Michael Stearns - Encounter (A Journey In The Key Of Space)

Hearts Of Space: 1988

It's not that Mr. Stearns is some unknown entity among the early ambient and modern classical composers. Chap had a well-regarded discography even before truly breaking out with his work on the visual documentary film Baraka. It's just that there were always other artists within his sphere that seemed to get more of the limelight. Your Kevin Brahenys. Your Steve Roachs. Even your Craig Huxleys, to a degree. Heck, despite providing the bulk of music for Baraka, folks almost entirely remember it for the inclusion of Dead Can Dance's The Host Of The Seraphim over any of Michael's particular works. I can't help knocking the sense that Mr. Stearns is always the bridesmaid, never the bride when it comes to those all-important namedrop sessions. Hell, it's taken me this long to get around to any of his albums!

It probably didn't help that for the first decade of his solo career, he was self-releasing his albums on his own Continuum Montage print. Difficult enough getting much press as an indie in the '80s, much less in the still ultra-niche scene of ambient music. Things finally took a turn when he signed with established label Hearts Of Space, from which he debuted with this little item of Encounter (A Journey In The Key Of Space). Now a wider audience could hear all the sonic richness his multi-instrument studio could bring!

Okay, pump the breaks a little there, Syk', we're still dealing with an '80s album. Though Michael gets some solid use out of synth pads, choir pads, and atonal drone, there are moments where the chintzy sounds associated with the decade appear too. On The Way – Space Caravan features spritely keyboards and flat percussion that can't help but sound way dated, while the woodwinds in Alien Shore – Starlight Bay come off quite out of place among all the sci-fi aesthetics. On the other hand, a repeated leitmotif of ominous, mysterious flutes as heard in Craft – Dimensional Release and Distant Thunder – Solitary Witness wonderfully latches onto your brain matter, convincing you you're listening to something of a narrative, Encounter a film score to a TV or Direct-To-VHS movie that never got made.

It such thematic consistency that gives Mr. Stearns a chance to go rather dark and droning in several places throughout this album. Seriously, the early portions of Craft's desolate halls, or the disquieting emptiness of Dimensional Shift – Across The Threshold that follows a cacophonous eruption of synths, all the sort of sonic tricks I'd expect out of a typical Cryo Chamber session.

Still, this is a Hearts Of Space release, so Encounter goes more Contact than Fire In The Sky with its alien explorations. Most pieces are content letting the tranquil beauty of outer space and higher consciousness sweep over you in that grey area where ambient ends and New Age begins. Just nice of Michael to remind us that getting there can be a bit of a scary excursion of sensory overload too.

Tierro Cosmico - Figments Of Wonder

Neotantra: 2022

Thus we conclude Ember Delays, Vol. 1 with another artist utterly unknown to Lord Discogs' tomes. Fortunately, Bandcamp has a smidge more info regarding them, an actual Bandcamp page not only including this album, but a new one released just this month as well (Botanical Mood). Talk about timing, eh? And yes, this is a very appropriate use of 'eh', in that Tierro Cosmico is a fellow Canadian – Toronto, in this case, but hey, Neotantra has proven nothing if not be a complete global presence. Best I can gather, a few of the tracks on this debut appeared on some tʌntrə compilations, and after letting Figments Of Wonder generate whatever buzz it could on Tierro Cosmico's own Bandcamp, was given the Neotantra bump later that year. Well, about as much of a bump appearing on an ultra-niche ambient techno label can give you these days.

We've heard a variety of ambient from the four other albums included in Ember Delays, but I can't say the same with the fifth. It has unique characteristics for sure, even if it's treading some similar territory as heard on Melancholic Gardens, Emotional Axes, and Geirþjófsfjörður, in this case ample use of field recordings and minimalist synth drones. What makes these elements stand out over the other offerings is how prominent the naturalist sounds are compared to the musical one. It mostly reminds me of Andrew Heath, though less abstract in construction, each piece played out in simple, similar fashion. And there are a lot of them, sixteen tracks total, each averaging between three to five minutes. Sweet, more music to enjoy, right? Eh, not so much, if I'm honest.

The issue isn't that what's presented is bad or trite or anything like that, each track perfectly pleasant little bite-sized morsels of tranquil ambience in a variety of coloured sprinkles. When they're this bite-sized, however, little has a chance to sink in, each piece drifting by like samplers before moving onto the next. Imagine being served numerous platters of appetizers, each small variations of similar taste, thus none really standing out from the others as part of a meal. Like, maybe I wanted to indulge in more of the New Age vibes of Somnium or Waxing Gibbous. Or the bell tones of Bardo Thodol or Dreaming Of Triptolemus. Or the layered drones of Easing Waters or La Nieve. Or the synthier explorations of Exodus or Leaving Aeterna. Or nighttime bliss of Hidden Harmony or La Nieve. Nope, once you're getting warmed up to any of these tracks, we're moving onto the next, each thematically consistent with the album's general tone, but stylistically different enough such that the previous piece is lost in your memory.

These nitpicks leaves Figments Of Wonder at the bottom of my hypothetical ranking of Ember Delays albums, but it's not like there's huge separation from the top. Each CD was enjoyable to some degree, just some more than others, a purely subjective conclusion based on what I like out of my ambient music.

Sacred Seeds - Migration

Neotantra: 2022

Sacred Seeds, then. He seems to exist between the extremes of my first two outings in this Ember Delays box-set. Not so prolific as D York, but not so unknown as Herne. Instead, he's built a tidy, respectable discography this past half-decade, even appearing on AstroPilot's label before landing on Neotantra. I suppose him being from India is something of a talking point, though not as much as some may think. Lots of musicians come from India [citation needed], a few even dabbling in music that would be considered 'Western' in style than anything local.

Or who knows, maybe Chennai has more European influences than I know of? My knowledge of that region of India is severely lacking – well, almost any region of India. I know about Goa, obviously, and West Bengal, and Punjab, and Mumbai and New Delhi, but mostly as points of interest, little of their ancient histories, much less their current ones. Most other places catch my eye entirely from how curious they appear to my anglophonic interpretation. Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Rajamahendravaram, Thiruvananthapuram, and Pune. All areas with interesting peoples and captivating cultures, I'm sure, just not ones I've spent time delving into, for obvious reasons. Still, given the fact Wasim Kozhikode does originate from that area thereabouts, it's surprising hearing absolutely no sounds or tonal scales associated with the Deccan Peninsula.

