather because she has proved to possess an
admirable ease as a composer. This fact, together with her solid skill with
the keyboards, provides her music with a great expressive strength.

"Fifth Dimension" can be labelled between the most symphonic paths of
Ambient and the most electronic side of New Instrumental Music. The themes
possess well-defined melodies, with a romantic air often dyed with a
suggestive aura of mystery and melancholy touches. The rhythms, basically
between Pop and Techno, contribute the taste of adventure in those tracks
where they are fast, and reinforce the general approach in those pieces
where they flow at half-speed. The palette of sounds is wealthy, sober,
elegant and agile, with a predominance of majestic tones, warm electronics,
and diaphanous ambiences. The piano leads several passages. The
orchestrations and the arrangements are well done, and a careful task can
be appreciated behind every element of sound.

--How and when did you become interested in music? And can you comment on
your vocation as a composer?

Music has always been present in my background. My grandfather used to play
several instruments such as the piano, the violin, which he loved, the
accordion, the guitar. I also used to listen to different types of
electronic music thanks to my older brother. But my vocation to compose
began since one day, when I was seven or eight years old, my father bought
me a small electronic keyboard. With this instrument I used to spend hours
inventing songs.

--Do you consider yourself as linked to some given label or musical style?

I don't like to get labelled within any given style in electronic music. I
believe that one must keep being innovative. The idea of merging different
styles and thus achieving my own style is one of my future projects.

--Do you feel that you have received musical influences that have somehow
shaped the way for your style?

My influences range from techno music by such renowned bands as Depeche
Mode or Yazoo, one of my favorites, to dance music with bands like Snap or
even such artists as Robert Miles. Within ChillOut, people like Uranus
attract my attention thanks to their delicate way of composing.
Artists like Enya or Suzanne Ciani have touched me in the sweetness of
their compositions, which I seldom find in male comoposers. Yet, what I
have really followed are soundtracks. Such composers as James Horner, John
Williams or Wojiech Kilar really impress me. I undoubtedly
highlight Vangelis, his electronic mergers within this world seem to me
something wonderful- In this sense I also like JM Jarre or Mike Oldfield a
lot within electronic new age music.

--Which things inspire you when it comes to composing?

I don't get inspired by any given thing when I sit before my keyboard. If
there are melancholy touches in my themes it is maybe due to the deep
feelings that any problem we see and live in our society daily, or personal
situations, arise in me. I can never predict or imagine what may cause me
to experience any sensation when it comes to composing.

--Which is the process you usually follow to compose and record a piece?

As time went by I have built a small homestudio. I listen to one of the
endless samples I have available, whether it is rhythmic or not; I give it
effects or distortions to achieve a different sound, one that I like, and
then I start to compose the first tracks. I don't have a common technique
for all of them, I sometimes start by setting a rhythmic basis and continue
creating, or just the other way round, I introduce the rhythmic basis at
the end. Yet, what is a common trait is the piano or some strings shaping
them in their purest possible form, without distortions.

--Tell us about your album "Fifth Dimension". Did you compose it in a given
period of time or does it rather gather pieces which you created in
different occasions? Do the titles of the themes reveal questions that
inspired you when composing them?

"Fifth Dimension" was created more or less a year ago, when I could add new
equipment to my homestudio. Only in the composition called "Peace" have I
introduced a melody that I created twelve years ago. I give the titles at
the end of each composition. providing a meaning for the feeling they cause
in me when I finish them.

--Although luckily the situation is changing, it looks as if there still
are few women occupying prominent positions in the panorama of electronic
music in general, and in that of Ambient, Space Sequencer Music and other
related trends. Why is this presence so weak in your opinion?

I work in the computer world as an engineer and there you can also notice
this weak female presence. I believe that sometimes they don't access the
electronic worlds due to an ignorance about it, or maybe they find it more
attractive to compose with acoustic instruments. I hope that in the future
this changes, we may see more composers before a keyboard.

--Apart from the type of music you have shaped in "Fifth Dimension", do
you compose or have you created music with different orientations?

