Search - Seti :: Pharos

The best electronic CD in years

09/23/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Simply put: the best space electronic CD I've heard since Lustmord's THE PLACE WERE THE BLACK STARS HANG, which means we're in the presence of one of the best electronic CD's of the decade... and it comes in a double dosage! Unlike Lustmord's masterpiece, Pharos has melodies and rhythms, but in no way does Seti ever fall into the easy listening trash. Melodies are subtle, rhythms intelligent, and there's a sense of proportion pervading through it all. We can hear a lot: real space sounds, like pulsars and vela pulsars, radio telescope white noise, and even the voice of Dr. Frank Drake, the president of the praiseworthy SETI institute. His interview would be a sufficient reason to buy this CD, for its instructive, intelligent talk - devoid, of course, of that hocus-pocus talk that too often is associated with space matters. And guess who's doing the interview: Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock himself! But this double CD surely stands on its own musical merits. "Arecibo" is the first CD, with 7 tracks that run continuously for 53 minutes. The first track is 18 minutes worth and it's certainly one of the best. It starts with space evocative sounds, aided by Dr. Drake's voice, treated in a way that gives it an extraterrestrial aura. After about 10 minutes of great atmospherics, we are presented with a faint repetitive melody, which gives place to a great strange rhythm, somewhere near This Mortal Coil's FYT. By that time your attention is fully captured, and it stays that way for the rest of the CD. Track two has 6 minutes, and again it starts with some great atmospherics, recalling those happy days, back in the seventies, when people used electroacoustic techniques to build abstract sound sculptures. After 2 minutes, a vaguely melodic, soft keyboard-based sound arrives, giving its way to a rhythm, which comes and goes in waves. The soft melodic keyboards are the best I've heard since Klaus Schulze decided to return to them in the first minutes of his latest IN BLUE. Transition to track 3 (6 minutes) goes without notice, thanks to the omnipresence of the soft melodic background. After a few minutes it grows, eventually getting to the front, but always keeping just a faint melodic content. The rest of the CD offers 4 more tracks, always with 5-6 minutes. I can't of course describe it in detail, but you should know that the pattern of high quality is never, ever, betrayed. Rhythms, melodies and atmospherics are always inventive, intelligent and full of emotion and musical subtleties. Highlights are tracks 5 and 6, the first with a melody made out of strange sounds, the second with its strange powerful, abstract rhythm. Disc 2 is called `Phoenix' and it's 54 minutes worth. Like disc 1, has 7 tracks, but unlike it, they don't run continuously. Tracks 2-6 run continuously for 28 minutes, leaving track 1 (11 minutes) and 7 (14 minutes) on their own. Your attention is caught right from the first seconds of the first track. Remember FORNEAU COSMIQUE, disc 8 of the monumental Schulze's Historic Edition? It starts with the same cosmic energy, and it leads your attention with the same bold avant-garde creativity Schulze used to with his cosmic ventures back in the seventies. Track 2 starts with a lively rhythm that forms the background to a melody based on a Vangelis-like, delicate, strange sound. We are soon conducted to more abstract realms with track 3, were we are driven to a highly inventive spaced-out abstract trip, with just the right melody, and abstract, background rhythms. Track 4 introduces a more powerful, but still strange rhythm, built upon the structures left by track 3. It's the smallest track on the whole double CD, but it's one of the most powerful. Although track 5 presents the most conventional rhythm, it's nevertheless intelligently designed and interwoven with atmospherics, turning it into a great piece. The rest of the CD is never prey of lack of creativity nor quality. To say it all: run to your store, or mail-order immediately. This CD is a pearl one should not dare to miss. If Seti continues to work like this, they'll quickly become the best space, electronic musicians around. Great!"

Theremin inspired music for contacting aliens.

Midas Wilder | 03/19/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Very very odd and beautiful. Not a demanding album at all. You can easily listen to the entire thing while having a vegan dinner party in a Maui grotto. (I know I did.) It recalls early forms of electronic music with a mature and heady sense of composition and mission (to contact aliean life forms!). Repeatable. Ethereal. Mission-critical."

A great epic ambient album

David B. Spalding | Chromejob-dot-com | 09/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I used to review a high volume of space, ambient, and new age music ... this remains one of my favorite extended-listening albums of total immersion audio environments. Voice, sounds, music, and slowly churning acoustic developments punctuated an overlooked and superb work."