In fact, Migration has to be the most upbeat collection of ambient music in this collection of CDs. None of the melancholic reflection of Melancholic Gardens, or varied sound experiments of Emotional Axes, or the quiet contemplation of Geirþjófsfjörður. Instead, Migration opens with the gentle piano of Tinted Glass, sweeping synths soon emerging, followed by spritely arps and glistening bell tones. Upper astral beckoning, I wager. Follow-up Ambient Sequence 2 slows things down a little, but is no less chipper, while Delicate Leaves doesn't hold back on the twee feels. It's really gonna' be one of those albums, isn't it.

Well, Lunar Landscape allows for something a little more smooth and graceful, tranquility as enjoyed while stargazing and all that. Places Of Mind is similarly reflective, while closer Shapeless Clouds starts unassuming enough, though gradually builds into another heavenly climax. Not quite so overt as the titular track, mind you, that one's peak almost treading into garish levels of jaunty synth playing. Like Wasim is just so utterly happy seeing all these various animals passing by in mass exodus to climates more befitting for their habitual needs. Dang, even the Passing Moon looks like it has a big ol' goofy grin on its face as it bounces along the night sky.

Migration is a bit of an odd one for me. I don't necessarily dislike what I'm hearing – you'd have to be a hopelessly cynical grumpy-gus to not have some sort of smile listening to this. I guess I've just come to expect a different brand of ambient music from Neotantra, but hey, the label's proving nothing if not being remarkably diverse.

Lucette Bourdin - A View From Afar

Dark Duck Records/Fantasy Enhancing: 2012/2021

Thusly, we reach the end of Retrospective Box Set (2005 – 2017). Well, not quite the literal end, the remix album Glimpses Volume 1 the official last numerical CD of this twenty CD collection. Chronologically though, A View From Afar is darn close to the last item within Lucette's actual discography, this and Breath Of Grace released less than a month apart. And since it was released after her passing the year before, these pieces may very well have been the last she crafted before her battle with breast cancer was lost.

But nay, A View From Afar is the final album in alphabetical order (ignore those articles!), and as such, the final album in my twenty-month coverage of this box set. Holy cow, what a journey its been! Well, okay, maybe not, but it is weird to think I've been at this for nearly two years now. There's been flurries of activity (the Nordic Waves series), there's been relative droughts (the gap between Drum-atic Atmospheres and The Mystery Of The Midnight Sun), but by and large, we've progressed through this collection at about an album per month. Have we gained greater insight into one of ambient music's more unsung composers? Or simply plugged along thanks to OCD inertia? Who's to say, but I'd like to think I've come away from this journey hearing more quality music than not.

And how does this final outing with Ms. Bourdin stack up to the rest of her catalogue? 'Tis a'ight, touching closer to her New Age and modern classical side of things compared to her other ambient drone compositions. A tidy six tracker, three pieces breaching the fifteen minute mark, the others hovering around nine-minutes in length. Opener Rising Into Bliss has some mild synth rhythms pattering about in the background before settling into swaying synth pads. Procession Of The Lesser Lights opens with light percussion as well, but is quickly jettisoned for more standard synth noodling. Dream Dancing goes quite ethereal and gentle, while Cascading Waves is bright and shimmery, almost like listening to music glistening off crystals within a waterfall cavern. Rêverie is more moody, while the titular closer is more minimalist. Again, all relatively middle of the road when stacked against the other nineteen albums I've listened to.

Sadly, not a rousing, climatic finale of my coverage of Retrospective Box Set (2005 – 2017), but so it goes. Part of me feels like I should do some sort of Album Ranking, but is that really fair? It's not like I've covered every album Lucette put out, indeed the bulk of her Earth Mantra material still out there in the internet-ether. Maybe if they're consolidated into an additional collection, I'll get to those, but for now, I'm well sated on Ms. Bourdin. I'll definitely return to albums like Rising Fog and Silver Moon and Oceanic Space and Ancient Memories, with the occasional spin of the others down the line. It's been a heck of a trip, yo'.

Saphileaum - The Traveler

Silent Season: 2019

I've had Saphileaum's The Traveler for some time, bought among a bundle that included Beat Pharmacy's Safety In Dub, Mohlao's Landforms, and Wanderwelle's Lost In A Sea Of Trees. Items I reviewed two years ago now. Why, then, did I skip this one? Some weird quirk of my convoluted queuing system? Nay, 'tis a sillier reason: I simply forgot I had it.

As The Traveler is a digital-only release, I assume it got lost among all the other 'travel' albums in my folders (Travel The Galaxy, Traveler '03, Traveller, Travelling Without Moving... bonus points if you can I.D. what artists those are tied to!). Only now, during this run through the 'T's, did I realize I missed Saphileaum's EP. Oopsie on me, but that sometimes happens when I don't have a physical copy to confirm I actually bought something. And y'all wonder why I held off on the buying digital for so long.

Anyhow, Saphileaum. There's a lot of history behind this project of Andro Gogibedashvili, at least according to his Discoggian bio. More than I'm willing to divulge here, if I'm honest. Perhaps his biggest claim to fame (aside from being the grandson of one of Georgia's most popular singers, Temur Tsiklauri), is having a snippet of one of his tracks sent out into space, directed at a Neptune-like planet orbiting a red dwarf called K2-18. Huh, seems a bit random. Why not an Earth-like exoplanet, like Gliese 667Cc, or Trappist-1E, or Kepler-69C (nice). Guess the waiting list to transmit to those locations is a tad longer.

Anyhow, after spending some time floating about net-labels like Norite, Controlled Violence, and Oslated, Andro landed on Silent Season with a debut of The Traveler. And what an interesting debut it is, treading into sonic territory I've yet to hear the label venture into. Sure, opener Golden Tunic seems to follow upon similar, spacious dubby aesthetics so often heard throughout Silent Season's history, but there's something oh-so relaxing, calming, and soothing about these gentle synth pads and soft tribal rhythms. It's ambient dub, but for the New Age sect. Not that we haven't heard mystical-leaning music out of this print before, but almost always with a dub techno approach. Saphileaum shows almost no techno-fetishism in his songcraft, dub merely used to enhance the spacious vistas he creates. And boy howdy, does he create some deep spaces indeed.

That said, the tracks making up The Traveler do run a tad samey throughout. Establish a steady rhythm with a meditative melody and twilight field recordings, then subtly loop them for around six minutes each, throwing in a few rolling drum fills, layers of harmonic drone, and echo effects for flavour. It's all finely crafted, no doubt, but once you catch onto the Saphileaum stylee, you won't hear much deviation from it. Fortunately, The Traveler doesn't grow long in tooth either, wrapping up in a tidy seven tracks. A perfect length for a nice stroll through ancient forest paths.

