13-09-2016, 21:47
Marconi Union is considered one of the most creative and top electronic and ambient groups in the world based on sales, acclaim and online viewing/listening (their videos have received literally tens-of-millions of views!). Their latest album, GHOST STATIONS, expands beyond the synthesizers and unusual percussion elements played by the three members of the band, and adds special guest appearances by a trumpeter (from the group Digitonal) and a clarinet player. These are unexpected instruments in ambient music, but it works as it stretches the boundaries of our conceptions of ambient music sounds.
The recording has four pieces ten-to-fourteen-minutes long, and each one takes the listener on a trip to strange and esoteric places, including (if the album title and CD pictures are to be believed) deserted, grimy buildings (stations?) where it would not surprise me in the least if ghosts lurked. The music has the slow plunking of a piano note (or occasional chord) for awhile, but expect changes and shifts to emerge as sandpaper rhythms emerge along, at times, with pulses, bass notes, some drums here and there, some sort of plucked string instrument, the very occasional vocalizing, scratchy sounds, and the afore-mentioned trumpet and clarinet, which are played just as ghostly as everything else.
The tempo moves from VERY slow and soft at various points to quite rapid and rhythmic at other times, and back again to sedate. This is very moody music meaning it conjures up a wide variety of moods and feelings, albeit some dark and haunting. No matter, this is music you do not have to wait for Halloween to enjoy. This is masterfully-crafted with appeal to anyone who likes to explore ambient, new age, chill-out or avant-garde sounds.
The recording has four pieces ten-to-fourteen-minutes long, and each one takes the listener on a trip to strange and esoteric places, including (if the album title and CD pictures are to be believed) deserted, grimy buildings (stations?) where it would not surprise me in the least if ghosts lurked. The music has the slow plunking of a piano note (or occasional chord) for awhile, but expect changes and shifts to emerge as sandpaper rhythms emerge along, at times, with pulses, bass notes, some drums here and there, some sort of plucked string instrument, the very occasional vocalizing, scratchy sounds, and the afore-mentioned trumpet and clarinet, which are played just as ghostly as everything else.
The tempo moves from VERY slow and soft at various points to quite rapid and rhythmic at other times, and back again to sedate. This is very moody music meaning it conjures up a wide variety of moods and feelings, albeit some dark and haunting. No matter, this is music you do not have to wait for Halloween to enjoy. This is masterfully-crafted with appeal to anyone who likes to explore ambient, new age, chill-out or avant-garde sounds.
