Search - Janet Robbins :: Carrying the Bag of Hearts Interpreting the Birth of Stars Vol. II

A lush and enriching sound-world

Chris T. Armstrong | Los Angeles, CA USA | 03/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered Ms. Robbins' music over a year ago in a random Internet Google-quest of atmospheric/ambient music and her music has been amongst my most frequently played tracks ever since.



In this wonderful series, Ms. Robbins has gone beyond the usual limitations of quite a lot of "ambient" or "atmospheric" offerings. Her music has spice and energy born of a bit more harmonic "conflict" and "drama" than are usually found in recordings in this genre, which tend to be very bland harmonically so as not to challenge the ear.



This type of harmonically static music leaves me flat and brings to mind the comment by Frank Zappa that music with no dissonance in it is like "watching a movie with only good guys in it or eating cottage cheese." Ms. Robbins' compositions, however, intoxicate and enliven the heart and mind rather than the usual sobering and quieting effect that many similarly categorized composers seem to strive for.



No sonic cottage cheese here. Rather, this music is like a rich and sultry and warm chocolate bath, but with surprise flecks of garam masala and chunks of ginger to awaken the senses and remind us that this kind of music need not consist primarily of the sonic equivalent of bunnies and rainbows. This music, like "real life," is often joyful but sometimes becomes brooding and introspective on its way back to joyfulness again.



My advice is to get all 3 discs, play them back to back and let them serve as a soundtrack for your creative endeavors and reap the benefits of the inevitable effects, "wondrous and fair," on your heart and mind.



SINCERELY,



Chris Armstrong"