I have composed several music pieces, which I have partly recorded, whereas
I commit to memory other pieces and keep playing them. I think that my
preference for symphonic musics has shaped me, I have tried to get started.
I have shaped a small sample in the album with "ListenHearts".

--Do you feel attracted to the electronic world mostly because of the ease
it allows you to control ever detail in the process of musical creativity?
Or do you prefer its capability to generate sounds outside the range of
acoustic instruments?

I value most the wide distortion you can get from a sound.Yet what is
obvious is the fact that the electronic medium allows you to take control
of all tha composition, you are the conductor.

--Do you have any preferences as to synthesizers or software?

Right now, from my modest position I cannot give an opinion about the wide
variety of professional material existing today. The album is basically
recorded with the Reason. I think it has a great versatility, especially
when it comes to make masters like in the case of "Fifth Dimension".

--Do you feel that your music reflects your personality, as if, in a way,
you would express things about you, through it? Or do you rather feel it as
a path where you invent musical stories?

I reflect all that surrounds me, everything that enters through my senses
and causes emotions in me. I reckon something of me is affected when I
compose and this comes to the surface and appears in my compositions.

--Do you wish to add something else?

I want to thank you for the chance you offer me to make myself known to
your readers with this interview, I believe you and your team make an
excellent work.

Thanks to you, Dolores.

(Interview conducted by Jorge Munnshe)

More info, here:

http://www.dolorescastro.com

====================

REVIEWS:

JOSE BONET:
"ENTRE AYER Y HOY"
E.G. Tabalet
This is a precious collection of melodic instrumental pieces played with
piano by Jose Bonet. "Entre ayer y hoy" clearly proves that we are dealing
with an experienced musician with excellent skills, not only as a performer
but also in the creative arena. The record, entirely composed by him, is
very near to the kindest side of Classical Music, with New Instrumental
Music touches, and almost always full of melodic romanticism. A certain
nostalgic air is present in most of the themes, although there are others
with merry, festive passages. All the pieces are a clear sample of the
talent of the artist. "Notas de Otonio" has a very special emotional
warmth. "Isabel" has an incomparable magic. "Atrezzo barbaro" is most
remarkable because of its great strength. Jose Bonet is one of those
artists that know how to take us into musical landscapes full of feelings.
Of an impeccable make, this is a release that will surely be liked by a
wide range of listeners.
EDUARDO FONTANA

If you wish to purchase this recording you only have to use this link:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/josebonet

More info here:

http://www.josebonet.com

OZONE PLAYER:
"FROZEN PAINT ON BOILING CANVAS"
Visual Power
Ozone Player is an artist with a powerful imagination, whose music always
goes beyond the conventional, surpassing even the frontiers of many styles
that already are avantgarde by themselves. He has no doubt taken a step
forward in his search for "something else". In this album, there is a great
variety of styles, colors, emotions, that Ozone Player is able to reflect
in his compositions. The music is very original, without having to make use
of experimentation with radical sounds. The ten themes that are included in
this CD follow several trends within electronic music. The general style of
this work can be placed between New Instrumental Music and Techno. There
also are passages or themes that get near to Dark Space Music, others near
to Gothic, and some very imaginative ones, too difficult to label adequately.
EDGAR KOGLER

http://www.ozoneplayer.com

SHARON WEST:
"CANVAS OF MY SOUL"
Dusty Dreams Productions
The music that Sharon West has composed and performed in this album is of a
melodic romantic style. All the pieces are warm, bright. The CD in general
could be labelled as innovative New Instrumental Music. By means of a very
successfully achieved virtual orchestra mostly based on synthesizers, the
artist weaves a collection of fresh pieces, where Classical and also Pop
elements, besides some ethereal atmospheres, also appear.
HECTOR JORDAN

http://www.dustydreams.com

RONALD LLOYD - GUILLERMO CAZENAVE:
"PARTHENON"
Astral
Guillermo Cazenave has collaborated in this occasion with Ronald Lloyd to
make a Melodic Ambient album inspired in the mystery and the fascination of
the ancient Greek culture. The artists combine dreamy melodies of great
strength, with unearthly environments, outlining an impressive sonic
landscape of a mystic-cosmic character. The melodies of the 25 tracks that
constitute this work maintain a great conceptual uniformity and in them we
will find all kinds of extremely attractive sonic textures. The
synthesizers have perhaps a greater role than the acoustic instruments,
even though there is no progress towards complexities in timbre which
happen to be inaccessible for the latter.
EDUARDO FONTANA

