Customer Reviews

Shaman

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This Cd is a continuation of the devlopment of this artist. I have most of David's CDs and this is a new direction...better? ...no....different?..very..This CD is very subtle and puts you into a trance before you realize whats going on... I like it.

Drawing on the influences of 1970's Berlin school sequencer-based electronic spacemusic such as that of Tangerine Dream, ethnomusicologist and multi-instrumentalist David Parsons goes a step further creatively merging this with primal shamanic drumming and vocal drones and washes. The end result is a hypnotic almost trance-inducing sound experience. This is electronic Trance music with a soul, without the often relentless pounding of Techno. This is a slight departure in style from Parsons' other trademark albums, along with Ngaio Gamelan, being more polyrhythmical. Though perhaps not considered his greatest, it is however a different, evocative and equally mystical side of Parsons.

In creating this release, Parsons said he "imagined a gathering of mystics, headed by a high shaman, at night in a remote desert valley." The music certainly has a desert feel to it.

He relies almost purely on electronic instruments here, but each track features at least one traditional middle-eastern instrument. All but one track, "Whirling Into Light", are in a minor key, lending a slightly sinister tone to the CD. The synth-rhythms move quickly - this is certainly not ambient music. You get the sense that the mystics are gathered around a huge bonfire, shaking and dancing ecstatically during the night.

But it doesn't feel AS Middle-Eastern as, say, Open Canvas. It is has only a slight mid-east feel to it, which doesn't really set it apart from his other music or make it a unique experience. It's not my favorite of David Parsons' many CDs, but worth listening if you're a fan of his, or if you like electronic music.