Customer Reviews

Trylobyte

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

 

 

There is a lot of mystery in this music. The instrumentation is like nothing I've heard before, with many hand made instruments that yield polished, ageless music, that quickly becomes warmly inviting of replays. There is a fantastic variety of both melody and rhythm from track to track, and sometimes surprising transitions within the same track, all providing further amusement. The overall tone is a quiet, sustained energy, thus this is great music to stimulate new thoughts or accompany conversation, but it is reassuringly peaceful enough to fall asleep by also.

I think this one and 'I Ching' are the best of Uakti's works. 'I Ching' was sophisticated, energetic, and had a whole load of brilliant ideas. In the end, though, it had an experimental feel that may not appeal to everyone. 'Trilobyte' is a further step in the direction of sophistication, meanwhile maintaining all of Uakti's melodic charm and instrumental voicing mystique. The subsequent 'Aquas de Amazonas' album is basically a Philip Glass composition played by Uakti. 'Trilobyte' best balances Glass's intricacy with Uakti's flowing, rhythmic melodies. It's a great combination.

If I had to choose one single group that best exemplified the overall nature of 'New Age' music, it would be Uakti. That doesn't mean I feel this is 'generic' New Age music, however, as their approach is a decided cut above the nearly elevator music instrumental fare that afflicts this genre. Uakti does produce entirely instrumental music using woodwind and xylophone-like instruments that they create themselves, but the sound they construct is both light and gentle and quite unique, bubbling along like the proverbial brook. It should be mentioned that this is not ambient music: most of their pieces actually have real tunes. Nevertheless, the tunes play against a certain constant atmosphere just about always invoking the world of the rainforest. "Trilobyte" breaks no new directions within this basic format and is as good a place as any to begin to explore their sound.