A slight African theme can be singled out around the edges of Amarok, as Oldfield
employs such instruments as bongo and clay drums, mixed in with ukulele and flamenco guitar. The sound of a toothbrush can be heard in one ...
The CD release of Direct includes bonus material -- which fits the flow of this
intense and dramatic offering -- not included on the cassette or vinyl releases. Like most Vangelis, this defies categorization. It has strong elements of rock ...
The latest of Steve Roach's multi-disc releases for 2009 begins with one of his darkest,
angriest musical moments yet. That may sound strange to casual listeners of his work, given Roach's explorations of contemplative textures over the decades, but the ...
This 1986 Steve Roach release finds him visiting the very familiar territory of his early
years. Empetus is a profoundly rhythmic recording, with dashes of ambient atmospheric textures here and there adding a luminous aura of color to each of ...
Meant to show to the world at large that his music was ready for the
concert stage, and that he was ready for live exposure (Oldfield suffered for many years from stage fright), Exposed is sometimes wonderful, sometimes bombastic. This ...
Inspired by Kitaro's visit to Japan, where he attended the Onbashira festival, Gaia -- the
title roughly translates to Goddess of the Earth -- is filled with exotic, unpredictable sounds. It relies heavily on percussion and ancient wind instruments, which ...
Ever the sonic experimentalist, Mike Oldfield uses guitars exclusively (strummed, plucked, struck, sampled, etc.) to
create every sound on Guitars. Perhaps an intentional response to the composer's previous assortment of electronic recordings, the album suffers from its form-over-substance concept. The ...
Mask is an e-music symphony in six movements. Vangelis is near his best on this
album. He takes the best from his many different e-music personas and creates huge walls of dramatic and hypnotic sound. Vangelis combines symphonic synths, atmospheres, ...