Ever since concluding his tenure as a member of Dweller at the Threshold, Paul Ellis has generated a selection of solo releases that mark him as an electronic composer of notable skill and compositional genius. He has evolved the traditional Berlin School style of electronic music with unique flavor while retaining the vigor and enthusiasm of those sonic roots.
For more info on Paul Ellis, visit his website.
PAUL ELLIS: The Sacred Ordinary (CD on Groove Unlimited)
This release from 2004 offers 73 minutes of engaging electronic music.
Joining Ellis on several tracks is Rudy Adrian, with Steve Roach lending post production artistry to the entire album.
Nimble fingers stimulate keyboards to release sprightly tones into the air. The atmosphere swiftly fills with these weaving textures. Crystalline riffs cavort in tandem with each other, looping to generate a twinkling panorama that evolves with each subsequent cycle. Gradually, grittier sounds enter the mix, their gravelish presence lending the melody an earthier demeanor.
The dominant aspect is grandeur, however. Chords that inspire inhalation without exhalation. Riffs that fill the soul with expectancy. Complex interplays that quicken the pulse and flush the face with rapture.
Sedate sequences invariably lead to feverish passages that seethe with vigor and dazzle. Chords fly with passionate delivery, sweeping everything into an urgency that exudes importance. The tuneage radiates a dynamic drama, rising from passive intros and fading into vaporous closings.
Ellis has a way of organizing these euphonies to achieve spectacular histrionics that remain in the listener's mind long after the CD has finished playing. His compositions evoke a lasting impression.
This union of land and sky is a subtle undercurrent, though, for Ellis' focus in this music is heavenly elevation. Humanity's relationship with celestial divinity is not the topic here; the real spotlight is on great power as it exists apart from mankind. Viewing such majesty becomes a spectator experience, as the listener becomes immersed in observing the presence of divinity in everything around us.
PAUL ELLIS & CRAIG PADILLA: Echo System (CD on Groove Unlimited)
This release from 2004 offers 72 minutes of enjoyable electronic music.
Languidly shimmering textures drift overhead while vibrant electronics emerge to lend a melodic disposition to the flow. Power builds as the sequences cascade from loops into sonic diversification. A rich repertoire of sounds is employed to create this music, driving the tuneage with versatile propulsion and engaging elements.
Gradually, a rhythmic presence appears, generated from surging electronic pulsations rather than from beats. These non-impact tempos serve to lift the music into a sashaying ascension that sparkles with abundant variance. Altitudes are achieved through a determined see-sawing motion that often defies notice. The listener's attention is riveted by the liquid quality of the electronics.
Fresh riffs surface with determined regularity, refusing to let the compositions become redundant. A plethora of appealing melodies swing into audibility, cavort and gyrate for the entertainment of all, before surrendering the air to the next wave of mesmerizing harmonics.
Echoes play a subtle role in this music, formulating foundations which are then embellished by the musicians. Often, these echoes divert from their ricochet paths to evolve into lusher forms of the bouncing patterns. Alert guidance is constantly tweaking the music's fluid course, generating entrancing variations which build to further surprises.
And yet, despite the constantly changing nature of these compositions, the tunes remain stable and coherent, true to their initial mood. Elevation and expansion are simulated through elaborate layering, resulting in a deceptive elongation of time.
This type of electronic music does not grow old; in fact, it reveals more and more of itself with each subsequent listening.
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