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Christine Ott — Time to Die
(Bandcamp Gizeh GZH102, 2021, CD / LP / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2021-07-18

Time to Die Cover art

French composer and multi-instrumentalist Christine Ott’s fourth album, Time to Die, is a sensory journey between the world of the living and that of the dead. Christine with her musical arsenal of piano, Ondes Martenot, Jupiter8, percussion, timpani, tubular bells, vibraphone, and vocals is joined by Mathieu Gabry on Mellotron, keyboards, vibraphone, and effects, and Casey Brown for his narration on the title track. The title track sets the stage for Christine’s impressionistic piano landscapes that straddle contemporary classical, romantic, and minimalist music. The track begins with rumbling electronics that segue to spluttering and whispering dark atmospheres and end with Casey reciting Rutger Hauer’s famous Bladerunner soliloquy. After the melancholy “Time to Die,” Christine presents a series of introspective Eno-esque piano explorations beginning with “Brumes” (“Mists” in English), “Landscape,” and “Chasing Harp.” Then “Horizons Fauves” explores delicate cyclic rippling clusters of prepared piano runs that remind me of “Un Entretien avec Jeanne Moreau” on the 1986 compilation From Brussels with Love. “Comma Opening” follows with Christine on the Ondes Martenot for some exquisitely soothing eerie ambient music. “Miroirs” (“Mirrors”) is another elegant ambient piano track. And the album closes with “Pluie” (“Rain”). This slow eerie composition integrates piano, rain and thunder, tubular bells, and the Ondes Martenot for a lovely dirge, I know an oxymoron, but it describes the experience. Time to Die is a masterpiece of aural poems that will appeal to fans of Philip Glass, Brian Eno, and Claude Debussy.

Filed under: New releases, 2021 releases

Related artist(s): Christine Ott

More info
http://gizehrecords.bandcamp.com/album/time-to-die

 

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