Northern Song [Original recording reissued, Import]

Steve Tibbetts | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 8, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Import
• Label: Ecm Import
• ASIN: B000026FJ9
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,528 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Automatic Entry On My List of All-time Favourites, January 29, 2004

By 

Steve Ford (Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Northern Song (Audio CD)

I've been listening to 'Northern Song' for more than twenty years, and never tire of it. Capable of pyrotechnics, here Tibbets is superbly restrained. Just six and twelve-string guitar, kalimba, some subtle tape effects and percussion (courtesy of Marc Anderson). As with all ECM recordings, the sound is deep and lush. My favourite "chill out" album - if that's not damning with faint praise. "Northern Song" is an automatic pick for my all-time top ten, along with 'Kind of Blue', 'Astral Weeks', 'Hejira', Bill Evans recordings at the Village Vanguard and the Allman Brothers 'Live at the Fillmore'. Not for everyone, but for mine it's a timeless gem of a record.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zazen in Norway, April 4, 2000

By 

Ian Andrews (the deserts of Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Northern Song (Audio CD)

[Reviewer's Note: At the time this record came out in 1982, I was working at a custom record manufacturing company in Phoenix where this record was first mastered and pressed. Otherwise, I might never have come across it. It struck me then as it strikes me now, some eighteen years later. Beautiful and soothing.]

Acoustic guitarist and composer Steve Tibbetts in his album Northern Song presents the listener with five meditative musical landscapes, each leaving the listener with a sense of openness and empty space ready to be filled.

It is background music that doesn't get in the way of the listener's imagination, and yet lets him take it where he will. You fill in the emptiness.

The panorama of acoustic guitar sound is enhanced with soft congas, maraca and chime percussion that lend a light texture to each piece and contribute beautifully to the meditative quality. New Age music this is not. But, rather, spare and limitless, nurturing the listener's creativity. It allows one the space in which to hear himself think.

If you want to calm down after a hectic day's struggle, pop on Steve Tibbetts' Northern Song and feel yourself drawn into a spacious sound landscape with room to breathe and stretch out. And don't be surprised if, when you leave, you find yourself feeling refreshed and alert with more energy than when you began.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a composer from the planet third from the sun., October 18, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Northern Song (Audio CD)

yes, this may be a radically different album from steve's other albums, but it is his best in my opinion.
it is a masterpiece of subtlety. it is a gorgeous sonic tapestry. it is one of my most favorite albums.
at first listening it is repetitive, super soft and slow moving. but listen again, closer, and you begin
to hear the shape of a true musician. he evolves the gradual changes here, in a minimalistic way of course,
with such suprising beauty. tape loops and anderson's percussion contribute greatly.
i don't like other of his albums which are so loud. i think we've got a complex creator here. in any case,
this album will truly transport you to landscapes in your mind and heart where peace and beauty reign.