Customer Reviews

North of Niagara

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

North of Niagara is easily one of the best somber and melancholic works of ambient music around. Mychael Danna and Tim Clement have combined forces once again and this time produced a work so sublime, so rich with emotional power, that it is near essential for any fan of new age or ambient music.

The music itself combines the "feel" of acoustic music (thanks to piano and some other instruments) with the textures of ambient, since electronic keyboards as used as well. The results are tone poems that are sad, starkly beautiful and immensely compelling.

The inspiration for the music comes from the "Bruce Trail" a very long hiking path through the Canadian forest "north of Niagara" (hence the title). One can easily feel transported (helped along by very discrete use of nature sounds on the CD) to the walking path in late summer or early fall. The mood of the music is grey and somber, so I usually picture the scene as mid to late autumn.

Along with Tim Story's Beguiled and The Perfect Flaw (and Mychael Danna's own Skys), this is a near perfect recording for those days when melancholy strikes and you wish to pause and reflect. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

You ask how an album of mere music can change a person's life? Well, try this one. Sometime, during the summer, go on a journey, somewhere you have never been before, and take this album with you. You will come back transformed. This music will weave incredible magic into any journey, whether it is to the Bruce Trail or simply to the wild outback of your own home state. Heartbreaking, haunting, timeless music. Anyone who loves contemplative music will treasure this album. One of the greatest albums of "new serious music" from the 90's.

This CD is amazing! Truly Canadian in spirit and sounds, "North of Niagara" is of a sentimental value to me. When I listen to Canadian duo Mychael Danna and Tim Clément's keyboard melodies, I remember those romantic summer places like The Thousand Islands. Actually, the environmental sounds in "North of Niagara" remind me of earlier passages from "Summerland" (the first Danna/Clément collaboration in 1985). Most of all, "North of Niagara" is a very emotional recording, which explains why I often go back to it to soothe my mind. Minimalist yet profound in music fabric and melodic material, Mychael Danna and Tim Clément manage to blend suberb natural sounds (recorded along the Bruce Trail in Canada) with sublime keys of melancholy. The music in this album laps against your memories to reach the subconscious level of your mind with a rare emotion. From the searing nostalgia of "Remember Summer" to the ominous ascent of "Mount Nemo", the lapping waters of "Coote's Paradise", and the sentimental yearning of "Lookout Point", the diverse landscape of "North of Niagara" speaks to the heart. This is a must-have for your ambient music collection!

The first time I heard one of the tracks on this CD while listening to the "Hearts of Space" radio program I was deeply moved buy the beautiful piano composition which flowed with the background ebb of lapping water on a lake shore. The next day I ordered the CD on Amazon.com and when it finally arrived, I listen to all the other tracks and I would rate this album with 5 stars because this is one of the best ambient works I have heard in a while and I have heard them all. This CD can be used for relaxation, meditation, or quiet reflection and contemplation. Highly Recommended!

This is the best ambient album I have come across.Both soothing to the ear, and inspiring to the soul, it is a truly well kept secret, begging to be rediscovered!

I don't own this CD, I presently have it on order at the local record store, but I have borrowed it from our library, it is one of the most beautiful and touching CDs I've ever heard, you will find yourself playing it over and over again.Buy it, it is his best work I've heard.

"Silent Lake" was the name of the HOS program where I first met this recording. Although concurring with the general feeling of melancholia addressed by other reviewers, I always saw this audio landscape as more of a reflection of solitude, amplified by the subdued ambient wilderness sounds, much as one would hear along the Bruce Trail.

Of the tracks, "Remember Summer" strikes a particular chord with me. The steel guitar of Kim Deschamps and Gene Goral's accordian add to the reflective nature of the piece.

Highly recommended.

This is a very interesting album released by the canadian duo Danna & Clement.North of Niagara was inspired by Canada's oldest footpath, the one called Bruce Trail.Well, I 've never been there but this music evokes in me colorful pictures of winter and fall; it makes me dream of magenta seas and gives me a clue of what this particular landscape is like.Who said that music can't talk?... Really nice work.I love it. :-)

It's been almost eight years from the time I first heard "Cootes Paradise" on a Hearts of Space compilation to actually buying the album it comes from, but I'm glad I didn't do it earlier as this CD will now remind me of the 2005/2006 transition, a time of contemplation, winter's chill and optimism that this music reflects perfectly.

I enjoy the synthesizer-produced ambient tracks more than the piano pieces (other than "Cootes Paradise," which is remarkable in its minimalism), with "Ravensview" and "Green River Formation" being two gems in particular that I wish were longer than just a few minutes.

"Remember Summer" seems out of place as it is more heavily layered and structured than the other tracks, and includes an accordian which unfortunately gives it the feel of a 1950s Parisian cafe, but it's still listenable. The slide guitar of both this track and "Crawford Lake" are less intrusive than on the Danna album "Sirens" where they take on an almost Hawaiian sound.

I've had this album in my car's CD player for over two months now and listen to at least part of it every day -- normally I grow bored with music after this much air time and might not listen to it for months or even years after, but I've yet to have that happen with "North of Niagara." Somehow it seems to fit every environment or mood I'm in, and it will stay on heavy rotation.