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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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| A Face In The Clouds |
| By Marshall Styler |
| Label: Styler Music |
| Released 9/27/2007 |
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| A Face In The Clouds tracks |
1. A Face In The Clouds 
2. Ballerina On The Bridge
3. If I Could Do It All Again
4. A Love Like This
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5. Morning Hyde Park (Austin)
6. Ballad Of An Abandoned Road
7. Midnight Rain (4th and Colorado)
8. Orchids, Vineyards, and Wildflowers Waltz
9. Walking Mansfield Dam
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A Face In The Clouds |
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Marshall Styler’s new recording, A Face In The Clouds, reminds me how good electronic keyboard new age music can still be when it’s written and performed by someone who knows what he/she is doing, which Styler clearly does. A Face In The Cloud’s nine songs are all noteworthy, filled with warm accessible melodies and featuring expert application of a myriad assortment of keyboard sounds, high production values, and most of all, a loveliness and sincerity which is all too often lacking with so many synths present on an album.
The CD is perfect for musing away an afternoon with a favorite book, savoring a glass of wine in front of the fire, driving down a country lane on a cloudy day, or just sitting and quietly reflecting on one’s life. Nothing here is too powerful or passionate so as to take the listener out of a sense of repose, yet there is enough variety to keep the nine songs from sounding too much alike.
The title track opens the CD with shimmering textures, analog synth effects, and gentle piano melodies (Styler’s music here, and at other times on the album, reminds me of Bernward Koch). Immediately, you can hear the care and detail that went into production and engineering. Lush synth pads flow underneath the lead melody to just the right degree and left-to-right balance of the assorted keyboards is spot on. Ballerina on the Bridge introduces the subtle strain of somber reflective emotion that runs through parts of A Face In The Clouds. Soft piano is buoyed by trademark classic new age music bell tones and synth strings. Styler’s melodies are never trite or cliché, always sounding both fresh and refreshing to my ears, even on the tracks which are unabashedly romantic, e.g. If I Could Do It All Over Again, and A Love Like This. Even here the music’s sincerity and carefully balanced nuance (as opposed to over the top melodrama) ensures that the sweetest melodies go down smooth with no saccharine aftertaste.
The album hits its stride on Morning Hyde Park and its jaunty somewhat more dramatic tone, followed by the excellent Ballad Of An Abandoned Road, which evokes the titular image with minor key shadings and a soft sad beauty evident through both the lead piano refrain and assorted electronic textures. Midnight Rain (4th and Colorado) is more haunting, with soft bell tones, more classic new age keys, and muted echoed piano and carefully layered shimmering (yet shadowy) textures. Crescendos in the song carry some emotional weight but are not forced, growing organically out of the main composition. The closing Walking Mansfield Dam, arguably the most minimal track on the CD, concludes the proceedings with an air of serenity and calm, featuring lush chorals, piano, and some of the more subdued synthesizer applications present on the album. A gentle slow tempo rhythm emerges through some subtle synth bass beats as well as the music itself, bringing to mind the slow-paced walk of the song’s title.
This is Marshall Styler’s sixth album (not counting his holiday music release) but I have heard only this and The Twilight Concertos. He excels at effortlessly crafting new age music which utilizes electronic keyboards (and piano) in the service of extremely pleasant accessible warm melodic compositions, filled with genuine warmth and beauty without descending into faux sentimentality or bathos. From my purely personal perspective, it’s great to hear an artist who’s unafraid to compose and record music which harkens back to the “good old days” of the genre without sounding like a mere throwback or homage. A Face In The Clouds is a solidly recommended release filled with highly enjoyable music.
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Rating: Very Good +  |
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- reviewed by Bill Binkelman on 10/12/2007 |
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