Lucette Bourdin - A Thousand Voices

Dark Duck Records/Fantasy Enhancing: 2010/2021

How long have I been chipping away at this box-set? It doesn't feel like a 'forever thing' yet, but goodness, has it been an age since starting way back in ye' olde date of November 2021. My review of Ancient Memories may as well be ancient memories now, though it is nice things have kinda' ramped up to about a month-per-album rate. Barring any unforeseen happenstance or my gallivanting off on another month-long 'me time' excursion, I should have Retrospective Box Set (2005 – 2017) wrapped before the end of summer! Only thing that can stand in my way is another box-set with a silly alphabetical stipulation clogging up the queue, but what are the chances of that happening, eh? Haha, hah!

A Thousand Voices was the lone album Lucette released for Dark Duck Records in 2010, her time more spent with Earth Mantra that year. There wasn't any particular reason for that, just a fact of circumstance making some additional info I can burn a little more self-imposed word-count on. Look, when one's spent some 8,000+ words on an ambient artist's discography, the talking points run thin.

Seriously though, there is something a little more unique going on with this album compared to most others I've heard from Ms. Bourdin. While her choice in synth pads has remained consistent throughout, this one makes more use of voice synths and choir pads, bringing to fore the New Age aspects of her muse. Yeah, it's not that significant a difference, overall, but when stacked against Lucette's discography, it stands out. Just don't go expecting some artistically challenging conceptual art-house production. Like, if Tim Hecker released an album called A Thousand Voices, you bet your bottom dollar he'd literally use one thousand sampled and recorded voices in crafting an impenetrable wall-of-sound ambient drone opus lauded by music journalists who don't listen to much ambient in the first place as revolutionary. Or something. Nah, dawg, Lucette plays things simpler and direct, yo'.

As for what we get here, it's a straight-forward affair of ambient drone pieces. While the choir pads are heavily featured in a number of tracks, not every one contains them. Alien Prayer relies more on airy synths and a bit of sliding electric fuzz, I s'pose imparting a sci-fi feel to the piece. Strange Landscape has a subtle rhythmic bassline with delicate bell tones and acoustic guitar accompanying its synth leads, bridging that gap into the realms of ambient techno Lucette's flirted with on occasion. Closing track Once Upon A Time more heavily features piano over choir pads, lending the piece to modern classical opulence.

What really caught my eye (and ear, I guess), is In My Room, apparently a homage to The Beach Boys. I honestly have a hard time hearing whether this is a direct cover, what with it being over nine minutes long of choir pads. If it is more or less reinterpreting that classic little song's chord progression though, pretty darn cool, I say.

Alpha Wave Movement - Somnus

Harmonic Resonance Recordings: 2018

It's been a long while since I've talked up anything regarding Gregory Kyryluk, if for no better reason than he hasn't been on my radar much. The ambient scene is so utterly filled with prolific artists that many simply slip by the periphery of my attention, even with a few chance crossings over the years. My scene explorations only take me down a few specific roads, the natural paths made when stumbling upon producers and labels via Discogs links and Bandcamp suggestions. It's, like, scary, straying off the path you've made for yourself, lured in by the lights flickering elsewhere, drawing you away from the familiar.

As Alpha Wave Movement, I haven't happened upon Mr. Kyryluk's music, as he's mostly self-released material through his own Harmonic Resonance Recordings. He did offer a few albums to Anodize, a couple of which were under the guise of Within Reason. If that name sounds familiar, it's because it appeared on that gargantuan, elephantine Pete Namlook tribute box-set Die Welt Ist Klang. Yep, even though it's nearly a decade old now, I'm still name-dropping that release.

The most prominent release I've heard from Gregory, however, is one I actually have, Nomadic Impressions as Open Canvas on Waveform Records. If that's drawing a blank, don't worry, it's been even longer since I reviewed it. In fact, I wonder if Mr. Kyryluk is even aware I did? He never made mention of it when he approached me to review this item for him. So it goes sometimes. Oh, right, I've a review to do!

So Alpha Wave Movement. As mentioned, this is Gregory's most prolific alias, currently up to thirty albums in just as many years. With titles like Cosmology, A Distant Signal, Architexture Of Silence, and Yasumu, it's quite clear the more meditative, New Age side of ambient is his main foray, with some explorations of cosmic Berlin-School thrown in for good measure. Like, when you've released in the excess of thirty-plus albums over your career, there's plenty of opportunities to explore the various facets of a chosen genre.

With a title of Somnus, the intention is clear: music for relaxation, drifting synapses, and serenading songs sending you to slumberland. No, not the Waveform compilation Slumberland ...though these pieces could have easily fit snug on those too. As this is very calm, droning ambient music, there's little for me to actually detail, but hey, if I've gone this far with all those Lucette Bourdin albums, I'm sure there's something here too.

Sonaoran Silence features deep pads before gently morphing into flowing harmonies. Be Here Now goes more tranquil with gentle, spritely synths and babbling brooks. Bioelectric Traces brings a sense of angelic astral planing into focus. Transient Molecules and Patterns Of Fragility are more minimalist compared to the rest, while Ting-Sha, with its sparse bell tones and sustained drone, is mysterious and, dare I say, ominous. Oh dear, there had to be that one track bringing to mind night terrors, didn't there.

Lucette Bourdin - Soaring Above The Thunder

Fantasy Enhancing: 2005/2021

I was afraid this would happen. Really, it's my fault, what with my arbitrary alphabetical queuing of albums. If I approached things normally, in chronological order, I'd hear Ms. Bourdin's natural progression as a musician over time. Instead, I've jumped all over the place, and as such have heard her muse in various states of evolution. I'll admit her general tone and style seemed to be mostly formed early on, material on Oceanic Spaces and Raven's Dream sounding almost as good as pieces from Breath Of Grace and her Nordic Waves series. And hey, maybe that would also be the case when I finally got around to her actual first album, Soaring Above The Thunder. There was always this niggling suspicion, however, that it would be more typical of a 'first album' from an artist. A little amateurish and rough around the edges, said artist still in their feeling-out process despite confident enough to release something out into the wider world.

And, well, that's basically what I hear with Soaring Above The Thunder. It's not bad or anything, indeed still competently performed ambient music. It just doesn't sound like Lucette had really explored her synths yet, relying on whatever was already available in their sound libraries, then playing them in a functional manner. It's the sort of music I'd probably perform if I was just starting out too.

