Review of Jacky Ligon's Galunlati

Greetings Tuners/Tunees/oscillees,

I received Galunlati some while ago but wanted to document my perceptions of
what I think is one of the most beautiful albums to emerge for some time.
Jacky has achieved a richness of sound texture which is quite disturbingly
astounding. This is lighter, more airy, than Metamorphose (which for me is
like the spirit of thunder).

best wishes to all of you
Lawrence Ball

1)Transmigrations Of The Inner Light
This has a soaring sense of lightness, yet very earthed and solid.
There are 8 and 16 beat cycles although they are handled in interesting ways
that sound like 7, 9 or 13. The transitions and discontinuities are very
appropriate and magically done. The rhythmic flow, momentum and precision
feel of timimg is excellent.
This signifies a new anthem or heralding of psychic-energetic-expression of
ancient and contemporary music. Ecstatically innovative.
My feeling for the tonality is that my ears constantly yearn to hear, and
are thwarted from hearing, more familiar whole number ratios and this is
like a kind of aural retuning of the mental gauge and palette.
The bass drum permeates the texture beautifully. An incredible sandwich of
energies. The vocal melody echo at the end is exhilirating.

2) Galunlati
Jacky's original sounds, long, nasal, eerily broad in scope are majestic and
processional. A hothouse of exotic timbral flowers and plants. A magnetic
garden for crystallisation of inspired and super-mundane thoughts. Like
peering into teeming convoluted green shoots and folds of rare and huge
blossoms and plant forms.
Not so much music as usually known, as an ornate arrangement of exquisite
aural colours and forms. Its hard to believe so much variety of texture and
melodic colour are possible.
A sea of floating voices and energies that evokes a really clear spirit.
Gongs and metallophones give everything a wonderful sheen, so so airy and
light permeated.

3) Quest For Pure Metals
Before the rhythms begin, this is a place in an invisible world, not simply
sounds. Voices are awesome in expression... slow background harmonies are
far richer than they appear at first, a very ancestral/ceremonial energy.

4)Clouds Of Remembrance
Percussion oceans - whole spherical time wheels of pure energetic momentum -
oceans that modulate and articulate murmurs of real presence and being.
Solid and powerfully speaking of dream spirit. A joyful tree full of music.
Deep rooted sounds.
Its strangely beautiful to hear bells and gongs to percussion, wind and
synth textures. A new science here of orchestral logistics which Jacky
navigates capably. Bell motifs and synth sounds make a beautiful coda.

5)Ten Thousand Things
Spoken/sung seas of layers - even more layers here - reinvents the word
multi track! Seas of light heard VIA sound, anchored into joyful wheels of
rhythmic drums and metal instruments. Textures compounded from drums, gongs,
metallophones into glorious dialogue. A mass of sound, transparent carpets
of interpermeating designs. Fascinating afterglow-acoustic and psychic.

Lawrence Ball wrote:

> I received Galunlati some while ago but wanted to document my perceptions of
> what I think is one of the most beautiful albums to emerge for some time.
> Jacky has achieved a richness of sound texture which is quite disturbingly
> astounding.

Well, I don't know about the disturbing part. Like everything I've heard from Jacky, it is
astounding. As a recording engineer, I can vouch for the richness of sound texture. I don't know
when I've heard a record that took advantage of the full spectrum of human hearing as effectively
Galunlati does. On first listening, I was drawn too far into the imaginative realm to give it much
analytical attention. But on the second listening one of the first things I noticed was that I was
not being assaulted by the irritating wall of upper midrange sound usual in most modern recordings.

Jacky controls the sound with expert artistry. The mix of acoustic and electronic instruments is
natural and believable, and maintains the strengths of each. The sounds are mostly unusual, often
surprising, always well suited to their part. The variety of tonal color is extremely broad without
being gaudy or ostentatious.

One of his trademarks, at least on this record, is the way sections and phrases come and go in a
precisely demarked fashion. It's hard to describe it clearly because I don't know of anything to
compare it to. The feeling is of being drawn along in a vehicle of some sort, which periodic makes
smooth, brief halts and restarts. It's an arresting feeling but a good one, a little bit like an
amusement ride (although I almost hate to say it that way because it cheapens it).

This music is at once ancient and modern, in the best senses of both.

> A joyful tree full of music.

Are you kidding? It's a whole dang forest! :-)

--
David J. Finnamore
Nashville, TN, USA
http://personal.bna.bellsouth.net/bna/d/f/dfin/index.html
--

P.S. Be sure to listen to this CD on a sound system that can support
extreme low end. Jacky makes extensive, expressive use of the 20-60
Hz range, which requires a subwoofer to reproduce properly unless your
listening room is carefully tuned to your speakers. This is not the
sort of record you can get full benefit from by listening only in your
car!

--
David J. Finnamore
Nashville, TN, USA
http://personal.bna.bellsouth.net/bna/d/f/dfin/index.html
--

--- In tuning@y..., Lawrence Ball <Lawrenceball@p...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_20870.html#20870

Congrats on Lawrence Ball for the fine reviews of Jacky Ligon and Pat
Pagano's stuff.

Somehow I think if we were all to work together like this and help
promote one another it would ultimately work to make more performance
opportunities...

At least that's MY theory...

_______ ______ ______ _____
Joseph Pehrson