http://www.astralweb.info

ECHO US:
"ECHO US"
Absolute Probability
Echo Us practises powerful and commercial arguments with a very good basis,
both in the lyrical and melodic aspects. This album consists of nine
compositions, whose stylistic range fluctuates between SynthPop and Techno.
There also are Ambient traits. Most of the pieces are sung. The music has a
fast rhythm, yet there also are slow passages, including the theme "My
sirens". The most impressive piece in the album is, in my opinion, "Black
Thursday", of a mysterious air and a great beauty.
DEREK DOARN

http://www.absoluteprobability.com

IURY LECH:
"INSTORMENTS"
Amorfik Artifacts
Inspired by war and oppression, the composer presents seven shocking
themes, full of industrial and electronic sounds, that give a dark
atmosphere to the entire album. The structure of the music also consists of
difused melodies that come and go, dense, atmospheric environments that
surround these melodies, and occasional sound effects, that in some
passages are an important part of the ambiance. The melodies have a
sinister hue. The rhythms are violent, metallic. No doubt, this is a
disquieting album, highly reccommended to those who seek something more on
the line of current electronic Trance/Ambient.
EDUARDO FONTANA

http://www.geocities.com/insolitarium/

Sampler "OCEAN OF LIGHT, BEST OF A. D. MUSIC VOLUME 1"
AD Music
This CD contains a selection of pieces from some of the most important
albums released by this label. Most of the 18 pieces included in it range
between Atmospheric Pop and New Instrumental Music. Also there are some
traits from Ambient, Space Sequencer Music and other varied elements that
contribute to enrich these pieces. The contents of the CD is as follows:
Bekki Williams: "Sub Aqua". Kobolt: "Ocean of Light". Code Indigo: "24 AM".
Robert Fox: "Queen of Hearts". Catalin: "Beyond Paradise". Bekki Williams:
"In the Arms of Morpheus". David Wright: "A Certain Malaise". Withcraft:
"Ultraviolet". R.Fox: "And All Shall Be Well". Raviv: "OV 1". Code Indigo:
"Code 14". Robert Fox: "Water Muisc". Code Indigo: "Stasis". Callisto:
"Elara". Enterphase: "Snow Paths". D.Wright: "Walking with Ghosts".
Withcraft: "We Rest". Catalin: "Postlude".
VIRGINIA TAMAYO

http.//www.admusiconline.com

DAVID WRIGHT:
"RETURNING TIDES (BEST OF 1991-2004)"
AD Music
This compilatory album by David Wright gathers 18 of his most legendary
compositions from the years 1991 to 2004. A pleasant, melodic and very
orchestral music, where the fine arrangements have a fundamental presence.
The pieces that shape this CD are: "Rysheara", "Nomad", "Taiga",
"Marilynmba", "Smiling Shadows", "Beijing", "Midas", "Sious Falls",
"Returning Tides", "Guardians", "No More Angels", "Walking with Ghosts",
"Shah", "Beyond Paradise", "Flame Sky", "Continuum", "To Touch the Sky",
"Sygyzy". In a few words, this is a perfect introduction to the music of
David Wright, that will be appreciated by all those listeners who wish to
get to know in a short time all his wide trajectory.
VIRGINIA TAMAYO

http://www.admusiconline.com

POCKET UNIVERSE:
"PRIMAL"
Fyrewind Productions
This is a fresh, spontaneous release by Pocket Universe merging Dark Trance
with SynthPop, Gothic and other, more difficult to place, traits which
contribute to endow this release with a great originality. The melodies
usually are mysterious, enigmatic. Though there are slow parts, much of the
music has a lively rhythm. The rhythms are usually based on the drums,
though in some cases the sequencers play a leading role.
ALEJANDRO HINOJOSA