What stands out most to me is how punctual her synths sound, particularly on pieces like Prelude, Cloud Drones, Metallic Skies and Return. If there's any definitive style I could place upon Ms. Bourdin, it's her subtle layering of pads and drones, such that her music has a graceful flow among its harmonic elements. Obviously this wasn't always the case, but whenever she was at her best, that was the attribute that stood out the most. On Soaring Above The Thunder though, such attributes are noticeably absent, lending her synth work to more of an old school '80s vibe, when layering synth pads was in a more primitive state (if even achievable at all).

Still, a couple pieces hint at roads where Lucette would soon explore with greater results. Winds Across The Fields is almost pure minimalist drone, even if some of the 'wind effects' come off a little clunky. Despite also being comparatively jagged, Sundrops (Interlude) does offer a gentleness heard in many pieces of her discography. Elsewhere, the titular track and Showers brings some rhythmic elements to Ms. Bourdin's repertoire, showing she wasn't just an 'all ambient, all the time' artist right out the gate.

So yeah, a bit of a disappointment this one, but like I said, I've only my own expectations to blame. Had I started this Retrospective Box Set (2005 – 2017) from here, rather than jumping all over the place, I'd probably have a better first impression of it. Then again, what if I'd discovered Lucette somewhere around her Ancient Memories period regardless, digging into her back catalogue from there? Would impressions have been the same?

Lucette Bourdin - Raven's Dream

Fantasy Enhancing: 2006/2021

We're still in 'early works' era of Ms. Bourdin with this one, Raven's Dream her third released album. Almost immediately, my 'New Age' triggers are flaring, that title the sort of thing you'd expect to be accompanied with some Arizona Native chants or Peruvian pan-flutes. And raven caws, plenty of raven caws, echoing across Grand Canyon walls, invoking images of flaming red sunsets against desert skies. Okay, I'm mostly just detailing the original cover art Lucette painted for this album, but the point stands. Naturalistic settings of ancient times is a tried and true New Age concept, and while Ms. Bourdin's brand of ambient has generally kept things on this side of the Great Eno Divide, it wouldn't take much for things to switch into saccharine either.

Opener Raven's Heart certainly makes a case for this, um, being the case. The synths are rather flowy and melancholy, less the abstract sonic padding much of Lucette's ambient has offered me thus far. There's also a lightly echoing thud in the distance, putting quite the fine point on this being the sound of a beating heart. Again, not out-and-out New Age music, though adding some typical field recordings like crickets or babbling brooks would seal the deal.

Raven's Heart is quite short, only three and a half minutes, and we're off into more familiar Lucette Bourdin territory on follow-up Airborne. Synth pads that gently weave and caress your cochlea, letting your headspace just drift above, a bit of a subdued rhythmic pulse underneath lending the piece to the realms of dub. With fourteen minutes of sonic space to just let the track play as needed, yeah, this is the vibe I've come to appreciate most from Ms. Bourdin.

Then River Song snaps us back to New Age territory, with overt, bright synths, piano and... oh, yep there it is, the field recordings I suspected would be heard. I mean, it's still a pleasant little number, just quite obvious in its presentation is all. Still, no word from the titular raven. I'm kinda' surprised we haven't heard a single caw yet.

The last two tracks are of the twenty minute-plus variety, the final one getting quite close to the thirty minute mark (still not Lucette's longest track though). Forest Lullaby does feature crickets, though the sound seems manipulated, sampled, digitized, and coerced into a steady rhythm of its own. The rest is mostly synth ambience played in a rather loose, free style, more about melodic journey than sonic wallpaper. Oh, and some random bird chatter too, but still no raven caw. Dammit, when are we gonna' hear a raven caw?

Two minutes into that last track, for the record - as it's also the titular track, I sure hope so! All kidding aside, this is another lovely, if lengthy, slice of gentle ambient music, the raven only making a sporadic cameo. Good thing too, because my Gods, have you heard how their ornery cousins, the crows, go on? I sure have.

Lucette Bourdin - Oceanic Space

Dark Duck Recordings/Fantasy Enhancing: 2006/2021

We're not quite done with Ms. Bourdin just yet. I mean, obviously not, since I'm only half-way through a twenty CD box-set, but in this recent clutch of reviews, she's taken up quite the bundle of them, the sixth out of the last ten. Fret not, folks, for this will be it for a while now, at least until we hit the 'R's ...I think. To be honest, I keep forgetting just how many there are. Seems every time I figure there's a gap, *boop*, suddenly, another Lucette album.

That certainly happened here, Oceanic Space. To be fair, it is something of a 'blink and you'll miss it' outing. There's only three tracks, making it Ms. Bourdin's shortest album in that regard. However, they're lo-o-ong tracks, Space taking up over twenty-five minutes of your time, and Ocean a whopping twenty-eight and a half minutes. Opener The Beginning, by comparison, runs a 'brisk' nine minutes, and believe me, does it breeze on by. How weird that our sense of passing time can do that, eh?

But hey, just because some ambient music pushes the half-hour mark doesn't mean nothing happens. Plenty of sonic twists and turns can occur in such an excursion, right? Sure, if that's the sort of ambient you're composing for said piece. As should be abundantly clear by now though, Lucette generally engages with the more meditative, droning sort of ambient. And while I've heard her take some interesting paths in such lengthy compositions, those have mostly come from later albums, wherein she's had time to hone her musical craft. According to the order of which these CDs come in her retrospective box-set, Oceanic Space is her second LP, and, well, you can kinda' hear it too.

The Beginning is a nice enough opener, spacey synths gliding along sine waves in such a manner that treads the line between classic ambient and New Age music. There definitely is a bit of the ol' Fax+ vibe to this one, so maybe that association germinated with fans of Namlook's label started much earlier than I suspected. And again, I'm surprised that, despite its nine-minute run-time, it seemingly plays out in quick fashion. Maybe my brain just wanted it to go on for longer. The fade-out certainly hints at something more on the horizon, subtly tugged away just as you're getting warmed to it.

Space gently sets off with tranquil pad work, gradually layering more tones as the piece progresses. Once the elements are all in play, however, it doesn't really go anywhere, Lucette content in letting things play out as her muse sees fit. Again-again, this would be fine for a shorter piece – say, a dozen minutes or so – but at nearly half an hour, tends to slip into background noodling for its own sake. Same goes for Ocean, an even subtler piece in its use in harmonic tones. It's fine for ambient of this nature, but doesn't do much to stand out from an overcrowded field either.

