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dreamSTATE's
latest release features soundscapes selected from a decade of
live performances We're
honoured to include contributions from many of the great artists
we've played with For
those who prefer CD quality, a low-priced CD version with be available
soon. A
page of Extended
Liner Notes is available for people "The
overall mood of the 12 tracks is introspective and elegiac, as
the disc is dedicated Thanks to The Ambient Music Blog and Astropope, who have already blogged about a decade dreaming.
MOZ
dreamSTATE's
new DVD Single, Moz - Cloud Painting #8, is a 12 minute
ambient film by Scott
M2 OM
"Scott
McGregor Moore and Jamie Todd record deep electronic ambience as dreamSTATE.
PASSAGE
"This
work is a moving and profound listening experience the listener will
not forget. It is highly recommended to all lovers of adventurous ambient
music and deserves to be a classic!" "Fans
of Toronto electronic artists dreamSTATE will no doubt be thrilled
by the release of PASSAGE, a series of soundscapes specially created
for an installation held in Goderich, Ontario. Inspired by the poetry
of Lynn Harrigan from her collection "Moon Sea Crossing", PASSAGE tells
the story of Aina, an Irish immigrant who settles in Huron District
during the 1840s. Her life during this time is filled with hardship
and turmoil, ultimately resulting in a mental breakdown which leads
to her being confined in the Huron District Gaol where her mental state
further declines. Through a masterful creation of sound and environment,
dreamSTATE is able to draw the listener into Aina's plight and
brings her story to life in a powerful and haunting manner. ... As
brilliant as it is emotional, PASSAGE is a beautiful work by one of
Toronto's premier electronic acts. Many lesser talents would find themselves
lost in such a dark subject matter, but dreamSTATE are able to
convey the scene, the situation and the emotions felt in a succinct
and powerful way. A testimony to their sophistication and artistry,
PASSAGE is sure to become a classic of the genre." "dreamSTATE’s
music, highly impressionistic, doesn’t attempt to make real the
literary metaphors upon which they base this recording, but instead
opt for “tone poems” reflecting/refracting distance, longing,
tribulation. ... Patently well-done, particularly in the origination
of sound structures that are intentionally minimal when necessary, the
drones indeed becoming imagistic phenomena, Passage’s sound fairly
congeals the oxygen around you into shadows and fog." "I
was just discussing with someone the other day the difference between
average ambient music and great ambient music. It is difficult to describe
the difference, but very easy to hear it. I reviewed a couple of so-so
CDs before putting "Passage" in the player, and the superior
quality was evident from the opening notes. Serene, smooth, and cool,
this is first-class ambient through and through. Right now the birds
are chirping on “Clearing” as a gentle rhythm chugs slowly
by. The balance between simplicity and complexity is perfect. The music
evolves seemingly with ease, yet you can hear the thought behind it
and the craft that went into it. Detailed liner notes explain the story
behind the music, which was created for a multimedia event in Ontario.
The dark subject matter is apparent in tracks like “Fall”
and “Captive,” both of which beautifully capture the mood
they seek to emulate, the latter particularly haunting as dark choirs
wail in the background. By far the brightest and prettiest track is
“Watershed,” which is reenacted at the disc’s closing
in “Watershed Reprise,” signifying hope at the end of the
dark journey. Highly recommended." "Evaluating
"Passage" as an ambient recording is easy. This is an excellent
CD, provided you enjoy this genre as a textural experience, comprised
of ethereal and glowing spacemusic-like washes as well as darker drone-style
ambient soundscapes (with the exception of "Clearing"). The
technical quality is flawless and the choice (by Moore and Todd) to
separate the tracks with a few seconds of silence does not detract from
the overall cohesive impact of the entire album. However, that said,
the true power of this CD comes from integrating the "story"
with the music, where you, the listener, immerse yourself in Aina's
tale (she is the lead character) and allow the recording to walk you
through her tragedy as well as (hopefully) her triumphant crawl from
the abyss. It is within this context that "Passage" elevates
itself from being merely a good recording to being an important artistic
statement. I highly recommend this album in either regard."
