Showing posts with label SynthAndSequences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SynthAndSequences. Show all posts
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Synth&Sequences: SENSITIVE CHAOS: Amerisynthecana (2013)
Synth&Sequences: SENSITIVE CHAOS: Amerisynthecana (2013): “Amerisynthecana is a very beautiful album in which one becomes accustomed so easily that we try to understand how we already have reached i...
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Synth&Sequences reviews 'Remembering Chestnuts, Icy Cold, and Bells''
Sylvain Lupari, Synth&Sequences, October 4, 2011:
As much strange as charming, Remembering Chestnuts, Icy Cold, and Bells from Sensitive Chaos is a hallucinating journey into the wonderful and musical world of glockenspiels. A journey which goes straight in the heart of our childhood memories, during Christmas Eves and Holidays family reunions, and which enchants with its wintry tones. It’s an ode to winter, to its ice-cold pleasures and its nostalgic souvenirs that Jim Combs's last opus wakes. Through its carillons and its ringings as joyful as melancholic, Remembering Chestnuts, Icy Cold, and Bells wraps with a veil of prisms forgotten souvenirs of our early childhood. Built on a big variety of bells which ring and resound on rhythms and atmospheres to the antipodes of their essences, Remembering Chestnuts, Icy Cold, and Bells is a brilliant opus to the measure of the ingenuity of this musician without borders, nor labels.
The title track is glittering of luminosity. On a delicate synth line which hides discreet choirs "Remembering Chestnuts, Icy Cold, and Bells" wakes up with soft ringings of carillons which radiate on a delicate hypnotic rhythm. On a rhythm moulded by fine percussions, the crystalline arpeggios swirl in a wintry breeze to form a strange iridescent ballet where bells ring and flutter among curt chords of a cackling synth and a suave ethereal choir.
"Ceiliúradh Mhór" is a wonderful ballad of glass which spins among a union of percussions and keyboard keys to forge a very beautiful and catchy childish melody. The synth blows a beautiful bewitching tune to this splendid carousel to jingles of prisms which is cute and delicate as everything!
"Winter Winds across the Heartland" is a good ambient track where layers of a shrill synth interlace in a stunning sensibility. A nice cheerful track, "Spirit of the Season" offers a more punctuated rhythm.The percussions hammer a muffled but lively rhythm, while the carillons swirl all around this rhythmic structure which inevitably makes stomped.
Dancing on a discreet line with a tone of organ and percussions a bit like the Amerindian tribal kind, "Carillon et Champagne" soaks in a mixture of nostalgia and melancholy. On a slightly circular rhythm, the carillons draw an astonishing melody with glockenspiels’ strikings which twirl vaporously while following an ascending curve as in a mesmerizing ballet danced in weightlessness. Hypnotic, because of the color and tone of glockenspiels, "Carillon et Champagne" turns and turns in a stunning musical dizziness where tones of prism shape an odd melody.
Delicate keyboard keys skip on a synth line at the opening of "Remembering Chestnuts, Icy Cold, and Bells (Prologue)". These furtive keys are effacing in the ascension of a synth line which makes tip over the track in an ethereal ambiance, surrounded by other powerful synth lines. An ambient track with filiform synth lines which sway in fine oscillations, "Remembering Chestnuts, Icy Cold, and Bells (Prologue)" is the only title of this last opus of Sensitive Chaos at not to use carillons.
After a reprise of the opening track, where carillons ring with more velocity, Remembering Chestnuts, Icy Cold, and Bells ends with a track as cheerful as "Spirit of the Season".
Initially on the first album of Sensitive plant Chaos; Leak released in 2006, "Nightshift at the Baby Mecha Nursery (Remastered)" is a lively track, livened up by nice arpeggios which spin on a rhythmic structure supported by sober percussions.
On a structure always so crystal clear as we find everywhere on this Jim Combs's last opus, the rhythm is encircled by delicate shimmering arpeggios which turn in a minimalist way, increasing even more the glockenspiels which float of a beautiful circular movement on a tempo to youthful intonations, describing rather well the Holidays’ ambiance and the nostalgia circulating around Remembering Chestnuts, Icy Cold, and Bells.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Synth&Sequences reviews 'Emerging Transparency'
Sylvain Lupari has reviewed my 2009 Sensitive Chaos album 'Emerging Transparency'. My favorite quote, "Emerging Transparency is to Jim Combs what Zoolook is to Jean Michel Jarre."