http://www.fyrewind.com

GNOMUSY:
"ETHEREALITY"
Non Profit Music
The album "Ethereality" by Gnomusic is enjoying a great success both on the
part of the audience and on the part of specialized reviews. This work
displays the unmistakable traits of an artist who creates his compositions
with entire freedom, without allowing himself to get influenced by
ephemeral trends of commercial impositions. The music is structured around
elements typical of New Instrumental Music and Synth-Pop, with adequate
Celtic brush strokes as well as shades of electronic symphonism, which the
composer arranges and combines in imaginative ways. As a whole,
"Ethereality" is a work that will appeal to those who enjoy good music
within the styles here mentioned.
VIRGINIA TAMAYO

http://www.nonprofitmusic.org

VIC HENNEGAN:
"PURE CREATIVE SPIRIT"
Alien Tribes Music
"Pure Creative Spirit" is an interesting album very much in the SynthPop
wave, yet also near to Techno, with a series of themes, like "Movin'" or
"Passion Peace & Pleasure", which will appeal to a large audience.
DEREK DOARN

GUITAR GARDEN:
"CHINA ROSE"
"China Rose" is a magnificient work, where the artist proves that there are
no stylistic barriers for creativity, and where he contributes his musical
talent to achieve a fresh, emotive sonic journey. Guitar Garden has a very
personal style. His music can be defined as New Instrumental Music,
although it also enters Pop and World Music. There even are certain Folk
touches in some pieces. The guitars have a very important protagonism
throughout tht entire album: thus are the sweet melodies developed one by
one, in such a way that they succeed in attracting our attention as we
listen to them.
PASCUAL JURADO

http://www.guitargarden.net

EMILY HAY:
"LIKE MINDS"
pfMENTUM
An expert in vocal performance, the artist offers us an interesting series
of sonic experiments. The music is of an experimental character, with
certain passages within the New Music, some entering avantgarde Jazz, and
the presence of elements typical of sound art and other trends. The result
is a journey through hypnotic sonic worlds, that appear to have been taken
out of surrealist dreams.
DOMINIQUE CHEVANT

http://www.pfmentum.com

BERNDHARD LOIBNER:
"TRANS/MUTE"
Allquiet
With "Trans/Mute" we certainly don't have a conventional musical project.
The pieces constituting this compact disc flow among metallic vibrations,
gusts of enigmatic sounds, and sonic textures suggesting the audible
content of a hallucination on industrial landscapes. This is a dark,
intriguing work.
DOMINIQUE CHEVANT

http://loibner.cc

THE GREAT KAT:
"EXTREME GUITAR SHRED" (Video DVD)
TPR Music
The Great Kat, one of the world's fastest guitarists, is also a
contracultural, controversial artist. The fury that The Great Kat expresses
in her performances, as for instance we can see in this DVD, acquires
legendary dimensions. Kat began her classical music education at the age of
seven on piano, and at nine on the violin in Long Island, NY, USA. After
winning numerous competitions, Kat won a full scholarship to The Juilliard
School in New York City at the age of fifteen where she graduated with
honors. However, she realized that "classical music is dead", and brought
her classical virtuosity to the darkest side of Heavy Metal. Her shocking
music videoclips and performances can scandalize to quite sectors of our
society. "Extreme Guitar shred" contains six musical videoclips dominated
by the vertigo of death & violence, which confront the audience to the
brutality of the Great Kat's apocalyptic realm.
VICENTE GISPERT

http:/www.greatkat.com

EL KAPITAN:
"RETROSCAPE"
"Retroscape" consists of 11 compositions, whose stylistic range fluctuates
between Atmospheric Rock and New Instrumental Music. Part of the music has
traits typical of Rock ballads. There also are Jazz-Rock traits. The two
musicians that are El Kapitan, combine their respective artistic influences
very well, thus achieving that their music possesses an unusual
personality, fresh, capable of attracting the attention of the listener at
once. The album has obvious progressive and psychedelic influences (the
piece "Breathe" is a version of a theme by Pink Floyd), although it is
wrapped in some others.
ALEJANDRO HINOJOSA

