Album Reviews

Ocean of Light - Best of AD Vol 1

Sacred Skies - Best of AD Vol 2

Review by Deadearnestreviews

One hundred and fity eight minutes of music across two CD's and 36 tracks by lord knows how many different artists - hey!!! - I'm a great reviewer, but I'm not superman!! (No, actually, I'm not!!!) I COULD do this track by track, but "War And Peace" has already been published!! So let's cut to the chase - let's assume you don't have anything, or no significant amount of albums, on the A.D music label. You're a synth music fan who has a generally wide taste in electronic music. You love strong rhythms, good melodies, a decent tune and solid production - you like shorter tracks and nothing that goes on so long you feel it was begun as the Ark was being built. You like synth music but the occasional guitar doesn't do any harm. You like your rhythms to be chunky, even occasionally the dreaded "A" word (ambient to all ye non-believers) but nothing that sounds like you could dance to it.

You like music to which you can turn off the lights, sit by the fireside and let your imagination take off to distant universes - atmospheric, warm, feeling! You love the richness of string synths but hate the blandness of "new age" - you like to hear the occasional piano lead as long as it has notes that sound suspended in the air - and you like your music to be multi-textured - plenty happening but nothing too busy. You are schooled on three decades of synth music but are always open to something new as long as it's instant and long-lasting.

Sound familiar? Do you conform to most of this?

If the answer is a resounding "yes", then - like compilations or not - you owe it to yourself to get these two albums. For they are EXACTLY the stuff of your musical dreams, if what I have just described conforms to your musical dreams.

Bekki Williams, The Kobalt Project, Code Indigo, Robert Fox, David Wright, Witchcraft, Raviv Gazit, Callisto, Enterphase and Catalin Martin will all thank you for buying these - OK, not personally - as I said, I'm not Superman - and who knows - you may find an A.D. music spell under which you are about to fall - a label producing such quality electronic music (which it does!!!) that you'll hear these and wondered how on earth you've managed to ignore it all this time .

So, for now, let these be your collection - your doorway to a new and gorgeous world of synths, sequencers, percussive and keyboards music excellence.

Review by Synthtopia.com

The largely instrumental tracks on Ocean of Light explore new age, melodic space music and chill out styles. The cuts share a relaxed vibe, and have an attractive surface without sacrificing depth. Label honchos David Wright and Robert Fox show up in several combinations and permutations, along with Bekki Williams, The Kobalt Project, Witchcraft, Enterphase, Raviv Gazit & Catalin Marin.

Several tracks stand out on the album. Code Indigo's 24 AM is lovely, mixing new age orchestration with jazz-influenced piano. David Wright's Beyond Paradise has the relaxing seaside vibe of Vangelis' Oceanic, conjuring images of a beach paradise. Wright's A Certain Malaise moves into chill out territory, combining modern percussion sequencing with laid back synth work.

Witchcraft's tracks Ultraviolet & We Rest are vocal tracks that fall somewhere between gothic ambient and the French electronica of Air. Their tracks are stylish and imaginative, and the vocals are atmospheric enough that they fit well with the instrumental tracks. Raviv Gazit's Ov1 is another treat. Gazit builds his tracks on dance-friendly chill out rhythms, and spices them up with world influences and interesting synth work. His one short track here leaves you wanting more.

Callisto's Elara showcases the group's feel for classic synth music. The track combines Berlin-school sequencing with some symphonic electronica that should give frustrated Jarre and Vangelis fans a fix. If that's not enough for classic synth fans, Enterphase dive deep into stripy sequencer territory with Snow Paths.

Romanian composer Catalin Marin contributes the final track, Postlude. This brief symphonic electronic track also recalls the work of Vangelis, complete with string synth, choir sounds and crashing cymbals. Marin has his own melodic flair, though, and makes the style his own.

Ocean of Light is a relaxing and rewarding introduction to the artists of A.D. Music. Fans of melodic electronica that are not familiar with the label will find this a great place to start. Don't be surprised, though, if it leaves you wanting to hear more from A.D. artists!

Ocean of Light - Best of AD Vol 1

Review by Sylvain Lupari for Guts Of Darkness

AD Music is an English label which specializes in harmonious EM, rhythmic with a progressive touch. Founded in 1989, the label built a solid reputation around EM fans and circles. Their productions are refreshing, a comfortable mix of lightness, freedom and imagination. It is musical poetry with diversified styles, sailing between the melodies of Enigma and Mike Oldfield. It is on this label that we find artists as famous as Robert Fox, David Wright and Code Indigo. But there are other very promising names which we know little about. I think in particular of Bekki Williams, Raviv Gazit, Enterphase, Kobolt and Callisto. Ocean of Light is an excellent way of discovering them. Two new titles were added; Sub Aqua by Bekki Williams and Ocean by Light of Kobolt, a group created by the two Massey brothers.