The review can be found here.
The review can be found here.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Synth&Sequences Review of Sensitive Chaos "Seeker After Patterns"
http://synthsequences.blogspot.com/2011/07/sensitive-chaos-seeker-after-patterns.html
mardi 19 juillet 2011
SENSITIVE CHAOS: Seeker after Patterns (2011)
Sensitive Chaos is the musical project of the multi-instrumentalist Jim Combs who lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Seeker After Patterns is his 4th album, an album which navigates between delicate, very Southern rhythms, with a little tribal touch, and ambient structures. Rhythms are mainly minimalist grafted to a palette of very heterogeneous tones, giving to Seeker After Patterns a rich musicality which pokes through in every listening.
The discreet hopping chords which introduce the title-track, "Seeker After Patterns", are fast harpooned by bass notes which juxtapose a slightly zigzagging rhythmic approach. A metallic synth with hedging chords is joining this rhythmic while dropping some fluttering pads to give "Seeker After Patterns" a strange harmonious envelope wrapped up by silky synth lines and twinkling electric piano notes. This jerky rhythm which livens up "Seeker After Patterns" evolves by following its minimalist cycle to which is added diverse instruments as the suave and melancholic saxophone of Brian Good which precedes a very ambient moment where electric piano notes dance in a mellotron mist before that the rhythm, which moves stealthily, takes back its tempo with a more incisive approach. "Warm Glow of the Atomic Fire" is a soft floating track with fine oscillations which fly in delicate echoing loops to subtle and different variations. "A Piece of Stars" follows with delicate arpeggios skipping on a binary synth line, with one which frees a suave constant blow while the other throws oscillations in a threatening manner. It’s a very nice track with a delicate tribal approach by its tom-toms and Amerindian light winds which evolve on a minimalist structure where percussions dance with these arpeggios slightly spasmodic, due to their nervous tempo, on suave breathes of a gyrating synth and instruments which shape the movements of winds (EWI). Another ambient track, "L’Ascension" navigates in inter-sidereal spaces among synth gentle winds which are not without recalling the melancholic complaints of Vangelis.
A rhythm galloping on notes of wriggling guitars and undulating bass gives to "Sensitive Chaos" a curious western- indie structure. A catchy rhythmic structure to subtle variations that I can imagine quite well as a track in a Tarantino off-the-wall western movie. "Thoughts of Home in a Sand Storm" offers a jerky structure rhythmic where chords and pulsating sequences are criss-crossing to those of a synth / keyboard with curious cackled tones. A soft and warm synth, as in "L’Ascension," wraps of its warm layers this tempo which stutters of a greater intensity. It’s kind of odd, a little like the title-track, but it is a nice listen because of the discreet and subtle sound fauna which revolves around a rather unexpected rhythmic structure."Psychic Twins of Gemini" is a kind of electronic bed song which swirls of its delicate crystalline arpeggios. A track of an incredible simplicity, because of its timeless sound glass carousel, "Psychic Twins of Gemini" charms by its cherub approach. I quite liked it. Percussions and felted pulsations flutter while notes of bass and riffs of guitars fall to drown into keyboard keys, so drawing the very ambiguous and unusual rhythm of "Simon Stilites Dreams of Rain", a very IDM track. Heavy layers and twisted solos from a caustic guitar are binding in this very metallic fusion where knocks of anvil percussions are fading in this very iridescent which is hiding a subtle approach of a lonely cowboy avoiding discreetly the places of his riot. This latest album of Sensitive Chaos also offers two versions of the title-track "Seeker after Patterns" for radio needs. It is the same track but divided in 2 parts. The 2nd part starts from the section of piano notes floating in a mellotron mist. I prefer the original version, but what radio needs...
The music of Sensitive Chaos isn’t the most known in the spheres of modern EM. It’s not Berlin School, not even techno, but a skillful mixture of various styles which bind themselves in beautiful minimalist structures. Catchy structures where we perceive all the artistic work achieved by Jim Combs. I already heard, and reviewed, Leak back in 2006 and I come to the same conclusions there; Sensitive Chaos creates flowery experimental music with a minimalist approach which allows dressing its musical structures of different variations and instrumentations. Pleasant compositions which are listening very well and shelter nice melodies here and there.
