“Here is a good album with a nice musicality that can be listened to as one inhales the freshness of the wind”
1 Destinations - Northeast 4:57
2 Monumentos (El Primer Círculo) 6:31
3 Monumentos (El Segundo Círculo) 7:09
4 Aroma de las Naranjas 7:30
5 Canela 6:33
6 Caramelo 5:06
7 News from far Away 6:50
8 Solid State (Interpolar) 5:56
9 Re-Set 7:27
(CD 57:32) (V.F.)
(Psybient, EDM)
A young newcomer from Sweden, Noryani doesn't really see himself as an artist but rather as a music maker. Got to hear! Because the synthesist, or sound sculptor, of Sweden has a superb ability to create melodious music that plunges into rhythmic turmoil as dynamic as they are unexpected. NORTHEAST 117 is his first album. A good, carefully thought-out album which presents 9 tracks all as melodious from each other but which soak in cadences and sequences in continual transformations. Charming, the synths are vaporous with nice orchestrations in it which are not without recalling the silky angelic world of Vangelis, more precisely the periods of Direct to Voices via Blade Runner.
A fine sequential carousel with a sound of a limpid circular harp opens the opening bars of Destinations-Northeast. A synth deposits light layers of mist there while the carousel undulates with more insistence. Percussions with hybrid tones support the pace which beats under irregular pulsations and which is surrounded by nice synth solos with saxophone fragrances. Slightly more accentuated rhythm and a more nourished structure, Destinations-Northeast evolves towards a sequential whirlwind where chimeric harp notes are waving on a pulsating rhythm and synths with symphonic breaths. After a noisy metallic click, Monumentos (El Primer Círculo) offers a soft melodious synth movement which multiplies its harmonious layers like a Vangelis soundtrack. The movement is smooth and arched on a fine sequence which undulates gently, dragging Monumentos (El Primer Círculo) in a good synth lament. A good track with vibes that make our arm's hairs climb to the ceiling of our emotions so much the resemblance with the grand El Greco is striking, especially with Monumentos (El Segundo Círculo) and its dramatic structure with the scents of the Middle East fed by good orchestral arrangements, good strikes of symphonic percussions and a synth crammed with suave layers and dark choirs. Aroma de las Naranjas continues this musical quest very close to the terroirs of Vangelis with a heavy title which twists from its heavy metallic synth strata. If the first phase mixes layers of vocal synths with reverberating sinuosities, the second phase comes alive with a fine line of percussions which skips nervously, but subtly, under a symphonic synth chipped away by heavy undulating strata. The tempo becomes more precise at the end of the course with keyboard and piano chords which dance on a more lively structure where metallic hoarse breaths are inserted on a slightly syncopated sequence.
Canela is another good title which shows all the work done by Adrian Noryani on his album. A title that has several twists and captivates by the beauty of its slightly jazzy approach. Train bearings lead the intro. They stop where synth solos with saxophone tones are hovering over a rhythm that settles. Sensual, the music goes on a hybrid sequential movement where sequenced keys pulsate and get subdivided into weighted keys and others that take the form of industrial clicks that can be heard everywhere on NORTHEAST 117. Subtly the rhythm deviates towards a tribal approach. A brief deflection where it resumes its cruising speed with an astonishing movement of the sequencer which charms under the breaths of a wandering saxophone. Caramelo follows with a short ambient intro fed by a multitude of eclectic tones. The percussions fall and shape a jerky rhythm that a good bass line adorns with its skipping notes. The synths are always so vaporous, harmonious and sing on a rhythmic structure struck by good anvil percussions and surrounded by a slight syncopated movement. News from far Away is a strange ballad. Strange because nice with its tearful synth which traces a solitary cowboy approach and by its percussions which tumble down to shape an indefinite rhythm which thrills more than it moves. It's a good track which, like all the tracks on this album, suffers from musical bipolarity since it always ends up bursting with a stationary rhythm. Solid State (Interpolar) is a very energetic mix of techno and free-jazz with its pulsating percussions and smooth synth lines. Let's say that it's quite heavy! Re-Set closes this first opus by Noryani with a good melodious approach tracked down and torpedoed by a solid syncopated rhythm. Delicate chords of an acoustic guitar are plucked with firmness and trace a soft melancholy which drags its sadness on a mellotron cloud. Threatening reverberations break this melodious ethereal combination, opening the door to percussions which timidly strike the cadence on a finely spasmodic line. Quietly, Re-Set is dressed in a range of composite sounds before biting the rhythm on a jerky sequence that explodes in a fiery movement of very schizophonic techno. This is proof by 9 that NORTHEAST 117 feeds on unpredictable rhythms and more than varied musical styles on initially very melodious structures. Here is a good album with a nice musicality that can be listened to as one inhales the freshness of the wind and where Noryani is as enigmatic as very promising.
Sylvain Lupari (May 13th, 2011) ***½**
Available at Generator Pl