Customer Reviews

Ixlandia

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was attracted to this CD by its cover, and immediately fell in love with the music. It's romantic and dreamy. The perfect music for relaxing. You won't be dissapointed with Ixlandia!

I've read some very good and very bad reviews of Ixlandia. It follows the "Midsummer Century" formula so to speak. It begins with soft jazzy music then takes off into space. You need a stereo that will handle high volume for a song like "The Tachyon Directive". You need the right time and place to appreciate this CD. Alone, inside a dark house, on a quiet night, with the volume up high. Now listen to "Tachyon Directive". If you don't think the sound is awesome then this CD is not for you.

I've listened to this album countless times, and have considered it one of my favorites for a long long time. The album begins with a soft jazzy feel, with sensual sax, then slowly moves into a more deep-ambient tone on the later tracks. The final title track returns to the romantic tones of the earlier tracks, with a female vocalist reciting in barely-audible Italian the beautiful and moving poem "Ixlandia," which appears in English on the back-cover.

Serrie has always been a romantic at heart. In this album, as well as its sister album, Midsummer Century, he has taken his deep space music into a different direction: the romantic imagery of a deep-space fantasy. The title track is especially beautiful; I consider it one of the best pieces he has ever composed. This is a very good album, very beautifully conceived and produced, well worth the money. It's a perfect album to accompany a lazy Sunday afternoon with your lover.

I'm a pro musician, and I'm very impressed by this album. Jonn's musical ideas are interesting; he deals smoothly with unusual time signatures and melodic transitions. The tones he chose for his instruments blend beautifully, and the recording sound quality is good to excellent.

The other side of my brain loves this album too. Soft, warm washes of lush sound, just the thing for a relaxing mental massage (or, soundtrack for a real massage). Just put on your heaphones and say "aaahhh"...

This is one album I can play while I work on mental chores such as computers. The absence of words (and frequently, of rythmn) leaves my concentration free, while still adding a pleasant atmosphere. It might not be the best album to play during highway driving, due to its sedative qualities, but is perfect right after a hellish commute. Try it, you'll see.

I was introduced to this CD by a good friend. I immediately found it to be one of my favorites. The first part is a little more upbeat and happy. The second half is much more dreamy. Recently, I was driving down a street that had been ravaged by a recent tornado and looked like a war zone. The second half of the CD was playing in my car. It made the scene of what I was looking at seem like I was in a dream and moving through it in slow motion. Almost as though it was a soundtrack made for the moment. This may sound weird but it was an absolute magical and unreal experience. I love this CD - you won't be dissapointed if you buy it.

This CD - like most of the music of Jonn Serrie - is outstanding, and breathtakingly beautiful. If there was ever an artist whose music can so magically transport a listener to another time and place (or time and Space), it is Jonn Serrie.

With an absence of any high-energy compositions, this CD is positively relaxing throughout. The first four tracks are relatively short, all in the four-to-five minute range. The three opening tracks - "Ixlandia", "Blue Lumia", and "Night Orchid" - are the more melodic of this collection, and all contain a soft feeling of light jazz, in part through the inclusion of a saxophone. This effect works well and is very pleasant, creating a mood slightly different than many of Serrie's other compositions. "Blue Lumia" even has a mild oriental flavor. The fourth track, "Le Tresor", is an absolute jewel, simultaneously evoking beauty and joy, as well as sorrow and sadness. From here, the disk continues with four longer tracks, all in the eight-to-nine minute range. Tracks five through seven - "The Century Princess", "Starport Indra", and "The Tachyon Directive" - are all representative of Serrie's outstanding spacier material, effectively suspending the listener in a place far, far away (much in the style of "Glyder", on his "Flightpath" CD). The final track, "Welcome Home", concludes the disk - a gorgeous piece that floats quietly and delicately, and includes a sensually whispered female voice, in a haunting yet soothing blanket of vocal embellishment.

Jonn Serrie's music is brilliant both in composition and delivery. I have several of his CDs, and I enjoy them immensely and often. I highly recommend his music, as a whole, and fully endorse this CD as a worthwhile example of his genius.

These selections offer a nice flow and calming energy. This is not Serrie's strongest but parts of it are up there with his best. Welcome Home, however, is the finest piece of New Age music I have heard. I never, never get tired of hearing it. It's haunting and stimulating. Worth the buy just for it along.

It seems whatever Jonn publishes has all the qualities of his ability. Jonn's music can flow like a gentle forest stream in the morning light, or runs fast and deep like the Mississippi River.

Ixlandia has all these qualities and if what you want is to be moved by music, try this CD, as well as all of his others.

We are all blessed by Jonn's wonderful talent!

Super trippy space-out music. Best played at a loud volume, especially "Tachyon Directive"...you'll be blown out of your seat...a touch more pop and romanticism than his others (especially the first four cuts), but that should not bother anyone who listens to this platter of sonic excellence.

Buy it!

I love much of Jonn Serrie's music, but Xlandia is not among my favorite Serrie releases. The first couple of tracks are mildly flavorfull, but the rest of the cd just doesn't fly off the ground much with its pastel dominated feel. In fact, I just can't help but say that this is just a rather boring cd. I am very much into relaxing, soft music, but Xlandia just doesn't appeal to me.