Customer Reviews

Overnight

5 star:		(4)
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Overnight is a lyrical journey into the mystery and romance of trains at night. The music is evocative of the lonesome whistle just before dawn, the crashing of wheels against steel track, and the echos of adventure that are the legacy of trains. Chessie has refined its sound from the previous two CDs to create a meditative landscape that offers much to the listener. I smile, I dance, I dream with this CD. Highly recommended.

Stephen Gardner seems to work, sleep and eat trains. By day, he works on a Capitol Hill committee involved with rail transportation, and by night (with Ben Bailes) he makes ambient techno based on trains, railway stations and movement along the tracks. Chessie's interpretation of its obsession is more suggestive than literal, making for an immersive composition that still holds up apart from its concept.

This is completely brilliant music - and one of my favorite albums. It is electronic and apparently abstract and purely instrumental, but with a deeper melodic heart and subtle emotional power. The songs each have a distinct sonic pattern and emotion, each one distinct and unique. During the period I was listening to it all the time it changed my world view - I stopped to listen to machines and industrial noise with a new ear. These songs start with what seems like repetitive machine noise but they gradually migrate and introduce melodic elements. There's something so beautiful, lonely, and yet human about it - hard to describe. As time passes, these tracks stick with me - coming to mind again and again. I love this album, and my kids (age 4 and 1) love this album. My wife, however, HATES it, so I tend to play it in the car when I'm driving the kids. This is great travelling music, not only in that the sounds evoke trains and machines travelling, but in the way that each track makes a journey. I recommend Chessie Overnight highly.

This record is definitly one of the best albums of 2001. I loved the last to albums on Drop Beat very much, but "Overnight" is even better.