Search - Carl Stone :: Mom's

To Find Wonder in the Process

Nicholas Croft | New York | 05/23/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Carl Stone is a master of process music. The five works represented on this disk, named after restaurant's at which Mr. Stone has eaten, are evidence of this fact.Basically, the process involves taking a 10-20 second excerpt from a 'found' music source. A short 'window' is then placed on this excerpt( made possible by a MacIntosh computer and software ). The position of the 'window' is shifted gradually, forming a type of evolving repetition. A number of these processes are then mixed to form the finished product.While such a sober description may sound uninspiring, the results, in Mr. Stone's capable hands, are not. These exotic soundscapes are a perfect fit for late night meditation. Fan's of other New Albion label recordings will be right at home with these sounds."

Detail of Mozart.Vision of Beethoven.Sound of the millenium

Nicholas Croft | 08/16/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I first listened to MOM'S, I was astounded that this music had been written as early as 1986, and I was just hearing it. In 1939, John Cage lamented in an essay from his book SILENCE that when one turned on a classical music station, one always knew what they would hear. This is still true today. Little progress has been made in providing new concepts and directions in music to the public. I think the Internet will change this. Especially, for those of us, like myself, who live in small towns. Because Carl Stone is a freelance composer, he has been able to make his own choices about compositional form. His artistic choices aren't related to the politics of the artistic establishment. His choices are related to the study of natural forms. In most of 20th century music, the composer organizes and quantifies time using standard meters. In Shing Kee, Carl changes our perception of time by the use of silence and phrasing. He enriches our perception. It has been said that listening to Mozart makes you smarter, because he leads you one way intellectually, and then suprises you. The same can be said about Carl's music. There is sublime detail, and slow exquisite changes that suprise us. His sound source in Banteay Srey is sublime. His vision is toward the 21st century. I highly recommend this CD."