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reviewed by fourier on 2001-04-12
The accomplished San Diego keyboardist Bill Cornish makes what my dad would call "proper music".
There are no overdriven resonant filters, no up-to-the-minute stuttering beats, no subwoofer-destroying
deep bass – just great musicianship, pure and simple. The two tunes submitted, probably best categorized as
"new age", strictly speaking reside outside raw42's purely electronic/industrial domain. However, their
quality is such that I'm going to say a few words anyway.
Shinto's lead melodies are carried by an assortment of "ethnic" instruments – there are plucked
strings, percussion, and first and foremost a nicely recorded reverberating flute line. The gentle tension,
building gradually throughout the piece, is underpinned by a subdued drum track and augmented by airy
synthesizer pads. The tune proceeds without any significant structural detours to a slightly abrupt ending
at 4:26. An enjoyable listen.
Leap of Faith is a grander, more progressive effort. the underlying melodic structure is provided
by Bill's rhythmical rock-style piano and the lead instrument is a violin sample (at least, I think that's
a sample – Bill's mastery of the pitch bend and modulation wheels is such that it could just be the real
thing!) It's clear that a lot of thought and preparation went into the composition & arrangement of this one
– every constituent part knows exactly what it's doing and where it's going. A touch of synthesizer nostalgia
is provided by the appearance of some old-fashioned presets, the like of which Joe Zawinul would be proud.
Thumbs up again.
It's a little unfortunate that in the last few years even highly competent new age music has acquired
something of a bad name – doomed to sit quietly in that science store in the mall, lodged between the
plasma ball and the glow-in-the-dark planet stickers. This is quality work, beautifully executed and
produced, and should be recognized as such. A glance at Bill Cornish's mp3.com earnings suggests that
I am not alone in this opinion.
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