Customer Reviews

Sunborne

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

 

 

I was surprised to find that this is still in print. Unlike her albums 'Set Free' and 'Novus Magnificat,' 'Sunborne contains some of Demby's most inaccessible works. They are classic examples of that is referred to, sometimes derogatorily, as 'space' music. Which, in a sense, is exactly what they are. But to the listener looking for something that makes sense to classically trained (or untrained) ears, there is a seeming randomness and discord that eludes classical definitions.

The truth is that exactly the opposite is going on. There is a code of harmonics and pattern that is every bit as restrictive as more catholic styles. But the emphasis is not on traditional values. Much like the 12 tone music of the previous century, the rules are different, and the listener has to make some difficult adjustments. Yet, if you listen patiently, one begins to here the threads of Indian and Chinese rhythms and scales that are woven into a pattern of long tones and bursts of minimalist activity.

Despite all her New Age trappings and semi-metaphysical approach, Constance Demby is a very serious musician who has managed to master a peculiar genre. She is one of the few that have made an eclectic approach acceptable to more mainstream biases. I'm not going to pretend that this is lovable music. But if you are the kind of person who likes to work with your ears, this is as good a challenge as there is. And the eventual reward - a wider spectrum of audition - will affect how you perceive all music.

If you can imagine the Sun being sung into existance then this is the album for you. Where Ms. Demby's Novus Magnificat flys us through vast starfields, Sunborne brings us home to Earth and the light of our sun. The track "Darkness of Space" gives us the darkness before the dawn and the next track "Lift thine Eyes" gives musical expression to the dawn. A wonderfully uplifting work.

You cannot give what you do not have. Demby is one of a handful of new age composers who are attuned to their inner Kundalini energies---it is obvious by the type of music she produces. Subtle, lovely vibrations that weave thru the body and brain, inviting and invoking higher realms of consciousness. You can't fake this stuff, because if you haven't been there, you cannot possibly reproduce it.

This music is clearly meditative in nature, and is the perfect accompaniment to entheogens. It sounds to me like the sun singing life into the solar system; utterly cosmic, but deeply soulful and heartfelt. I now understand why some cultures have worshiped the sun--Demby had me there for an hour.

Because I am a fan of space music, I didn't hear anything unusually dissonant or inaccessible in this CD. But it is not background music for a baby shower, or made with great-aunt Bertha's bubble bath in mind. This is seriously inner music which will raise your vibratory rate--if you attend to it.

My hat's off to the composer!

Besides being only 5 tracks ,very short 38 minutes or so,this CD is not satisfying at all,it's boring not much of a musical imagination ,i would not buy an other Cd from this composer.It sounds like she put everything on auto-pilot and went to sleep.Very plastic no depth and repetitive.