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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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| Treasure |
| By David Helpling & Jon Jenkins |
| Label: Spotted Peccary Music |
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| Treasure tracks |
1. Grand Collision 
2. Treasure
3. The Knowing
4. Beyond Words
5. Into the Deep
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6. Not a Soul, Not a Sound
7. The Frozen Channel
8. Now More Than Ever
9. This Day Forward
10. The First Goodbye
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Treasure |
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Even when artists with prodigious talent and artistic vision collaborate, the results can still be mixed. In the case of David Helpling and Jon Jenkins’ Treasure, no such pitfall materializes. This album is a grand slam; it's out of the park, good-bye Mr. Spalding! Treasure explores blending drifting spacious ambient with instrumental music which holds somewhat more structure and rhythm than the genre usually contains (Helpling's recordings are frequently compared to Patrick O’Hearn's and that judgment is apt for some parts of Treasure). While ambient "purists" might bristle at the presence of overt melodic sensibility, I personally can't see how this CD could be called anything but ambient (although my definition of the genre is wider than most of my colleagues).
Bearing some musical resemblance to Jenkins' Beyond City Light (2006), a few of the (ten) tracks pulse with a raw urgency, propelled by an assortment of drums, electric guitars, piano and all manner of keyboards. Much of Treasure is drenched in reverb and echo which gives the music a spaciousness that evokes the landscape of the American southwest, home to the Spotted Peccary label.
Grand Collision opens with a swirl of synth washes, reverbed pealing guitar notes and various propulsive drums with the main melody played out on echoed piano. It's a great opening piece and signals the power and intensity that will surface now and then throughout Treasure. There are quieter moments here to be sure (the middle of this particular song explores the same forlorn ambient territory that label mate Eric Wollo did on his recent releases on this same label). The title track builds from a quiet duet by piano and guitar (with textural synths), featuring a melancholic mysterious refrain, and then brings in pounding forceful rhythms once more. Jenkins' and Helpling's music has a visual cinematic characteristic to it which reminds me of Peter Buffet's earlier works, most notably Lost Frontier.
Some songs are introspective and hew closer to the more accepted form of ambient music, e.g. Beyond Words which floats through its haunting soundscape featuring layers of keyboards and sparse guitar notes (again, heavily echoed). The sadness of the music is palpable but it's too beautiful to be depressing, instead feeling more like memories tinged with regret or sorrow. Reverberating sonar-like tones on Into the Deep repeat over a bed of textural electric guitar while subtle rhythms and spacy blooping notes add depth and character to the song. The long (ten-and-a-half minute) Not a Soul, Not a Sound is appropriately subdued and is another "traditional" ambient piece, becoming very quiet in the middle. The track's mood varies from serene and billowy to shadowy and forlorn. The Frozen Channel may again elicit comparisons to not just O'Hearn but Wollo again as well. Crystalline piano notes meld with strummed electric guitar over a bed of shimmering keyboards and smooth as ice synth pads. This Day Forward returns to the more dramatic drum-driven rhythms and passionate melodies of the earlier tracks on the CD, while the overt electronics of the closing The First Goodbye may bring to mind releases from Spotted Peccary's earlier days, e.g. Greg Klamt's Fulcrum or Jenkins' own Continuum.
By intermixing drifting warm ambient tone poems with more powerful and structured/rhythmic songs (and even combining the two motifs on the same track), Jenkins and Helpling display their mastery over all facets of contemporary instrumental music. It matters little how one classifies Treasure, for it "earns" its title through its broad bush strokes as well as by paying attention to subtle minute details. This is one treasure well worth seeking. Highly recommended.
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Rating: Excellent  |
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- reviewed by Bill Binkelman on 8/16/2007 |
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