Search - Global Communication :: 76:14

A Jewel in the Pile

M. D. MCGINLEY | United States | 05/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must apologize. I had blinders on. I thought that Tangerine Dream, Biosphere, John Serrie, Robert Rich and Steve Roach were the only ambient kids on the block worth listening to. Wrong. Upon Amazon.com's "Customers who bought Biosphere also listened to:" recommendation, 76:14 popped up, and I thought yeah, yeah the usual guys trying to make it big. And then I gave it a listen with the sample tracks, and I thought, Wow! Just when I thought I had my ambient selections nailed down.



76:14 is a compilation by Dedicated that is nothing short of glorious. Smooth, flowing synthesized rhythm's peppered with deep, reverberating pings instill a wonderful sense of openness, of the vast expanses of space or a wide open field. This is just what I am looking for after a hard day, because it helps me to relax, daydream a little and inspire me while I write. There is a perfect mix of laid back, long segments not unlike Chuck Wild's "Liquid Mind" series (which I highly recommend, by the way: IV [Unity] and VI [Spirit]), followed by mellow but solid club mixes with tinges of hip-hop beats, then an excellent surge of sonic crescendos in major chord ranges of the middle octaves. The tracks on 76:14 are humbly named only by the length of their duration, hence Track One is "4:02," Track Two is "14:31" and so on up to Track Nine, "12:18". I consider this the single best ambient recording ever made, just for its brilliant variations and technical proficiency without "too many notes." This album just bumped Biosphere's "Substrata" (1997) and all my favorites by Steve Roach ("Dreamtime Return"; 1988) down another notch. Variety, quality and replayability are what set 76:14 apart, and make it a definite keeper. I just got a new anchor.



I suppose, since music like this is so hard to describe sometimes, that if you took the best work of the artists I previously mentioned, you'd have this album. It sounds so much like Tangerine Dream's older work, yet not too much, blended very nicely with a little Biosphere, Steve Roach and a twist of Kevin Braheny, with a dash of Robert Rich and a tinge of Patrick O'Hearn. I could definitely hear a little Klaus Schulze in the mix. But to say that 76:14 is a copycat album is just off the mark. This great ambient recording truly makes me feel that I am in the 21st century, and not stuck in the same commercial tinkly-winkly crankings-out of the 1980's. Nice. Very nice.

"

Almost "Love on a Real Train"

Kevin L. Mills | Lancaster, PA | 03/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"O.K. How many of us "Electronic Music" fans (who are rejects from the "main stream") have longed for the reincarnation of Tangerine Dream's "Love on a Real Train"? Hands? This is as close as you are going to get to that level of ambient perfection. I have had this album for quite a while, recommended from Backroads Music (and Lloyd--those of you who love electonic/ambient/new age music know who I am talking about--he IS a music genuis), and I admit it far exceeded my expectations. I just wish these guys had created more. I am an out of the box music fan. Most of my friends don't have any clue why I like productions like Global Communication, Phutureprimitive or Synaesthesia. 76:14 is an amazing album. I put it close to the level of John Stanford's "Deep Space", but not quite there yet. It still deserves a 5 star rating. An awesome effort."