Specta Ciera - Last Light

Neotantra: 2020

There's no logical reason I should feel surprised at seeing a Specta Ciera album on Neotantra. It's not like Devin Underwood has kept his project exclusive to any particular label. Indeed, he's shopped it around many over the past decade (Earth Mantra, Flaming Pines, Energostatic Records, Distance Recordings, basic_sounds). In more recent years, he has appeared on what I consider the more 'elite' ambient techno labels out there (Carpe Sonum Records, Databloem, Fantasy Enhancing), so it only makes sense that he'd get a crack at Neotantra too.

Yet I still can't shake the notion of Specta Ciera being a dataObscura exclusive. He's released three album there, two of which were collaborations with dataObscura head Anthony Kerby (The Circular Ruins, Nunc Stans). That does leave an impression of an artist a bit loyal to a specific print. Then again, if Neotantra really is the label where artists go to truly get their creative indulgences on, I'm sure Mr. Underwood could leap at the chance at contributing to its catalogue, especially after working as a collaborator for so many years prior (also including Arbee, and Jacob Newman as Gapfield... *whew*, has this ever been a name-drop session).

Unlike some (okay, many) Neotantra albums I've covered, Last Light does appear to have a specific theme in mind. Track titles impart a chronology of deep space exploration, leaving whatever orbit the listener was stationed at before eventually succumbing to the cryo sleep required of interstellar, time-dilating, sanity-sapping cosmic travel.

Despite the name, opener Escape Velocity isn't some high-octane space synth adventure (because obviously ...and Dynatron already did that anyway), but rather a gentle trip of treated string samples and harmonic tones. Follow-ups Soft Glow and LED Circuits paints more of a portrait of life on this starship, chipper synths and twinkling melodies creating quite the atmosphere of charm and whimsy. Wait, did we suddenly turn into a children's movie, with cute muppets on board? Rather reminds me of Hearts Of Space's more upbeat moments.

While the fanciful vibe does maintain throughout Last Light, there is a sense of slowdown as the album carries on. Tracks tend to grow more minimalist as things progress, some pieces even inching just a bit into ominous and mysterious (Time Bending, Memory Freeze). Nothing grows discordant though, Devin mostly keeping things on that whimsical bent. Heck, final track Slumber practically loops back around to the chippiness of Soft Glow. Given the amount of dark ambient that suggests the 'cryo sleep' as some terrifying experience losing one's sense of self, this one instead has me imagining the sleeping crew cuddled snug in their chambers wearing a night cap, a GLO Friend hugged tightly in arms.

I cannot deny it's rather refreshing hearing an ambient album so unapologetically buoyant and jaunty, but it does leave Last Light a somewhat wafer-thin experience for me. Maybe that's more a reflection on my general tastes though, typically preferring deep, introspective drones and the like.

Rudy Adrian - The Healing Lake

White Cloud: 2000

It's wonderful that so many CDs are available on the Discogs marketplace, but shipping costs have grown exceedingly brutal in recent years. It's gotten to the point where even if you want only one item from a seller, you kinda' feel obligated getting more just to make the postal fees worth the purchase. Which is fine and dandy if said seller has a robust selection to choose from, but that's not always the case. Yes, in one of the quirkier aspects of music collecting, not everyone's tastes line up one-to-one. In fact, there may be only a singular artist where common ground is met, interests radically diverging from that point on.

So it seemed with this particular seller. I wanted a Neotantra CD off him, but browsing the rest of his catalogue, didn't see much else that triggered my curiosity. Some other ambient releases from the likes of Oöphoi, Popol Vuh, and Ishq. Prog rock options like King Crimson, Mastadon, and, uh, Van Der Graaf Generator. Some other stuff with titles like At The Speed Of Light Or Day, Double Nickels On The Dime, and Evolution Of JazzRaptor. Again, potentially all stuff I may vibe on, but I wasn't feeling particularly adventurous on this purchase. I still had to select something so those dastardly shipping fees were less painful though, so I rounded out the order with my usual fall-back when I'm indecisive: go with the cover art with the most blue on it. And this, my friends, was the bluest bit of cover-art by far.

Sorry for blasting through half a review going on about this, but unfortunately, I don't have much to say about Rudy Adrian. The New Zealander seems like a nice enough chap, and has maintained a tidy career these past two decades. His brand of ambient music tends to drift closer to the realms of New Age meditation music though, which unfortunately gets lost among the many, many artists who compose the stuff, often sitting lonesomely in shops selling crystals and herbal remedies to modern mystics. To say nothing of not being considered 'serious music approved by music critics', beyond the occasional thrown bone of a “New Age music is not all bad, actually” article. Existing for half a century, and still can't get any respect.

And while I'd love for The Healing Lake to have somehow been an undiscovered gem transcending its genre, no, it's about what you'd expect of this stuff. Released earlier in Rudy's career, it has all the hallmarks of ambient music perfectly suited for deep meditation or massage therapy. There is some progression as pieces play out, but can just as easily fade into the background of whatever activity you're doing as it plays. Steady synth tones and drones mostly dominate, with sporadic sprinklings of woodwinds and spritely electronics, invoking moods mysterious and calming. It's the perfect soundtrack for losing oneself in the stillness of remote naturalistic settings, preferably some lost mountain lake as the sun rises over the surrounding canopy.

Enya - The Celts

Atlantic/WEA: 1986/1992

The only Enya album I've cared to have, even when I was kinda'-sorta' a fan for a brief time. You know that period, when a parent's musical influence overides everything, before branching out into your own interests. Yet while most of Ms. Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin's music wasn't quite to my taste, there's something about her debut album that remains captivating to my ears, a simplicity to the compositions that was lost when future hit songs like Orinoco Flow afforded her grander studio arrangements. Yes, this is totally me saying I prefer Enya when she was underground.

Thing is, she practically did start from the ground up. After a brief stint with traditionalist Irish folk outfit Clannad, she joined up with producer Nicky Ryan for a shot at a solo career, working in a studio built from scratch and very few prospects. Mostly sticking to classical music and Irish folk, they contributed a few tunes to local projects, developing a rather unique style heavily reliant on synths and multi-tracking reverb on her voice, making it more of a choir. About the only comparable artist around at the time was Constance Demby, which undoubtedly played a huge part in Enya getting lumped into the New Age market.