http://www.elkapitan.nu

FATELESS FLOWS COLLECTIVE:
"SHADOWMATH"
Fateless Music
This album includes 18 interesting compositions by artists of the Fateless
Flows Collective. The pieces here gathered are: Indicia: "Rescue me
(interlude)". Appogee: "Coral". Kathie Talbot: "Blandula XT". Dream
Electric: "not the glow". Tripform: "Silver Reflection". The Luxury Tax:
"Hey You Get Off of My Lawn". Zygote: "American love conspiracy". Surface
10 Activity: "birth-collide". The Luxury Tax: "Sex Machine". Appogee: "KDDR
mov.2". Constant Flux: "City in the Cold (Remix of EX by Tara King
Theory)". Dream Electric: "Super Robo Crunch". Kathie Talbot: "a
conversation down". Mr. Soon: "Arcosanti". Niture: "xylophagous". Vic
Hennegan: "In a broken heart". Subversive Element: "diagonal". Surface 10
Activity: "only a world". There are pieces near to Trance / Industrial,
others with Ambient touches, and several with SynthPop elements, even
though all of them keep an innovative character near to the modern
electronic trends.
VICENTE GISPERT

http://www.fatelessflows.com

JEFF KAISER AND ANDREW PASK:
"THE CHOIR BOYS"
pfMENTUM
Jeff Kaiser and Andrew Pask perform in this album a series of compositions
between Jazz, New Music and experimentation, with some electronic textures
that give way to some imaginative samples of Dark Ambient. There are some
passages entirely devoted to experimentation with sounds. In this work, the
wind instruments have a remarkable role, and it is perhaps here where
Kaiser & Pask's skills are most outstanding.
DOMINIQUE CHEVANT

http://www.pfmentum.com

TOM McNALLEY TRIO:
"TOM McNALLEY TRIO"
pfMENTUM
Tom McNalley develops daring ideas in this CD. The result of his efforts is
clearly avantgarde: a total of six long tracks with a wide experimental
diversity appropriate for those who want to escape from conventionalisms.
The style is based on Avantgarde Jazz, but it also incorporates some
Psychedelic elements. All the themes have been composed by Tom McNalley. He
also plays the guitar, the main soloist instrument in this album. Tom is
accompanied by Jonas Tauber, who plays the bass; and Ken Ollis, who plays
drums.
DOMINIQUE CHEVANT

http://www.pfmentum.com

VERPLANKEN:
"AUTOPSY OF A DREAM"
Verplanken skillfuly utilizes elements from Ambient and Psychedelic to
combine them into a result that has little to do with orthodox Ambient and
psychedelic rock. Verplanken's sonic and melodic constructions turn out to
be rather astonishing indeed, as well as unpredictable enough. Some of the
compositions are mysterious, with dark melodies enhanced by the electronic
soundscapes. Others are ethereal, and can be labelled within Space Music,
with symphonic elements. In conclusion, this is an album that no doubt
deserves an attentive listening.
ALEJANDRO HINOJOSA

http://www.verplanken.com

ERIK IAN WALKER AND MARIT BROOK-KOTHLOW:
"I HAVE NEVER TOLD YOU"
Bottomfeeder Records
Erik Ian Walker and Marit Brook-Kothlow follow an interesting path through
the combination of Jazz with Meditative Music, Ambient, and traits of
Classical and Experimental. Each one of the themes, although continuing
with the general format, gets near one of the styles mentioned before. In
certain cases, it is easy to guess the origin of a given musical element,
but in others it turns out to be very difficult to imagine it.
VIRGINIA TAMAYO

http://www.wackoworldmusic.com

BERNDHARD LOIBNER:
"FRAGMENTED MEMORY" (video DVD)
The eight sound/video pieces that integrate this DVD consist in different
experiments, presenting a succession of noises, distorted images of people
and urban landscapes, electronic soundscapes, and other effects. The result
is a journey through hypnotic worlds, that appear to have been taken out of
surrealist dreams.
DOMINIQUE CHEVANT

http://loibner.cc

====================

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