Search - Michael Atkinson :: To the Shores of Ancient Sea

Multi-Instrumental Album That's Worth Tracking Down!

S. Cairns | Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, United Kingdom | 05/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

""To the Shores of an Ancient Sea" is by an award-winning Australian composer, Michael Atkinson. Here, he creates beautiful music capturing contemporary soundscapes of traditional Australia.In this 9 track CD, Atkinson plays keyboards, bass, percussion, guitar and churango. This, combined with the stunning violin playing of Peter Fellin, some beautiful piano work on most tracks by Michael Westlake, not to mention the added contribution of guitar, flute and kina, creates a lovely variety of sound.The end product is a beautiful, melodic and highly original CD with plenty of memorable moments. Stand-out tracks include "Bays of Contented Men","Mallacoota Moonlight" and "Voyage to Patagonia". The introduction of guitar and absolutely first-class violin playing after the first minute of the "dangerously near jazz" opening of track 3, is the disc's absolute highlight for me. White Cloud, the label behind the disc, no longer seems to be in existence, but this CD is an underrated, little known gem which, if you have got this far and can obtain a copy, should rank as one of your finest purchases.An excellent CD. Beautifully different, and one that I take great pleasure in highly recommending."