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Reviews

Vidna Obmana & Alio Die — Echo Passage
(Projekt 190, 1999/2006, CD)

Echo Passage Cover art

In a year of many excellent electronic pieces, the collaboration of two of the genre’s top artists is perhaps the year’s most surreally crystalline, a CD-length drone of three titles that may be remembered as one of the finest of the year. It is perhaps the originality of the sound that is the most important factor, a blending of both artists’ styles into a long, warm piece of music that evolves and mutates consistently over its length. The album’s first part is “Echoes of Light,” a drone with flutes and unusual sounds that echo off of the modulating atmospheric backdrop. As the surface tapestry evaporates into a sparser sound with rainsticks, it then flows into an unbelievably musical drone that combines melodic beauty with a hint of something more surreal, its tension ebbing and flowing. Soon after the 20 minute mark, the drone is so quiet and subtle, akin territory to Modell / Mantra or A Produce / M Griffin, relaxing, undescribable sound manipulation. The disc continues to evolve through all kinds of various moods and levels, with a drone concept, and it is difficult to tell where it becomes “A Strip of Darkness” and “The Passage.” It is so rich and unique sounding, that words can only just tap the surface, the music itself portraying two artists reaching into the peaks of their careers. This title is an essential.

by Mike McLatchey, Published 2000-05-01

Both Vidna Obmana and Alio Die are masters of dark ambient drone music. Echo Passage, a reissue of their 1999 release on Musica Maxima Magnetica, is one long track roughly 68 minutes in duration that is actually three separate pieces (movements?): “Echoes of Light,” “A Slip of Darkness,” and “The Passage.” The CD does not have any indexing and the packaging does not provide any timing information. So the only way to tell which piece you are listening to is by the subtle changes in musical textures. Personally I find it irritating when artists release these musical marathons without an easy way of locating a particular passage. It forces you to listen to the CD in its entirety, rather than small doses. The music on Echo Passage is amorphous, expanding and contracting, seeking recognizable forms, but never quite making it. Resonant drones, loops, electronics, and heavily processed samples move slowly past one another building tension as you begin to perceive the underpinnings of its structure, only to have it gracefully released and redistributed in another dimension. This is soothing, relaxing music that does not scream for your attention. It provides the perfect background for unwinding at the end of a busy day.

by Henry Schneider, Published 2007-03-01

Filed under: Reissues, Issue 19, 2006 releases, 1999 recordings

Related artist(s): Dirk Serries / Vidna Obmana / Fear Falls Burning, Alio Die (Stefano Musso)

More info
http://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/echo-passage

 

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