Search - David Downes :: Rusted Wheels of Things

Rare music from a rare artist

Colin Nicholls | Las Vegas | 12/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard much of the music on this CD when I went to see Michael Parmenter's modern ballet production "The Race" in 1992 in Auckland, New Zealand. I enjoyed the music so much I bought a cassette of the music from the stand by the ticket office. Unfortunately, the cassette did not include all of the music from the production. Much later, I found the Downes' "Pavilion" CD (released 1993 on White Cloud) which contains alternate versions of some of the music from the cassette, plus some additional music that was not part of the original ballet. I have to confess that I prefer the versions from the orginal production. This "Rusted Wheel of Things" appears to be a re-release of the music from the Pavilion CD.



(Interestingly, his "Saltwater" CD contains one piece from the ballet production that is not on the cassette or this CD.)



How to describe this music? Well, it has celtic and ambient influences but overall I find it more like the soundtrack to an organic sci-fi story. Beautiful music. I wish Mr Downes would spend more time producing melodic music like this and less of the experimental "texture" music and video productions. Still, if this is all we get from him, the world is better off than if he had not written it, and I thank him for it."