Among these contributions was a piece called March Of The Celts, a moody little number offered to a BBC documentary about the Celts. So impressed were they by it that they commissioned her to score the whole series, the result of which being this here debut album. Well, initially self-titled debut, released to little fanfare, but soon highly sought after with the successes of Watermark and Shepherd Moons, prompting a spiffy re-issue. Aww, but why lose the original bad-ass cover art of Enya posing with wolves?

It's tunes like March Of The Celts that brings me back to Enya's debut. Yeah, the titular opener is more what you'd expect of an Enya piece, a bit bouncy and chipper. Gosh though, there's something captivating about those swelling, ethereal voices and cold synth tones. Then you get to minimalist pieces like Deireadh An Truath, Triad, Dan Y Dwr, and especially Boadicea, and it feels like you're transported to a whole different realm. A gothic-Celtic realm? Despite the nods to traditional music of the ancient tribes, not really, no. The synths strip out any vestige of proper folk, even on tracks like Bard Dance and Fairytale. When tracks do feature normal instruments - various piano pieces, Uilleann pipes in The Sun In The Stream (James Horner undoubtedly noticed) – there's still that icy '80s synth sheen to it all. And I adore it all the more for it!

In many ways, Enya's debut reminds me of Kitaro's work for the Silk Road series. Hired to make music for a documentary, traditionalist works crafted with ancient synth technology, couldn't be replicated even if tried. And, of course, both became giants of a New Age market, even if it wasn't their intent.

Airwaves - Biomechanical

Carpe Sonum Records: 2018

The spiritual successor to Fax+ has been on a heck of a run these past few years, such that I grow ever more flustered with each passing newsletter of their releases. It's sadly been nearly two years since I've picked anything up from them, and it's not for a lack of interest, believe you me (so many 'blue covers'... just, so many...). They've simply grown more than I'm sure anyone could have predicted, but since their run of CDs aren't as limited as similar labels go, there's a sense of biding time with Carpe Sonum. Dabble here and there, particularly with artists you're not always familiar with but features striking cover art. Ah, this Biomechanical looks intriguingly unique, why not that?

Thing with Carpe Sonum is I generally have a good inkling of what I'm going to get with them, typically ambient and ambient techno with a '90s feel for it. Imagine my surprise, then, when listening to this CD for the first time, it went ultra-retro, all the way back to the '70s! Not that I hadn't heard such stylistic dalliances from the label before, and honestly, it's not like ambient as a genre is so specific to decades as other electronic music is. Still, you can just tell when some pieces have influence from earlier eras than others. It's all in the gear used, m'man, and the chap behind Airwaves, he was a connoisseur of vintage gear indeed.

Right, Airwaves, or Oscar Menzel, as inscribed on his obituary. He passed away earlier the previous decade, but left quite the impact upon the Mexican ambient scene, in that anyone was even aware it existed at all. He released two albums as Airwaves way back when, which naturally are super-rare. Additionally, they were on Opción Sónica, an L.A. based, Mexican-focused outlet that didn't last into the new millennium, specializing the harder side of rock and EBM, placing Airwaves well outside the label's usual fare. Basically all odds dictated Airwaves should have been hopelessly buried in obscurity, yet some folks did discover him. Then his music generated enough positive buzz that Carpe Sonum somehow unearthed more unreleased material from the Menzel estate, two album's worth, in fact (as I was gathering pre-notes for Biomechanical, Carpe Sonum released Multiverse... I did not plan this!). I feel like this chain of events could only have happened in the modern era, what with archival websites like Discogs letting super-diggers know of Mexican ambient composers releasing music on '90s industrial labels and all.

I also feel kind of bad in thinking the story behind Airwaves is more interesting than the music on Biomechanical. It's decent enough as an assortment of pieces feeding off that vintage Tangerine Dream vibe, with a lean towards the New Age side of things. Aside from a couple tracks that sounds like it should be in a direct-to-VHS horror movie, it's all rather pleasant and nice stuff. The adherence to vintage gear does give it all a dated feel though, even with a spiffy modern mastering job.

Harlequins Enigma - Brooding Brains In Vain

self released: 2019

(a Patreon Request from Åge Riisnes)

I don't dig very far into the realm of New Age music, almost entirely due to my early explorations of the genre didn't impress me much. Sure, you had the Kitaros and the Vangeliseses of the scene, but such artists have expansive works crossing multiple genres throughout their careers. No, I'm talking the 'real' stuff, which you'd find on lonesome tapes in spiritual healing shops on a counter beside faith crystals and aromatherapy tinctures. Very under-produced, is what I'm getting at, and while one could admire the punkish hustle in getting such music out on the market, my ears simply weren't having it, needing something a little more polished (dubby?) to do the business for me.

What's kinda' remarkable about such early, primitive music efforts in New Age is how even that found itself something of a retro revival, right down its aesthetic and means of distribution. Yeah, that whole vaporwave thing, but I'm talkin' digital store fronts and streaming services opening the floodgates for every manner of hopeful producer gaining wider audiences.

Still, just putting your stuff out on the internet and expecting results is ludicrous without some hustle. If your chosen music scene is as long and storied as New Age, it's gonna' take a fair amount of hustle to get noticed in an overstuffed market. And this here Harlequins Enigma sure has been on a hustling spree this past decade, getting his music out on streaming services while working whatever connections he has in the music business to get some top-tier collaborations underneath his belt, all the while remaining completely independent. I'm talkin' Vangelis, Kitaro, Schulze, Jarre, Mode, 'Werk, Amos! At least, that's what a number of Discoggian credits say. I don't know the extent of how these collaborations went down.

Oh, I guess I should also mention Harlequins Enigma's hustle has even gone to such lengths as to pay me Patreon money for a review. Wasn't that known as 'payola', back in the day? Only if I had nothing but insincere praise for the music, and y'all know I'd never do that, right?

Brooding Brains In Vain is a compilation of older Harlequins Enigma music, mostly cribbing music from such albums like Lyra, Heartbeat, Stargazer, and Octagon Volume 1 – Phase 7. Some of it's serviceable New Age music done in an old-school way (oh man, can I tell whenever Kitaro's muse is about), some of it sounds like it could have used more time in the mixdown process, and some of it left me scratching my head (are those... brostep belches in The Tattering Norm?).

What really threw me for a loop, though, was the track sequencing. For some reason, Åge put everything into alphabetical order, creating more than a couple wonky transitions between tracks. I at first thought I'd somehow downloaded the album incorrectly, but nope, it's like that on the Bandcamp page too. What sort of silly goose makes a track sequence in alphabetical order?

