“Quiet, serene and very ambient, and if we take a few moments the music gets inside our ears with a fascinating visual realism”
1 Postcard from Karnak 3:58
2 Deep Within Forbidden Mountains 4:53
3 Fields in Evening Light 5:47
4 Treetops 5:13
5 Woodlands 4:56
6 Moonrise 4:02
7 Autumn in a Forest Glade 6:04
8 Dancing Shadows 2:26
9 Under a Sheltering Tree 7:20
10 Hidden Pond 4:11
11 Lantern Walk 3:40
12 Stars Between Boughs 9:09
13 Three Views of a JapanesGarden, Part I 5:24
(CD/DDL/Spotify 67:04) (V.F.)
(Ambient, Soundscapes)
There are 2 Rudy Adrian! The one that gives us superb structures of sequenced rhythms with the the Sequencer Sketches on Groove. And this one, on Spotted Peccary, which is closer to the soundscapes where tranquility and serenity flirt with sound textures borrowed from the vastness of the flourishing nature of New Zealand, country of Rudy Adrian. WOODLANDS therefore proposes a musical journey imbued with serenity with 13 titles which parade in an audio panorama where the only basis of rhythm is the breathing of a bass line and the impulses of an interlacing of synthesized waves where hide a network of samples of the mystical forests of this country known for its sacred spaces. If you are a Rudy fan, you will notice that some titles will be familiar to you, even if they come from as far back as the early 2000's. It's with an enhanced tone and a more discreet rhythm than Postcard from Karnak goes out from the Iridescence (Sequencer Sketches Vol 2) album to land on this WOODLANDS. We thus find a handful of titles remixed in this way of which Deep Within Forbidden Mountains, which is more serene and less intense in terms of atmospheres than on Across the Silver River, an album made with Ron Boots in 2002. We find 3 other titles from this album; Fields in Evening Light which is purified of its rhythm in order to let float its clearly more seraphic vision. Moonrise retains its intensity in a more ambient setting where the effects of water rolling on the shores have been erased, like the effects of storm and atmospheric turbulence of Under a Sheltering Tree which is more serene here.
Treetops sets the tone for new titles with a synth line whose lyrical ark is woven into emotion. The music infiltrates our ears with a fascinating visual realism while the effects of stridulating and of rattlesnake give an organic touch very well drawn. Here like everywhere, the shimmering arpeggios give the answer to very resonant shadows and reverberations in order to balance the extremes and give a very dreamlike texture to the music of this album. Lantern Walk drinks of it in a more sinister and more ambient vision. The title track borrows a bit of its decor with a heap of waves and synthesized songs which radiate the atmospheres through the breezes and the azure breaths of winds without gust. We feel the threat of a bass shadow, nothing more. A melody, the dream of a melody roams on Woodlands, like on the other titles of the album. Autumn in a Forest Glade is a long astral river with voices that infiltrate the idleness of wind nests, while a beautiful melody is punched by a hammer on a glass anvil and ignored arpeggios at the door of an aurora boreal. Dancing Shadows is a superb melody that flows like a lullaby in the kingdom of Nefertiti. It's too short! Hidden Pond is a bit similar, but in a shadier setting. If the tonal blooming bursts with dozens of pastel colors, sound bubbles and melodious prisms, its decor is of shadows with a procession constantly interrupted by a dying bass line. Without melody, nor ghost of a melody, Stars Between Boughs drifts like music in search of an ear. An ideal title to root our sleep in its deepest phase. And like a diamond on a pearl bed, Three Views of a Japanese Garden (Part I) shines more brightly than the others tracks here with a distinctly more melodious vision. Clinking arpeggios stolen from the stars sparkle on a nest of dark waves that transform into an organ chant. And speaking of song; a voice rises like that of a prayer sung from the top of a minaret, adding a lot of emotion and colors to this track which concludes an album while making hope for a sequel to Three Views of a Japanese Garden (Part I ).
Quiet, serene and very ambient, WOODLANDS goes everywhere, no matter the everyday decor. And if we take a few moments, just for us and to listen to this other excellent production of Spotted Peccary, the music gets inside our ears with a fascinating visual realism.
Sylvain Lupari (December 20th, 2019) *****
Available at Spotted Peccary Music