Rhian Sheehan - Standing In Silence.(2009) Ambient / Experimental / IDM / Modern Classical

полное описание на инглиш

Album – Exhibition – Moving Image – Climate Change. Is it possible to be surrounded by a mass of humanity, a bustling sea of lives, agendas and expectations, and still stand in silence? It is a question that seems entirely relevant in what they tell us is an age of communication; an age of ceaseless noise and demands.

It is a question evoked in the latest album from Rhian Sheehan, Standing in Silence, a 14-part voyage through provocative soundscapes that is equally a sophisticated vision of futuristic musical textures and a vista of the simplicity of children at play. The delicate patter of coquettish music boxes interact with delightfully adolescent glockenspiels, and the stark sound of pianos remind the listener of an uncomplicated past. Meanwhile, intelligent manipulations of strummed and plucked guitars, intricately-designed drum patterns and aural landscapes of the sound of human interaction – recorded in the lands of India, Japan and Spain – beg of a look forward to a melodic future.

Standing in Silence, his first full-length release in four years, represents a new musical bearing for Rhian Sheehan. His previous original albums, 2001’s Paradigm Shift and 2004’s Tiny Blue Biosphere, were acclaimed for their visionary blend of cerebral beats with sci-fi storylines and cosmic sensibilities and tracks from them appeared alongside works from the likes of electronica and dub luminaries Tosca, Horace Andy and Jose Padilla. Yet these albums were conventional in comparison to Standing in Silence as Sheehan’s latest work pushes into a new direction of organic, ambient and abstract sound. The sounds of cascading bells, wine glasses, playgrounds and airports are the substance of Standing in Silence, whereas the electronica was the core of the previous albums.

An important element in the evolution of Sheehan’s sound is the involvement of Jeff Boyle from sonic noise merchants Jakob, who helped develop a more organic sound and provided guitars on most of the album’s 14 tracks. Sheehan has brought together some of New Zealand’s finest practitioners of electronica and modern classical including long-time collaborator Jeremiah Ross aka Module,
Raashi Mailk and Thomas Voyce from Rhombus, Andy Hummel, the ethereal vocalist Jess Chambers, members of the NZSO and the extraordinary percussionist Tom Pierard (Strike).

The result is fourteen parts of an exquisite expedition into the sounds and scapes of silence, solitude, reflection and inspiration. Standing in Silence is an album to soak in, breathe to and be inspired by. It travels the farthest lands and drops in to the local grounds where children play and people meet. And bustle. And expect. And demand. It is all of that, and yet is ultimately an escape from it. It surrounds itself in humanity and proves that one can be among the ceaseless noise of existence and yet still find silence.

Tracklist
01. Standing In Silence Part 1
02. Standing In Silence Part 2
03. Standing In Silence Part 3
04. Standing In Silence Part 4
05. Standing In Silence Part 5
06. Standing In Silence Part 6
07. Standing In Silence Part 7
08. Standing In Silence Part 8
09. Standing In Silence Part 9
10. Standing In Silence Part 10
11. Standing In Silence Part 11
12. Standing In Silence Part 12
13. Standing In Silence Part 13
14. Standing In Silence Part 14

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