Crystal Moon - Temple

Kinetix/...txt: 1997/2018

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised by a release like this on ...txt. I mean, Ishq has released tons of material on the label, and that dude's flirted with the realms of New Age for as long as he's been making music. Still, for a print that's more known for the trendier, critically-approved ambient techno side of things, I remain mildly flumoxed by releases like this. That didn't keep me from nabbing a copy sight-unheard though, because dang, is that ever a lovely spot of cover art.

Thus, imagine my surprise when I finally checked out the details behind Crystal Moon, revealing it to be the tenth-dozen side-project of one Jake Stephenson. You might remember me name-dropping him with regards to such acts like Shamanoic Tribes On Acid, Mekhala, Alien Mutation, Dr. Psychedelic, Psychoheads, The Pots Heads, Super Skunk, Ganja Beats, and White Star. All those names appeared on just two compilations! So, not only has one of psy-trance's busiest bodies of the '90s revealed yet another alias I was unaware of (really, who could keep up?), but is now also featured with a reissue on ...txt? Oh yeah, Temple originally came out way back in 1997, which was consolidation into a 4CD collection called The Dawn Of A New Age released by Jumpin' & Pumpin' (yeah, FSOL's old homestead). That one isn't all Jake Stephenson, though it wouldn't have surprised me if it was. And how Lee Norris not only came into contact with this particular release, but saw fit to give it a spiffy CD reissue, it, well, as I said, gives the ol' noggin' a case of the mild flumoxing.

Actually, the connection was made incredibly clear when I noticed Matt Hillier was also part of Crystal Moon. You probably know him by his most productive alias of Ishq, but this was before he adopted the moniker. Yes, like Jake, Matt spent a chunk of the late '90s churning out psy-trance under multiple aliases, even getting a spot on one of those middling Psychedelic Flashbacks 4CD compilations from Rumour Records. Early trials, folks.

Temple is about as you'd expect from a pair of psy-trance chaps making ambient-leaning New Age music. It's just trippy enough such that it doesn't come off as schmaltzy as New Age so often can, but doesn't go so deep into the psychedelic hole that it would chase away all the hippie grandmothers looking for a little extra backing music to their meditation sessions.

Oh, does it ever flirt close to crossing that threshold though – there's more than enough samples of running water, twinkling bells, chirping birds, woodwinds, and all the like. Anytime it feels like we're about to go there though, the production gets a little twisted, a little dubbier, more abstract in the true sense of ambient. It's a delicate balance, but Jake and Matt walk that tightrope ever so skillfully. 'Tis not an easy one to traverse with intent, my friends.

Dr. Atmo - Quiet Life

...txt: 2014

It's astounding that it's taken this long for me to get an album from Dr. Atmo. Chap was instrumental in luring me into the wider world of underground ambient music, first coming across him on the Ambient Auras compilation. Shortly after that, I picked up the Stud!o K7 VHS tape 3Lux-3, of which Dr. Atmo compiled, completing my early ambient indoctrination. You'd think I'd eagerly rush out and grab anything else I saw his name on, but Amir Abadi never made it that simple. He was first and foremost a DJ, often sharing chill-room space with the likes of Mixmaster Morris and Dr. Alex Patterson (what's with the DJing ambient doctors?).

And when he did get behind the producer's console, it was often with others, running through a number of collaborative aliases in the process. Most famous of those was as Silence (and Escape) with Pete Namlook, but also included Oliver Lieb (Java and Music To Films), David Moufang (I.F.), Ramin Naghachian (Sad World), plus many, many more. Of course, since most of these works came out on Fax +49-69/450464, they're all hopelessly obscure, hardly the sort of items a Western Canadian had much chance of stumbling upon.

Dr. Atmo had apparently retreated from productions after the turn of the century, but an unmentionable label managed to drag him back in 2013 with Miss Silencio for a new album called Hush! I'm not sure how that one sounds, since almost all streaming options for it have been scrubbed from the internet. Fortunately, Lee Norris lured Mr. Abadi to his ...txt print for another musical outing, Quiet Life. Ah, sweet, I bet this is gonna' be some ultra-blissy chill-out material, or some melancholic mood music straight from the good ol' archives of Fax+'s golden years.

Nah, brah, Dr. Atmo's laying out them sweet New Age licks on yo' ears, brah. Wait, what? Opener Sunshine And The Sea is pure night-time tranquility, as though you're listening to a harpist gently pluck her strings beside a peaceful pond; y'know, straight up New Age schmaltz. Following that, we have a literal lullaby in Find Your Home, with one Nuwella Love softly guiding your straying thoughts to a light toy-box melody. I cannot deny it does impart childlike whimsy, the sort of trusting surrender one can only feel as a wee babe' with their loving mother cuddling you into a sense of ease. Takes a fair bit of dismantling of one's ego getting there though.

The rest of Quiet Life plays out more as I expected from a Dr. Atmo album (well, about as much as I could have expected given my limited exposure to his productions). Soft ambient techno, some tunes with a dubbier rudder in the rhythm sections (Road), others further treading into the New Age realms (Hang Garden, Subak), plus a good ol' collab' with fellow chill-room DJ alum Mixmaster Morris (Secret Of Mother). Yay, bouncy-happy trippy-dippy musics! What's he been up to, anyway? Ooh, a new Irresistible Force album, I see...

Tuu - All Our Ancestors

Beyond/Waveform Records: 1994/1995

It's a strange thing, Tuu appearing on an 'ambient dub' label and all. Wouldn't they have made better sense on a New Age print? Perhaps, but the trio always floated around different musical circles than kooky mystic crystal worshippers. Their first album came out on the German print SDV Tonträger, more known for industrial sound experiments from the likes of Konrad Kraft and Jesus Drum. Meanwhile, knowing he'd have to do some serious hustle to get their band any sort of exposure, Martin Franklin would hawk Tuu's CDs and tapes in whatever stores would take them.

In the UK, that usually meant the underground joints where hardcore rave records were found aplenty. As luck/chance/fate would have it, Mr. Franklin ran into a label promoter in one such shop, where they shot the shit about what was what in the burgeoning chill-out scene flourishing in British afterhours venues. Just so happened that promoter was Mike Barnett, responsible for the seminal Beyond print, who already had a string of successful releases via the original Ambient Dub series. Sensing Tuu's style could add to Beyond's already broad downtempo pallete, they were brought on for a second album, All Our Ancestors. Then Waveform Records made it their second artist album release (after HIA's Colourform), and fourth overall. Man, talk about taking a gamble. Like, Tuu were well respected and all, but not exactly an act to sell a fledgling label with. Ah well, Loop Guru's Duniya was just around the corner anyway.

