 |
 |
|
 |
|
Binkelman's Corner by Bill Binkelman |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bill Binkelman is a long-time icon in the industry. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Winter Light |
| By Jeff Greinke |
| Label: Lotuspike |
|
|
| Winter Light tracks |
1. Ascent
2. Lament
3. Moving to Malaysia
4. Deep Inside
5. The Long Road Home
|
6. Under the Pagoda
7. The Conversationj
8. Across the Great Basin
9. Orographic
10. Mountain in the Clouds
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Winter Light |
|
|
|
|
|
Winter, more than any other season, is largely ignored as an inspiration for instrumental music, perhaps because of the abundance (even overkill) of "holiday music." Yet winter seems ideal for serving as an impetus for ambient music, since the cold, forbidding barren season is also suffused with a somber and pristine beauty, tinted by a combination of daylight diffused through hazy ice crystals suspended in the air and startling clear moonlight glistening off of new-fallen snow. Maybe too many ambient artists live in southern climes. With Jeff Greinke's Winter Light, this dearth thankfully ends.
Visually, the back cover of the album evokes the same visceral response to a harsh landscape as the opening shots do in the brilliant film, Fargo. The image is of telephone poles along a rural road receding to the horizon, cloaked in snow, with a distant dwelling sitting forlorn and isolated. Greinke captures these melancholic images in music which is almost painfully beautiful to listen to, as if one were indulging in memories acutely sad yet also nostalgically addicting. As a lover of darker-themed yet melodic music, Winter Light has become one of my favorite releases of recent years.
With the exception of two world-fusion influenced tracks (the gentle swaying Asia-meets-chamber-esque Moving to Malaysia and the mystical syncopation of the gamelan-like Under the Pagoda), Winter Light reminds me of Mychael Danna's superb neo-chamber minimalist work, Skys. Both albums are dominated by repeating musical phrases played on echoed piano, accompanied by textural synths, fluid washes and sampled orchestral sections (almost all in minor keys). One also hears echoes of previous Greinke efforts (Wide View or the non-rhythmic pieces on his classic In Another Place). I've read that fans of Greinke's other works, e.g. Places of Motility and Cities in Fog, aren't enamored of this release. I don't doubt this is more accessible music, but the overall somber mood of the album hardly qualifies it as a mere fluff or being "too pretty."
Ascent begins the album with a repeating piano refrain under which various orchestral strings and horns are subtly layered, culminating with a mournful "crescendo" of sorts. Lament is even more shadowy and subdued, with sparse piano and muted oboe and strings, along with other keyboards (recognizable as "vintage" Greinke) that ebb and flow with a sad sense of resignation. It's as if Greinke took a musical "snapshot" of an isolating and harsh winter environment. Deep Inside ushers in on minimal bell tones, a two-note piano refrain, tuba-esque swells, soft female chorals, sparse upright bass notes, and more trademark Greinke synths. The listener feels as if he/she is walking quietly down the halls of a deserted house, as if one were afraid to disturb the stillness permeating the surroundings. The Long Road Home follows, conveying a feeling of a lengthy journey, one step at a time, during which one’s footsteps are heavy with emotion and yet one is inexorably and resignedly drawn to the destination. Subtle strings, minimal piano, and an occasional muted beat unwind during the track's eight minute duration.
I could wax eloquently about the remaining four tracks, (e.g. the inescapable feeling of viewing a broad vista on Across the Great Basin or the delicate interplay between plucked harp and synths on Orographic), but review length must be honored. Suffice it to say that as much as I love the other two Greinke releases I mentioned earlier, Winter Light is, in my opinion, his masterpiece. Music this beautiful, evocative, and luxuriantly intimate brings me near the point of tears. If you cherish the music of Tim Story, Mychael Danna, or to a lesser extent Kevin Keller, go out (or online) now and buy Winter Light. Even played in the heat of summer (i.e. now), it's still an enriching and satisfying listening experience. I can hardly wait to hear it in January.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rating: Excellent  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- reviewed by Bill Binkelman on 8/5/2007 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
