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Binkelman's Corner by Bill Binkelman |
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Bill Binkelman is a long-time icon in the industry. |
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| Sub Rosa |
| By Robert Davies |
| Label: Dataobscura |
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| Sub Rosa tracks |
1. Could Shadows 
2. Moon Chart
3. Encrypted Sleep
4. Her Refracted Eyes
5. Fragrance of Ether
6. River Willow Shallows
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7. Cobwebs in Morning Glow
8. Mossy Stone Decay
9. Elemental Spell
10. Evening Shroud
11. Rose Petals Dripping Wet
12. Encrypted Dream
13. Cloud Whispers
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Sub Rosa |
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Pity me, a poor ambient music critic, when confronted with a CD like Robert Davies' outstanding release, Sub Rosa. The words that came to my mind the first time I played this album were "pretty" "beautiful" and even "gorgeous" all of which are poison to many supposed "fans" of the genre who prefer their music to be sterile, cold, and dark lest some accuse it of being too "new agey". Now, without getting into the philosophical idiocy of that kind of thinking, let me stress that Sub Rosa is not the least bit "new agey" but it is arrestingly beautiful at times, sometimes quite pretty, and there are moments when it is flat out gorgeous. However, it is, body and soul, lock, stock and barrel, head over heels, an AMBIENT album. Okay, can we all agree on that? Whew! Now I can get on with praising yet another amazing release from one the more unheralded ambient labels around, Dataobscura.
Cloud Shadows starts things off with hazy melancholic undulations of low pitched organ swells, background electronic effects, and a flowing sense of melody which suggests the drifting cloudscapes of the title. Next up, Moon Chart opens with a brief flurry of panning spacy EM noises and textures before reverberating bell tones smooth out the rough edges and a warm drone caresses the periphery.
Before I go further, let me state that Davies may have gone to the "Tim Story song titling school" because, on some cuts, he shares that artist's knack for crafting deliciously visual yet somewhat ambiguous phrases. He also shares some musical traits with Story as well on a few tracks (Story is the master of tragic minimalism in ambient music). This comparison can be first detected on Her Refracted Eyes wherein the keyboards are almost palpably forlorn yet so, well, dammit, "PRETTY" that they nearly bring tears to my eyes. You might also draw comparisons between Davies and Harold Budd, but I think Story is a more pronounced likeness (albeit without the latter's abundance of acoustic piano). This track just begs to be put on "repeat" play, in my opinion, but then one would miss out on more gems like the gentle romanticism of "River Willow Shallows" which melds deeply echoed bell tones and smooth synth washes yielding a softly pastoral evocation, not unlike some of Darshan Ambient's work. "Mossy Stone Decay" ushers in a mood of shadow and mystery, but not in any way foreboding or dark, but more on the order of lack of light and coming upon an aged crumbling building in a forest clearing.
Two of my favorite pieces are the short "Evening Shroud" with its interplay between lower and middle register reverbed and deeply sustained bell tones, and the wonderful "Rose Petals Dripping Wet" a ten-plus minute tour de force of drones and textures swirling underneath an assortment of hand bells of various pitches being rung in a totally random and unpredictable patterns. The overall effect is calming and meditative, and the bells color the track with a mystical Asian hue. The assorted flowing washes, textures and drones evolve and change throughout the track, but when played at low volume through speakers, I doubt the changes will be the least bit disruptive of the mood. Besides the twelve listed tracks, there is a bonus cut, a wonderful subtle soft shimmering ambient piece (somewhat like Steve Roach’s classic Quiet Music, perhaps?).
Sub Rosa is another sterling jewel from Dataobscura. When combined with Lammergeyer's Beneath the Sky, the label has a one-two punch among the finest ambient releases not just of this year but probably the decade so far. I know zilch about Robert Davies, but I sure hope this is just the start of his musical career. If this album is any indication of what he's capable of, ambient music lovers have lots of aural bliss to look forward to in the years ahead. Sub Rosa gets my highest recommendation. And, yes, I still maintain it's downright "beautiful", so there!
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Rating: Excellent  |
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- reviewed by Bill Binkelman on 7/23/2006 |
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