Ocean of Light is a superb collection which will enable you to discover astonishing artists, with complex dimensions, sometimes progressive, but always harmonious. Superb ballads like 24 AM, Beyond Paradise, Ultraviolet, Water Music, Stasis, We Rest and Postlude will bring you into the arms and caresses of Morpheus. Much of what you hear on this superb album will soothe the spirit, but it isn't relaxation music. New Berlin School with rhythmic sequences on complex structures is also well represent with Ocean of Light, Queen of Hearts, In the Arms of Morpheus, And All Shall Be Well, Ovi, Elara and Snow Paths. And there are also titles a little harder, with heavy percussions and riffs A Certain Malaise, Code14 and astonishing Ov1 by Raviv Gazit, an unknown artist for me who is worth further investigation.

One year after the publication of this CD, AD Music produced a DVD with the same compilation, adding 2 bonus titles; Iosphere from Callisto and Fading by Bekki Williams. The topic being water, the luminosity of the reflections on water, AD Music presents 20 titles, for nearly 90 minutes where the wonderful music is accompanied by a superb video. We see water everywhere in all its forms; she runs, dances, torments, falls and bubbles. The result is certainly one of the most beautiful audio/DVD I have seen. Very beautiful music with stunning images is what awaits you on Ocean of Light (Best of AD Music Vol 1) DVD. Give yourself a treat, follow the current and start your quest to discover AD Music talent. Let these compositions cast their spell. This collection is a marvellous album which reaches into the soul.

Sylvain Lupari for Guts Of Darkness; French Home of Dark & Experimental Music

Ocean of Light

Review by Steve Roberts

A superb compilation featuring artists from the AD Music Label and an essential introduction for the uninitiated with a couple of previously unreleased tracks to tempt those with more than a couple of these albums already in their collection.

Bekki Williams' previously un released 'Sub Aqua' starts proceedings with a lushly evocative tone poem before 'Ocean of Light' by Cobalt (D. Massey and P. Massey) also exclusive to this release, makes its mark, reminiscent, not surprisingly given the personnel, of a stripped down Callisto 'Ocean of Light' is an infectious melody impeccably performed and recorded.

'24 AM' from Timecode follows. An exquisite Wright/Fox composition that will have you stacking up those Code Indigo albums for heavy rotation. Cinematic, with jazz tinged textures adding to the air of world weary melancholy. Sheer class.

This is then followed by Robert Fox's sublime 'Queen of Hearts'(remix) which is taken from the undervalued Trance AD album. Fox's magnificent melody and subtle sense of dynamics still send shivers down the spine.

'Beyond Paradise' from David Wright's outstanding 'Walking With Ghosts' album is joined by 'A Certain Malaise' and the title track 'Walking With Ghosts', more than enough to confirm the album's status. Bekki's 'In The Arms of Morpheus' (remix) demonstrates her work with effective light and shade and ambient textures.

Robert Fox is further represented by 'And All Shall Be Well' from'The Fire and the Rose' and 'Water Music' from 'Talking Heads, the former being more representative of the composer's epic flourishes and the latter another sublime track demonstrating Fox's compositional skill and rich sonic textures and increasingly keen sense of dynamics. Code Indigo tracks 'Code 14' from 'For Whom the Bell' and 'Stasis' from "Timecode" and 'Snow Paths' are timely reminders of how great this band is and really deserve greater crossover success and acclaim.

Enterphase are represented by the gently evocative "Snow Paths" from "Solar Promenades". AD Music's best kept secret, Witchcraft, is also represented here and offers an interesting alternative to the above with 'Ultraviolet' from 'Scattered Areas of Invisibility' and 'We Rest' from 'As I Hide' demonstrating the versatility and diversity of the AD stable of artists with some rare vocal contributions. I remember reviewing Raviv Gazit's 'Shapeshifter' album and suggesting that he would be ideally suited to join the Froese's to give an infusion of freshness and innovation to Tangerine Dream compositions. 'Ov1' demonstrates these qualities admirably and is not even the best cut from the album. 'Postlude', probably included as much for the suitability of the title and its running time represents the brilliant 'First Breath' album by Catalin Marin, an essential album if you are a fan of Vangelis at his melodic best.

There you have it, quite simply a first class compilation of melodic electronic/ambient music from an innovative label that more than deserves your attention and patronage. An ideal starting point for someone unfamiliar with the label and the artists and of considerable interest to completists as well

Timeless

Review by Deadearnestreviews.

