Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Soundtrack Waiting for a Film, March 5, 2003
Inhabiting the sub-genre of world-flavored ambient is Alias Zone, a project from a graphic artist. This explains the highly visual flavor of the music, a swirling mix of ambient, world percussion, and spoken word that calls out to be a soundtrack to a film. Lucid Dreams is a film noir of sound. The mood throughout is dreamy and gloaming, reminiscent of twilight. Samples from multiple languages and instruments from multiple countries make it impossible to tie the music down to a particular time and place. This is one of those albums that is a meaningful journey and I highly recommend it.
The opening track, "Phunque" sets the tone with tribal drums and haunting flute. Then the de facto
title track, "I Have Stopped Dreaming," lays down an existential beat poem about new perspectives in consciousness set to ethereal electronics and drums. "Sunday 2AM (Driving)" is simple but engaging with flute and light rhythm laid over djembe.
"Towards the Dawn" is the strongest song of the album, an ethereal trip through luminal time and
space. Over a background of a shortwave broadcast of indeterminate language are bass, flute, hand percussion, and a wonderful assortment of samples from electric guitar to rainforest noises. It is a wonderful song to wake up to on my CD/clock/radio; seven minutes of it and I am thoroughly
energized.
The tempo increases with "Dervish" as bass is heavier and the flute more vigorous. "Nayeem"
offers Indian Alaap amidst increasingly strident percussion, electric sitar and synths. The height of the energy curve is reached in the funky "Without a Prayer" funky Malaysian vocals are delightfully tweaked and accompanied by driving synth and bass, with the ever-pleasant flute diving and in and
out.
We cool down with "Dust" and ambient tune that brings back spoken word, this time about a trip to
Morocco. Another very strong track, "The River" is a stirring commentary on American hegemony. We listen first to Lyndon Johnson's famous speech declaring he will not run for re-election in 1968. Then a Vietnam War veteran speaks derisively of his experiences in the "Asian police action" interspersed with excerpts from an Adlai Stevenson speech on American manifest destiny. The deep irony is wonderfully tied together with the guitar and drum accompaniment we are now very familiar with.
Lucid Dreams is aptly named. It asks to be listened to and meditated to and it gives in return a deep experience of what music can be when it is thoughtful and deeply felt. Anyone into intelligent ambient such as Bill Laswell, Axiom of Choice, Brian Eno, Air, and the like, should definitely experience Lucid Dreams. Let us hope that Alias Zone will grant us another tour through their world soon.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dreamlike Lucidity, March 9, 2002
listen:
i'm sure many of you have seen chris meyer's contributions to the yahoo list serve; he's an authentic laswellian, but there's more you should know. chris and his pal's keith snyder, lucky westfall, richard zvonar, and richard bugg have recorded an exceptional disc which in my humble estimate is as good or, if not, better than many of laswell's other productions, i.e. imaginary cuba. chris' disc is entitled `lucid dreams.' you can find it under `alias zone.' it contains nine selections that would be a great addition to anyone's collection. i find the 58 minute recording to be very much like laswell's `city of light.' truth to tell, i like it more than city of light. it has a direction where the latter sometimes drifts. alias zone also reminds me of axiom's significant compilation called `lost in the translation.' lucid dreams contains some spoken word, but it is a subtle, almost subliminal, inclusion. the instrumentals are crisp, unique, and alluring. the disc is definitely what one might call ambient, but i find myself listening with acuity as opposed to slapping the music on for a pleasant background to life around the house after a hard day at work.
each track contains a delightful combination of live and studio recordings as well as sampled performances. alias zone also uses some of bill's sampled material so you fellow laswell fans will feel as if you are in your element. the instrumentation is noteworthy: hyperacoustic flute, synth bass drone, fretless bass, white noise, darbuka, sitar, ambient loops, congas, and other hand percussion. some last observations: the opening song called `phunque' sets the stage for the rest of the cd: a dream which beckons you to return after you have awakened. great bass lines and flute work. if spoken word isn't your scene i guess you can skip `i have stopped dreaming', but in truth it is a sensational doorway to `sunday 2am (driving)' - an infectious jam. `towards the dawn' is reminiscent of cypher 7 or even apc tracks. the fifth cut `dervish' is exactly what you would expect from the title: danceable. a sort of gabrielle roth and the mirrors feel. `nayeem' has a very middle eastern vocal woven through the piece, but the exotic flute, sitar, hand percussion, and skopelitisesque guitar is the song's draw. there is a malaysian male voice in the intro of `without a prayer' but it fades from the forefront allowing for a rhythmic six minutes including a listenable richard bugg flute impov. it reminds me of seven souls without any of burroughs' destractions.
the 7 minute `dust' has that cypher 7 feel - complete with some keyboards, synths, and guitars. there is some spoken word, but it's not really the focus of the piece. the last cut, `the river,' runs about 8 minutes. it is filled with snippets from speeches from lyndon johnson and adlai stevenson for you history buffs; a fellow poetically recalls his viet nam experience, but the main body has a gabrielle roth/apocalypse now sessions/glen velez pulse.
the point of all this is simple: if your ears are bored to tears, buy alias zone's lucid dreams.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
a great used bin find!, May 17, 2007
get this cheap while you can!the spoken word parts melt perfectly with the chilled purcussion and ambience!
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