Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Vidna Obmana — Soundtrack for the Aquarium
(Hypnos hyp2133, 2001, 2CD)

by Mike McLatchey, Published 2001-12-01

Soundtrack for the Aquarium Cover art

After a flurry of releases through 2000, it has been relatively quiet on the Vidna Obmana front, although the last couple of double-CD packages, inclusive of this one, have concentrated on the reissue of some of his out-of-print, early 90s albums. Vidna Obmana originally shared an album with fellow Belgians Hybryds entitled Music for Exhibiting Water with Contents - Soundtrack for the Aquarium, where part of the contents of this new CD originally appeared in digital format. The second CD of this package is a never-before released live performance of these compositions recorded in Germany 1993. This is Vidna Obmana at his most ambient. Keeping with the first CD's title (basically "Aqua" parts 1-6), the slow, drifting chords float resonantly and languidly along, backed by the occasional flute drone and rainsticks. The results are delightfully tranquil, with a very spacious, echoey feel, not really the typical sound that comes to mind when I think of watery sonics (Froese's Aqua and Robert Rich's "Seascape" from Drones for example), but effective nonetheless. The sounds are totally fleeting, shifting in an abstract manner that foreshadows some of his ambient collaborations with Steve Roach. The second CD is more of the same, unsurprisingly, and is so quiet, I must have checked my CD player several times during play to see if it had ended. At about 44 minutes, it is a perfect piece for an all-night repeat, so fleeting the whisps of sound barely intrude, creating a delicate ambience on the edge of consciousness. This is a set of lovely, static drones that will undoubtedly appeal to fans of the genre.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 23, 2001 releases

Related artist(s): Dirk Serries / Vidna Obmana / Fear Falls Burning

More info
http://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/soundtrack-for-the-aquarium

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.