This collection shows the breadth and depth of the man's musical career to date and is a remarkable showcase of the variation and range of electronic music that Fox has produced. To his credit - although some would say "arguably" at this point - most of his tracks here not only don't conform to the clich'd synth music categories, but also don't sound like any other musician. Sure, there are hints of 30 years of greatness as artists from Tangerine Dream & Vangelis to Vimal, Roach, Oldfield and Enigma are recalled as melodies, rhythms samples and soundscapes pass by, but the overall effect is that the compositions are individual and unique - this is Robert Fox and no-one else.

Yet by the end of it, you still haven't pinned him down. Mostly rhythmic, and generally strongly electro- percussive or just plain percussive, some of the tracks have an etho-ambient foundation to them while others are based more on the traditional electro-percussive synth structures. He uses string synths a fair bit to provide the lush textures that serve as an expanse or a backdrop to much of the intricately composed and played melodic detail that is going on above all this. The tracks all possess a very deep, warm, human, almost analogue, sound to them and, despite the relative variation between tracks (one that actually lessens the more you get into the album), the whole thing hangs together superbly as a great introduction - even a collection in itself - to the remarkable and highly creative, easily digestible and thoroughly spiritual music of Robert Fox - treat yourself!! - you won't regret a minute of it.

Trance AD - the Remixes

Review by In the Mix.com

You must own this album! Why you ask? Read on... A.D. Music (A.D.) came into being in 1989, a product of David Wright's desire to create a label and creative space for melodic ambient music. In 1995 Wright joined forces with Robert Fox's private FX Music label and the rest, as they say, is history. One of the most influential synth labels of all time, UK based A.D. has many talented artists on its roster, including its founders and their Code Indigo project, Bekki Williams and Robert de Fresnes. With over 15 years in the business and 46 releases to date, this little-known label has survived due to its integrity and consistent delivery of high quality synth music with real emotive power.

Synth music has a long and colorful 40 year history. Artists in the synth community are often criticized, their sound being labeled as dated and plastic. What the critics miss though, is the complex evolution of sound and method that synth has undergone since its 80's synth pop days. It's impossible to overvalue the influence that luminaries such as Vangelis, Kraftwerk and Jean Michael Jarre have had on shaping music across the whole spectrum of music. However, though these artists once epitomized the sound, synth has come along way since their contributions. These days, synth artists are largely concerned with creating rich aural atmospheres of texture and melody, heavily influenced by advances in technology.

A trance release may thus seem an abrupt digression for a label that specializes in synth atmospherics and indeed it is. However, upon listening to this release, one quickly comes to the realization of just how similar the two styles are. The original versions of the tracks are rich and complex soundscapes typical of the labels' 'evolutionary ambient' philosophy. In a flash of inspiration, AD decided to let various extremely talented producers take this already amazing music and infuse it with their own unique trance sound. The end result is an absolutely mind blowing collection of music. Neither the original artists nor the re mixers are well known outside their particular niche-genres. This has no bearing on their skills though and it is thanks to the special talents of these artists that Trance AD - The Remixes, shines as such a rare gem. It's very exciting to listen to something so bold in its approach to redefining the boundaries! Released in 2002, Trance AD has all the markings of a timeless classic. Lets take a look at what's on offer.

Tap the play button and you are immediately catapulted into the world of the sublime. The first track, Rune Casting, is simply mesmerizing! From its haunting mythological chants to its soaring peaks of synthesizer glory, Rune Casting is a striking piece of music. MAT's re mixing work has turned this Robert de Fresnes' tune into an inspiring piece of uplifting symphonic bliss. Subsequent tracks like Odessa, Labyrinth, OV1 and Listen are all truly captivating. It's almost impossible to find trance music of this level of sophistication circulating around. Female keyboard artist Bekki Williams' melodic Morpheus and Witchcraft's haunting We Rest end off a journey through floaty harmonies and colorful space music. As warm and melodic as they are soft and shadowy, the first eight tracks take you for a trip to new age with a pulse.

The tempo kicks up a notch with M.A.T.'s remix of Catalin's Nandana on track nine with its deepest of deep grooves and glowingly warm analog harmonics which lead seamlessly into Queen of Hearts, one of Robert Fox's finest works. Dramatic, soothing and melancholic, it really is quite superb! The metronomic rhythm and perfectly sequenced atmospherics are accentuated by Jon Schulze's poetic remix finesse. Odessa Ambience, the spaced-out sister of Odessa, is another exquisite composition and my pick of the lot.

Messier 87 breathes some of his cosmic remix dust into this already majestic song, taking the album to even greater heights! Luscious layer after layer of intricate sound finally eases into the final track, Code Indigo's Code 14 (Kosmos Remix). TranceAD is simply too beautiful for words!

Listening to this album is like flying through fluffy white clouds of abstracted lucidity, watching the echoes of previous civilizations' consciousness floating gently around the swirling glow of your mind. Still reading? Go and buy it! Now!! There are 0 user comments, click here to view or post your own.