If you've forgotten exactly what Tuu sounds like (understandable, as I've only reviewed One Thousand Years many moons ago), they're a trio consisting of tribal drumming (bowls, pots), a single woodwind (typically flute), and some synthy pads and treatments. It's all very minimalist and haunting, as though you're listening to ritualistic meditative music from primitive cultures long since passed. All Our Ancestors doesn't do much to shake the formula, though when dealing with such a simple formula to start with, not much shaking can be done regardless. Compared to One Thousand Years, this album does see a little more involved songcraft, less about the lengthy hypnotic journeys compared to their debut.

Oddly, I find their music less engaging as a result. For sure all the familiar sounds and vibes are in All Our Ancestors, but the greater attention to musicianship doesn't draw me into the same hypnotic trance as compositions like Body Of Light and Pan America do. Those works, they instantly lodged in my headspace, and have remained there ever since. I sadly can't say the same for tracks like House Of The Waters or Rainfall here. My brain tells me these are technically better crafted pieces of music, with more intuitive sounds utilized. There's just something irresistible about the simplicity of their older works though. It's like, as a method of music that celebrates the most primitive of humanity's sonic artistry, it truly excels in its most uncomplicated form. And really, hasn't that always been ambient music at its best?

Euphoria - 2 Days Away

Bipolar Music: 1994

Sticking with the ultra-obscure material, we are. Not as obscure as a 'proper' attempt at a DJ mix CD from yours truly, but I'm apparently the only dude on Discogs who has a copy. Except for 'tripleaardvark', who uploaded the album to the Lord's archives, and is looking to offload it for forty bones. That's thirty-one Liberty Dollars, or twenty-two pounds of Sterling – a surprising amount of money, is what I'm saying, for something I'm sure almost no one outside the Vancouver district has heard of. Hell, I only got it as part of another person's CD collection, and when you agree to take one CD of theirs, you agree to take them all. That is the Rule, right?

I'm not sure how this person ended up with such an album to begin with – friend of a friend of a family member, perhaps? Euphoria (the thirty-eighth iteration of the handle according to Lord Discogs) is comprised of Andrew Duncan and Greg Kisser. Mr. Kisser has gone on to be a CBC TV director, while on the side playing out classic bar rock in the band Curds & Whey. Couldn't find much regarding Mr. Duncan though, Google revealing a few Vancouverites with such a name, a couple with obituaries.

Whatever the case, this 2 Days Away album doesn't seem to have much to do with where these musicians ended up, save the same level of instrument skill they brought to whatever project they've done (I'm assuming it's more than this). Despite Mr. Kisser's current rock contributions, this is absolutely not a rock album. If the cover art had you thinking New Age, you're on the right path, though it's not quite in that scene either. Aside from a few songs, most of these tracks have that late-'80s to early-'90s soft jazz, muzak sheen to it. The hall-effect drum kits, the ultra-crisp piano and guitar tones, the flat production that has you feeling like you're listening to jingles while being put on hold from overseas call centres. Certainly this isn't the fault of Misters Kisser and Duncan, as the studio they made this album in - Dynamic Sound Production, according to the liner notes – apparently specialized in exactly that!

Aside from vaporwave sorts looking for more sounds to plunder, I can't see many folks getting down to Euphoria's 2 Days Away. Still, there are a couple notable tunes on here in how they at least attempt something more than soft jangle muzak. The titular cut is comparatively ambitious with chill Balearic vibes, ethnic chants, and samples of folks anticipating events two days away (new job, retirement, DISNEYLAND!). Memories is a pleasant enough piece of piano ambient with subtle pads, rainfall, and sounds of someone struggling at the writer's desk. Boardwalk is just sounds of folks playing a board game, while Chance And Thyme gets funky with its beatcraft. Well, about as funky as you'd expect from two Vancouver guys making muzak destined for late-late night weather reports.

Enigma - Voyageur

Virgin: 2003

I can't say Enigma fell off after this album, Michael Cretu having released three additional albums since, including one this past winter after an eight year absence. And while hard sales are no where near what was enjoyed at the start of this project, he's retained enough of a dedicated following that his streaming figures remain respectable (so sayeth The Spotify).

Yet ask casual electronic music followers these days what they think of those albums, and they'll answer you with “Who's Enigma?” Then you'll try to educate them on albums like MCMXC a.D., and singles like Return To Innocence, and maybe they'll mention hearing their moms play those when they were kids, to which you'll realize you're getting just so very old and want to retreat to comforting sounds. Like the familiar, seductive, soothing refrains of classic Enigma, yeah, that'll do the trick, and by the by, have they released anything new lately? Ooh, here's some stuff on Spotify, may as well check that out.

Not that I blame folks for figuring Engima's time had passed. By the fourth album, The Screen Behind The Mirror, it felt as though Mr. Cretu was stuck recycling old habits; at least even he recognized the sound had grown stale. Following a greatest hits package proclaiming closure on the first chapter of Enigma's story, he came out with this album, Voyageur, a stated deliberate change in direction and song-writing. What that was supposed to lead to remains anyone's guess.

Rather, the main talking points surrounding Voyageur almost always bring up what it lacks compared to Enigma of old. No more ethnic chants and Gregorian sampling, gone are the vintage woodwinds that always immediately identified a Michael Cretu production. Both “Curly” M.C. and his wife still provide a few vocals, but more vocalists have been added to the table too. In fact, this is the 'poppiest' Enigma's ever sounded, songs short, concise, and radio-ready should any of them catch on. Only two did, the titular cut and Boum-Boum, both dancier options. Not so dancey as Look Of Today though, with one of the catchiest hooks I've ever heard in the Enigma canon (and well it should, being an interpolation of ABC's The Look Of Love).

Elsewhere, Incognito gets rockier, Page Of Cups aims for a little chill-out compilation action (it failed), and tracks like Weightless and The Piano dip closer to the New Age side of Cretu's muse. Meanwhile, In The Shadow, In The Light and closer Follow The Sun shoot for the emotional, spiritual feels, and I can't say I'm getting the feels from them like other Enigma tunes. There's something lacking, the same strident confidence you'd hear from Cretu's production no matter how overblown the music could get. Maybe its the result of trying something different, a feeling-out process after so many years relying on familiar songcraft. And Voyageur is fine enough on that regard, but that's about the only lasting impression this album ever generated. Ain't no one humming Boum-Boum, even then.