Mstation.org



Mstation Classical Reviews


Valid RSS pre Dec 04 reviews are here

Mon, 29 Aug 2005

Chanticleer, Sound in Spirit

LP, Warners

Some people will gasp in admiration at these vocal ululations based on the idea of ancient chants and others will gasp in other ways. The idea is that the ancients knew a thing or two about making and sustaining moods and even states of health by the use of vocal music. The idea is also that we know a bit more and these "experimental" pieces seek to take you to a land of meditative well-being.

Perhaps. The first thing I found was that with quite a large dynamic range and some very quiet passages, I was continually having to reset the volume. Obviously the producers made the heroic assumption that their work would be listened to in quiet places. In any case continual volume resetting did not engender a zen state or any other state approaching calmness.

What it really is, is a series of vocal soundscapes that are actually quite well executed. If that is your thing, you should check it out. (Count K)

[] permanent link