SUBSEQUENT RECORDS: SRI001-03
Sylvain Lupari (2011)
Cet article est disponible en Français sur le site de Guts of Darkness, dont je suis chroniqueur sous le nom de Phaedream : http://www.gutsofdarkness.com/god/objet.php?objet=14505
You can view a video of Seeker After Patterns, here on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcOmOuaDqD0
Here's Sensitive Chaos website: http://sensitivechaos.com/
The discreet hopping chords which introduce the title-track, "Seeker After Patterns", are fast harpooned by bass notes which juxtapose a slightly zigzagging rhythmic approach. A metallic synth with hedging chords is joining this rhythmic while dropping some fluttering pads to give "Seeker After Patterns" a strange harmonious envelope wrapped up by silky synth lines and twinkling electric piano notes. This jerky rhythm which livens up "Seeker After Patterns" evolves by following its minimalist cycle to which is added diverse instruments as the suave and melancholic saxophone of Brian Good which precedes a very ambient moment where electric piano notes dance in a mellotron mist before that the rhythm, which moves stealthily, takes back its tempo with a more incisive approach. "Warm Glow of the Atomic Fire" is a soft floating track with fine oscillations which fly in delicate echoing loops to subtle and different variations. "A Piece of Stars" follows with delicate arpeggios skipping on a binary synth line, with one which frees a suave constant blow while the other throws oscillations in a threatening manner. It’s a very nice track with a delicate tribal approach by its tom-toms and Amerindian light winds which evolve on a minimalist structure where percussions dance with these arpeggios slightly spasmodic, due to their nervous tempo, on suave breathes of a gyrating synth and instruments which shape the movements of winds (EWI). Another ambient track, "L’Ascension" navigates in inter-sidereal spaces among synth gentle winds which are not without recalling the melancholic complaints of Vangelis.A rhythm galloping on notes of wriggling guitars and undulating bass gives to "Sensitive Chaos" a curious western- indie structure. A catchy rhythmic structure to subtle variations that I can imagine quite well as a track in a Tarantino off-the-wall western movie. "Thoughts of Home in a Sand Storm" offers a jerky structure rhythmic where chords and pulsating sequences are criss-crossing to those of a synth / keyboard with curious cackled tones. A soft and warm synth, as in "L’Ascension," wraps of its warm layers this tempo which stutters of a greater intensity. It’s kind of odd, a little like the title-track, but it is a nice listen because of the discreet and subtle sound fauna which revolves around a rather unexpected rhythmic structure."Psychic Twins of Gemini" is a kind of electronic bed song which swirls of its delicate crystalline arpeggios. A track of an incredible simplicity, because of its timeless sound glass carousel, "Psychic Twins of Gemini" charms by its cherub approach. I quite liked it. Percussions and felted pulsations flutter while notes of bass and riffs of guitars fall to drown into keyboard keys, so drawing the very ambiguous and unusual rhythm of "Simon Stilites Dreams of Rain", a very IDM track. Heavy layers and twisted solos from a caustic guitar are binding in this very metallic fusion where knocks of anvil percussions are fading in this very iridescent which is hiding a subtle approach of a lonely cowboy avoiding discreetly the places of his riot. This latest album of Sensitive Chaos also offers two versions of the title-track "Seeker after Patterns" for radio needs. It is the same track but divided in 2 parts. The 2nd part starts from the section of piano notes floating in a mellotron mist. I prefer the original version, but what radio needs...
The music of Sensitive Chaos isn’t the most known in the spheres of modern EM. It’s not Berlin School, not even techno, but a skillful mixture of various styles which bind themselves in beautiful minimalist structures. Catchy structures where we perceive all the artistic work achieved by Jim Combs. I already heard, and reviewed, Leak back in 2006 and I come to the same conclusions there; Sensitive Chaos creates flowery experimental music with a minimalist approach which allows dressing its musical structures of different variations and instrumentations. Pleasant compositions which are listening very well and shelter nice melodies here and there.
SUBSEQUENT RECORDS: SRI001-03
Sylvain Lupari (2011)
Cet article est disponible en Français sur le site de Guts of Darkness, dont je suis chroniqueur sous le nom de Phaedream : http://www.gutsofdarkness.com/god/objet.php?objet=14505
You can view a video of Seeker After Patterns, here on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcOmOuaDqD0
Here's Sensitive Chaos website: http://sensitivechaos.com/
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