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Beyond
Brian Vassallo
The critically-hailed debut album Beyond. Beyond features Vangelis,J.M.JARRE like atmospheric tracks peppered with extraterrestrial mystery.
| # | Title | Length | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Are We Alone? | 4:09 | Play |
| 2 |
|
Out There | 6:50 | Play |
| 3 |
|
Distant Stars | 5:08 | Play |
| 4 |
|
Where Are We Going? | 6:11 | Play |
| 5 |
|
Heartbeat Above Earth | 5:07 | Play |
| 6 |
|
Beyond | 3:35 | Play |
| 31:00 | ||||
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Description
Brian Vassallo's debut recording, Beyond,may be short (it clocks in at just over 31 minutes long) - but what a fantastic 31 minutes it is! If you love classic spacemusic, Beyond could become one of your favorite recordings of recent memory. Six tracks are divided between soaring drifters full of all manner of retro synths evoking the golden era of the Hearts of Space record label, and quasi-Berlin EM cruisers. All of the tracks are solidly engineered and produced, with a spacious sound field (headphones are a must, in my opinion).
"Are We Alone?" opens the album in grand jaw-dropping fashion - swooshing synth washes, whooshing sonic effects, echoing tones, and dramatic analog chords combine to evoke a true sense of the cosmos. Minor key undercurrents and lush drones are carried along in a current of bouncy Berlin-like drum rhythms and soaring synths on "Out There" (one of my favorite tracks on the CD). "Distant Stars" reverses field with its plaintive and heavily echoed digital piano (notes seem to go on forever - receding further and further into the distance) evoking the vastness of deep space, helped along by whooshing solar wind effects and subtle drones deep underneath the piano. "Where Are We Going" returns to the bouncy rhythms of "Out There" but this time the mood is emotionally lighter and also more of a straightforward homage to Berlin school music. Warm melodic keyboard chords flow over percolating sequenced beats and synths. Later, more retro synths enter the track, yielding an even warmer sound and bringing a smile to my face, as I recall the LP recordings by Larry Fast (a.k.a. Synergy) that I first played way back in the '70s.
Two more floating spacemusic tracks remain on Beyond: the serene "Heartbeat Above Earth" (Michael Garrison meets Jonn Serrie perhaps?) and the uncharacteristically more sparse ambience of the title track (which is a dark formless scary short trip into forlorn synth choruses, strange reverberating rhythms, and mysterious drones). Beyond, indeed! The only fault I can find with the track is that ends very abruptly - almost too much so.
Brian Vassallo will hopefully be encouraged by a positive response to this fine recording. Beyond may signal the start of a great spacemusic artist's career.If you're a fan of the golden age of spacemusic (mid to late '80s), you will be too.
Review By: Bill Binkelman - Wind & Wire