"BETWEEN
REALITIES consists of a one-hour slice from a soundscape installation
entitled waveforms that ran continuously for eight months in
1996 and 1997 at The H5 Project holographic gallery in Toronto. Created
using three MiniDisk players on shuffle and loop modes, the sounds produced
by dreamSTATE for this installation were pure, deep ambience
as originally defined by pioneer Brian Eno: Music that merges with the
surroundings to create a different listening experience with every listen.
And since it was recorded using an open microphone, sounds from the
street and gallery space hum through the mix and merge with the sounds
in the listener's environment, blurring the line between realities -
just as the title suggests." "A
little over an hour long, dreamSTATE have come up with one of
the finest examples of ambient music this year. In effect, this is one
long soundscape in the tradition of David Parsons (Yatra, Himalaya),
Steve Roach (any of the longer later solo works), and possibly old man
Eno (Discreet Music). Having said this, let me say that this is as good
as any of these recordings, and taken from a live, long running installation.
... This will appeal to a lot of ambient fans and no doubt, space music
listeners. No dramatics, no groove, no discernible melody. Just classic
ambience. Me, I love it." "BETWEEN
REALITIES is definitive ambient music. By that I mean it can be used
to literally define the term. ... Highly recommended for ambient and,
in my view, space music fans everywhere." "Soft
electronic washes phase in and out in an ever-changing state of ebb
and flow. Totally beatless and smooth, the lush chords swirl mistily,
merging and remerging into different billowing configurations. Trickling
water sounds run through several passages, as do occasional waves of
rippling electro-distortion. It translates into a dreamy hour-long listen
for your own environs."
URM
- SYNTHPHONICS 1
"Synthphonics
1 - Darkness on the Edge of Light is a sound environment by
URM - a project by Jamie Todd, of dreamSTATE. He
recorded it with the Absynth soft synth. The process involves sustaining
a single note then modulating and mixing it in real time. (In simpler
terms, that means warping the sh!t out of the note!) This is superb
electronic minimalism. It is the complete package from the opening
iteration to the mechanical repetitions. The atmospheres are the soundscapes.
The metallic textures and sci-fi sounds take this long-form (55')
composition into the isolationism of deep space. This is an essential
disc!"
URM
- SYNTHPHONICS 2
"Jamie
Todd of dreamSTATE returns with the second volume in his Synthphonics
series, Hush on the Peace Terrain. Utilizing the Reason software
system, Jamie has created a lush and emotional series of soundscapes
linked conceptually by recent world events. Unlike its predecessor,
Hush... uses shorter pieces of differing thematic natures to
tell it's story, and while maintaining a link in terms of sound, each
piece retains a distinct personality and identity indicative of a
particular instant. From the quiet movement of Dawn into the
shifting and evolving darkness of Pillars Crumble Into Chaos,
through to the slow pulse of closing track New American Century,
Hush on the Peace Terrain brilliantly captures the effects
that current events have had on all of us. A very moving collection
of songs, and a very impressive addition to the Synthphonics
series."
dreamSTATE's
Jamie Todd (aka URM) is also a member of ambient spacemusic group
SADU along with Sylken's
Eric Hopper "As
somebody who has been at literally hundreds of PiNG nights, I fully
recommend LiVE at THE PiNG with General Chaos Visuals
Sounds of a Universe Overheard
This
December 2007 release from venerable ambient label Hypnos
Recordings is their first compliation since 1999 "Although
"Ghost Nebula" by dreamSTATE seems to sustain an atmosphere,
it is delicately changing colour and tone throughout "An
excellent collection from Hypnos that is sure to be appreciated by
both new fans of the genre,
The Other Side of the Sky
This
2007 space ambient collection on the Italian Umbra label includes
dreamSTATE's Deeper, a previously unreleased
Foglands
This
2007 atmospheric collection on the Italian Umbra label includes
dreamSTATE's Fogbound, a previously unreleased "dreamSTATE
deliver “Fogbound”, a lengthy dreamy drift of soaring cinematic
strings and soft swirling swells...
