Sonic Bloom review from the Ambient List 9/16/1999

OK, here's the text version of this review for those of
you who get the digest version of the Tuning list.

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David Beardsley- Sonic Bloom
13 limit just intonation synthesizer
xouoxno@virtulink.com
http://www.virtulink.com/immp/biink/welcome.htm

Why do some reviews take so damn long to eventuate? This one had been
started many months ago, but for what ever reason had been put off,
terminated, re started, scrunched up in frustration and generally
forgotten. It's just that sometimes I am at a loss to put into words
exactly what it is that I am hearing. This is a dangerous sound composed
of
low drones, alien and alienating, trance like patterns of sounds, at
times
a continuation of Eno and Fripp's No Pussyfooting / Evening Star, back
in
those early days of experimental electronic musics, where it appeared
that
in order to create 'something', it appeared to the novice listener (me)
that what was really happening was chaos and destruction of sorts using
sound. In essence DB is just as effective with his tonal worlds as
someone
like Robert Rich, though the main difference is that his world is not as
obvious or 'pretty' as that of Rich. At the same time there are elements
of
harmonic chant as well, those long sheets of sound that go right through
you and leave you feeling fantastic . Maybe even a hint of Alan Lamb
with
his outback telegraph poles swaying in the winds, recordings of
incredible
beauty and mystique. DB's world is a raw one, where the 'sound' is
unrecognizable, (processed I assume) till it becomes paradoxically, ugly
and beautiful at the same time. It is precisely this ugly beauty that
captivates me to listen to it for hours on end. How odd. My friends say
they can make me recordings of their refrigerators which sound better
than
this. Cruel, but it must be one mother of a fridge. But it does get back
to
having the patience to sit and listen and be actively involved. DB
strikes
me as being an intelligent person. He is involved with Juxtaposition
Ezine,
regularly gets involved in more than a number of discussion groups on
the
net, knows a lot more about microtonal music than I will ever know in my
time (check out his web site for more info) and from time to time takes
the
Sonic Bloom show on the road, so to speak. This release brings up a
range
of feelings and emotions within me, for what ever reasons, but in terms
of
interesting releases for 1999, it rates with many a great recording I
have
been fortunate enough to have heard.

Best Wishes

Hans Stoeve
c/o Power Spot 89.7FM
Sydney, Australia

http://www.users.bigpond.com/nadabrahma
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*** the further one goes
the less one knows ***

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