Customer Reviews

Deep Listening

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pauline Oliveros' "Deep Listening" enterprises are always fascinating and thought-provoking. This CD, released under that simple title, is no exception. Dating from 1989, the music presented here was all recorded during a single Deep Listening improvisation session, involving Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster and the vocalist, Panaiotis. To make this a truly Deep Listening experience, the whole session took place in a disused underground water cistern, with a 186-foot diameter and an amazing 45-second natural reverberation period!

The instruments played include accordion, trombone, an adjustable didjeridu made of jointed PVC pipe, conch shell, various found metal pieces and pipes, and, of course, voice. The result, with the deep droning reverberation of the performance space, is an ethereal blend of musics, quite impossible to categorise. It is also an amazing listening experience. Some listeners may hear it as New Age (there are similarities with much early Klaus Schulze, despite the absence of any electronics whatsover) whilst others may regard it more as emanating from ancient temples. However you hear it, though, it is absorbing and entrancing; rewarding deep listening, indeed.

This is a great CD - the samples provided
for listening give a solid idea as to what
the full disc sounds like, which is expansive,
trancey, and full of sonic nuances. I can
listen to this and Stuart Dempster's
Underground Overlays - a similar effort - for
days on end. I think this will appeal to those
into extended 'ambient' works most of all, despite
the fact that the music is unprocessed and
acoustic.

I am only being partially facetious in the title to my review. This is lovely and it is music to sleep by. It is deeply relaxing, and yet rewards careful listening. This is not some somulent ambient experiment by Stephen Halpern. The three musicians on the disc have impeccable credentials. Oliverios has been involved in experimental music since the late 60s, often with spiritual overtones. Stuart Dempster is an expert trombonist, perhaps the best in avant-garde circles. Panaiotis is new to me, but adds a percussive edge that keeps the music going.

The disc was recorded in a cistern in Washington State. Using the 45 second echo natural to the space, the three musicians improvise four lovely pieces based on drones. Oliverios plays a specially designed accordian, tuned in just intonation. The sound is deeply meditative and lovely. Weaving in and out of the accordian drone is more melodic music from Dempster, and percussive and vocal sounds from Panaiotis. This is ambient music. You can use it as sonic wall-paper if you want. But it also repays deep listening...repays it well.

Thanks as always to New Albion for it's interest in documenting unexplored areas of the music scene. And for it's lovely and spacious sound engineering.

I really love this work. It's a collection of four lengthy pieces, recorded in a huge underground water tank by three experimental composer/performers. Oh, that sounds odd, you say? Well, it's certainly an unusual concept, but the musical results are definitely _not_ odd, and are truly amazing. Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, and Panaiotis got together at this site in Washington state where reverb times of 45+ seconds are possible, and where the reverb characteristics are totally smooth and pure. The result, on this four primarily improvised works, is sounds that seem to hang suspended in _outer_ space, certainly not underground. The focus, musically, is on sounds that blend harmonically, and on careful listening between the three performers to 'work' the space properly, although sometimes they do get a little raucous with the use of some metal percussion. I'd have to put this into the 'ambient music' category, but unlike most ambient, this actually calls for some engaged listening to really get the full effect of what the Deep Listening Band is up to. A beautiful, spacious musical adventure, one I'd recommend to most anyone.

Oliveros et al. conceived a way to perform natural drone music, thus imaginatively naturalizing (i.e. making acoustic) ambient music. This music, serene, whale-song-like yet searching, is the emboodiment of a desire to interweave attenuated pitches into a meditative whole. Dempster's trombone, as odd as it might seem at first, makes an outstanding contribution to the agenda. This is music at the service of contemplation.

If you enjoy ethereal drones, sparse and unexpected instrumentation, and hypnotic exploration of sound with a minimum of modern electronics, you will love adding this to your music library. It is truely unique. If you don't like that sort of thing, you will be very bored and wonder what all the fuss is about

While attending a modern dance showcase, I once again heard Pauline Oliveros' work. While the dance was entrancing to watch, Oliveros' music was sublime. I bought "Deep Listening" the very next day.

"Deep Listening" is an amazing sonic journey through ambience and resonance. The sounds from the instruments are altered by the performance space, rising, swelling, and receding. The music wraps around you like a welcome warm blanket, then slowly evaporates prior to the next composition.

I would recommend this music for meditation, modern dance, headspace scenes, and sitting in a candle lit room with someone of significance.

These are way weird people. Not garden variety weird. Genuinely out there. Pauline Oliveros is dumpy. Not chic, by any stretch of the imagination. But can she play? You betcha. Stuart dempster looks like a real Christopher Lloyd character. Panaiotis (Why the single name; he's not a Brazilian soccer player?)--What's his deal, man?

Who cares? This is the granddaddy of ambient music. Their concept is unique: Hunker down in this, this, cistern?!?!, play a bunch of super long tones, let the aural bizarreness take over, and see what we've got.

What we've got is, heck, I don't know. It's cool. It's different. It's Brian Eno on quaaludes. Or something. But don't miss it.

My only complaint is that the fourth track is so very different from the others. If you intend to space out and meditate to this music (entirely possible) then I would discourage playing the last track. The scratches, squeaks, echoes, clangs, etc. are not conducive to relaxation.

Edit: The last track has grown a bit on me. It's not as jarring as I first thought, but it is quite different from the others. I bumped my review up to 4 stars from three.