dreamSTATE's Clearing is included in this ambient-guitar oriented collection compiled by Sylken's Eric Hopper. Thirteen
diverse soundscapes are offered by eight artists from the Toronto ambient
scene: Aidan Baker (Nadja/ARC), "Quite
choice right across the board, this bevy of String Things makes you
believe in the guitar’s recuperative powers all over again,
Fluidities by Jonathan Hughes and Friends
Jonathan
Hughes' double CD Fluidities contains Molten a new previously
unreleased "Jonathan
Hughes' new album Fluidities is not your usual double CD, but
rather an open ended project For
listeners with access to only one CD player Fluidities is still
a complete listening experience; Fluidities
features eleven tracks by Jonathan Hughes (including collaborations
with M. Bentley, "Jonathan
Hughes has realized a very unique vision with Fluidities. While
the individual tracks are minimal
There's four dreamSTATE-related tracks on the second PiNG AMBiENCE compilation CD: dreamSTATE's
primary contribution to this ambient collection (compiled by Sylken's
Eric Hopper) is a collaboration Other
new dreamSTATE-related tracks on this collection are: Mara's
Dream by earotica Other
fine ambient artists featured on the compilation are: Alpha Wave Movement, "PiNG
AMBiENCE 2 is an excellent collection proving that there are an incredible
number of artists
dreamSTATE's
previously out-of-print Sunspot Interference is woven into this THE
AMBiENT PiNG, BTW, is the weekly Toronto live ambient/chill/experimental Among
the excellent artists included in the mix are a variety of musicians
who
LINGER (Remastered Version) by James Johnson
The
re-mastered re-release of James Johnson's Linger CD includes
Twilight Impressions, "I'm
glad to see this surface--I've always felt it to be one of Johnson's
best and most memorable discs. Linger has changed slightly with
its reissue--the track Floating and Dreaming has been omitted
to allow the release of the new Twilight Impressions ... I was
saddened to see the former go, but the new track is just as interesting
and beautiful (as well as a collaboration with Toronto's dreamSTATE)....
which shifts the tone considerably from the natural to a more synthetic
and spaced-out environment. Fans of the driftier selections in the Silent
Records catalog (for example, The Heavenly Music Corporation's excellent
Anechoic) will find much to enjoy here as impressively resonant synth
slices dazzlingly meld with Johnson's echoed synth (similar to that
heard on Minimum). This track was created more recently than
the rest of Linger, and it shows. It fits comfortably with the
rest of the album: its pleasures are evident and I'm glad to see it
released. Eventually, the track morphs down to a harmonic driftscape
as guitar tones and subdued vocalizations push the track through zones
of light and opacity."
This
ambient compilation from Japanese label Windfarm features a variety "The
high quality of all the tracks, taken along with its diversity of sound
and talent make Harmony with Ambience
The
Storm Within,
a live track recorded with cellist cheryl
o appears on CD for the first time in this double CD set "Track
4 is a tune by one of my favorite artists of all time, dreamSTATE.
For this song, which was recorded live
Alpha
Waves,
a previously unreleased section from dreamSTATE's ambient installation
waveforms, "The
year's first great ambient compilation ... Ambient Landscapes 2
is absolutely
Floating
and Dreaming,
a twelve minute track recorded with deep ambient artist James Johnson, "The
favorable comparisons with pioneers like Eno continue. Johnson's music
is so soft and delicate, yet dramatic and rich with life. ...
White
Winter Moon,
recorded by dreamSTATE the night of the rare eclipse of the Disc
One features ambient-groove oriented works by EPD, Universal Selector, Disc
Two features ambient soundscapes with tracks by dreamSTATE, Forest
Fang, "This
cyber-democratically-assembled collection is imbued with the combined
effect of collective enthusiasm The
Stonecrest Visitation,
an exclusive dark ambient live recording from dreamSTATE's The
press release describes the CD as "beatless atmospheres followed
by experimental techno, melodic ambience "The
artists presented here display a lot of talent and manage to make their
music quite accessible.
~
Sunspot Interference, a dreamSTATE dark ambient improvisation
appears on DEPROGRAMMING MUSIC (sacred noise recordings) - "Sunspot
interference by dreamSTATE seduces us with some very beautifully
composed abysmal string compositions that
On
Saturday May 13th, 2000, a fireworks warehouse in Enschede, The Netherlands
exploded in two big bangs,
Includes tracks by dreamSTATE (Adrift In The City), TearSong,
TranceVersions, jonas lindgren, Ganzfeld, CRELM,
"a fantastic selection of musicians and tracks"
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