Magic lurking in the textured landscapes of sound
Rhys Buckingham | Nelson New Zealand | 07/13/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I discovered Max Corbacho's rich atmospheric music by chance just as I had found Robert Scott Thompson's masterpieces of computer generated ambience a year or so ago. Max is a Spaniard whose musical directions certainly are strongly influenced by RST, and also Steve Roach and Michael Stearns. But there is magic lurking in the textured landscapes of sound that Max Corbacho can deliver. There is a depth in his hypnotic layers of ambience that is rarely found anywhere in the world of new age music.And also a challenging variety of sounds as this exciting display of music moves though space and time. In the first three tracks Corbacho delivers a rhythm layed with soothing rich textures that simply fill one with calm and delight. The track 'Night Caravan' is one of the most magnificent pieces of ambient music I have ever heard. Then the aural topography changes to almost tribal rhythms on 'erosion' that one can imagine in a remote and desolate desert.From which one then returns to more familiar slopes of 'Quietness' or succumb in Corbacho's 'Death Valley'. The work ends in triumph or despair in the climax of 'Vestiges' where silence becomes buried forever in a catastrophic thundering finale.All up I rate the work with five stars but probably it should get a fraction less. The first few tracks get 6 out of 5, but some of the later tracks sound a bit ordinary in comparison. Buy it if you're into this kind of music. Then I don't think you will be disappointed!"
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1