Customer Reviews

Renaissance

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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I first saw Faun in 2004, at Germany's underground music festival: The Wave Gothic Treffen. I had only heard a bit about them in terms of being "folk" musicians. When they took the stage I found myself immersed in a world of ancient Bacchic rites.

The lights dimmed. Electronic bass and sampled woodland sounds slowly filled the vast darkness. Violet lights revealed a figure crouched ritualistically over an altar fit for any Bacchic rite. As the electronic atmospheres rose and finally broke in a crest of color and sound, the acoustic quartet were fey and ethereal. They wove a romantic, energetic, and lush sonic tapestry: dark yet warm - dreamy yet earthy. All the while an ambient soundtrack helped the group take us on a journey to a wild and powerful place.

The title of Faun's latest album, Renaissance, references revelation, rebirth, and coming into the light. And on this album, the band surely accomplishes this feat. While Licht (en: Light), their previous album, remains a masterpiece in its own right, there seemed to be a very conscious distinction between the electronic and the acoustic. Renaissance makes this blend nearly seamless. The timing and flow of the electronica plays with and enhances, not against the variety of ethnic and antique rhythms.

Satyros and Iyansa energize. They are proof that even without the amps and pedals of electric instruments, well performed music is no less driving. The beautiful vocals punctuate the carefully plotted percussion, woodwind and string melodies. You will want to get up and dance.

Konigen and Das Tor are moody and emotional ballads that lead the listener through a drifting maze of audible light, shadow and color. They are complex and sometimes sorrowful yet not at all depressing or maudilin.

Faun continues to lead us through their vision of an ancient world. But not only European melodies are present: we hear some amazing Caribbean influenced drumming as well as a very classic Celtic dance song in Rhiannon.

While I highly recommend all of Faun's music, Renaissance shines as perhaps their most complex and subtle album to date.

This album is stylistically a cross between the Medieval Baebes and Broadside Electric, but with more medieval instruments. Faun sings both historical works with a modern folk-rock edge and original works -- and hybrids.

Renaissance is an astonishing achievement in that it has no weak tracks. Faun manages the trick of being both moody and catchy. From the ecstatic "Satyros" to the mellow "Das Tor", each piece is presented with conviction and thoughtfulness. I'm particularly impressed with the rich and varying instrumentation; Faun uses texture very well.

All in all a very impressive, fun, and satisfying album.

Celtic / German blend. I like all kinds of music, from the Stones to classical. This has quickly become one of my favorite celtic-type albums. Beautiful and harmonic. Highly recommended!

Now this is truly unusual and interesting and quite beautiful. Made me want to crawl into a rich and rockin fantasy existence somewhen else. Loved it, recommend it heartily and cant wait for more.

I love this CD so much I just HAD to let my friend listen to it.. so, she borrowed it.. and two weeks later she's still listening to it.. (I'm getting it back on Sunday).. Very beautiful..

This is a wonderful compilation of songs that evoke the times of the Renaissance. I am a huge fan of Celtic culture, and I think this fits the bill perfectly when I'm in the mood for some folk music. One of the songs, Rhiannon, is simply instrumentals, in my opinion it is amongst the best of the album. A beautiful orchestration of lyres, drums, flutes, and other authentic renaissance instruments not only gives it authenticity but create full sounds that will drag you kicking and creaming into an earlier time. The vocals are not particularly great, but perhaps that only helps to add to the feeling of ancient folk music. A personal bonus for me was that on five of the tracks the vocals were in German, which may bother you if you don't speak German, but because I do I enjoyed it very much. The other songs feature vocals that vary from Portugese, Lithuanian, Romanian, Spanish, and Yoruba. Yeah, you could call it eclectic. Although this is not an album I find myself listening to often, is is still an outstanding performance and amongst the best I have for "background music" while I'm reading or working.

This CD is becoming one of my all time favorites. Pleasant to listen to any time and especially while I am working.

This is one of the best Folk style cd's around, I first heard this group on a podcast called "TSGO: The Darker Shade of Pagan" And have ever since aquired all the cd's This band is excellent and impresses me on every song. It does the job of folk music, the way its supposed to be.

I just started to get inot this style of music. I found it very different but very refreshing. It let me make stories in my mind as the sound made it all come to life. i will be buying more from this group!!!

Faun creates music with a rich, deep soul. I just got this album in the mail today and i've been listening to it over and over. They combine mideval instruments and melodies with modern synth samples and production. The result is a luscious tapestry ranging from frenzied, tribal, and trance-like to serene, velveteen dreamscapes, sometimes all in the same song. I listen to an extremely wide variety of music and this is in a realm of it's own. If you like Q'ntal, Faith and the Muse, dead can dance, but sometimes wish that these had a little bit more rhythm and variety, then you'll probably like Renaisance a lot.