For over a decade, Mark Dwane has been creating music that blends mythological elements with galactic panoramas. The results are always heavenly and wrought with instrumental drama.
His chosen instrument for these celestial voyages is the MIDI guitar, generating a versatile range of sounds that deceptively conceals the absence of conventional synthesizers from the audience.
MARK DWANE: The Sirius Link (CD on Trondant/Orbian Music)
This CD from 2004 features 47 minutes of cosmic music.
This time, Dwane adds electro-acoustic guitars to his repertoire of MIDI guitar, increasing the range of his sonic palette by counterpointing the synthetic with traditional resonance. Resisting the urge to indulge in space guitar, Dwane crafts his chords from a different vantage that is rooted in a classical temperament, resulting in a refreshing, unique sound for his harmonious inventions.
Delicate strumming coexists with searing strings, a compendium that spawns a tasty atmosphere for the MIDI expressions that unfurl in a variety of sonic directions. Expansion is effortlessly accomplished, sending the listener to lofty heights. There, the intricate harmonics meld to form pleasant melodies riddled with a soft tension and a strong sense of cerebral illumination. Chilling winds caress the tuneage, evoking a crispness that fits well with the crystalline qualities exhibited by the music's overall demeanor. A sweeping perspective of the interstellar void as an emotional medium is captured, codified, and presented for the audience's enjoyment.
Artificially induced percussives inject a stately vigor to these drifting melodies, a bounciness that is wholly appealing.
Non-lyrical vocals are utilized few times to humanize the spacey music.
Middle Eastern strains are present in some of this tuneage, tempering astral predilections with earthly influences. This generates a cosmic link between antediluvian cultures and outer space, a favorite topic for Dwane's engaging compositions.
Enthralling and rewarding, this release explores sonic vistas that escalate ambience to a state of congenial stamina.
For more reviews of Dwane's releases, go here.
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