If English is your first language and you could translate my old Italian text, please contact me.
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I Trance To The Sun di Ashkelon Sain e Zoe Alexandra Wakefield
sono fra i tanti gruppi che trasportano il pop atmosferico di Dead Can Dance e
Cocteau Twins in ambito gotico.
Formati a Santa Barbara, esordirono con Ghost Forest (Tess, 1994).
Quelli di
Bloom Flowers Bloom (Tess, 1995) sono lieder ambientali per elettronica,
chitarra, percussioni e canto.
Il sound delicato di You So You F, per nebulose d'accordi e gorgheggi d'opera
e le astrazioni new age di A Sun Lingering Disease
non valgono in realta` i brani dal ritmo piu` pronunciato, la vertigine
da delirio di Fish & Knife, o l'arringa veemente di Trans-Lucia (Patti
Smith agli angeli),
Una ritmica dub e jazz fa di Spiderlike un incubo piu` intenso.
Le sincopi ballabili, i vocalizzi eterei e gli esotismi vellutati di
Fin e Yellow Hair spostano il baricentro verso il progressive-rock.
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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Venomous Eve (Ambulancia, 1995) was greeted as a milestone for gothic
electronic music.
After Delirious (Ambulancia, 1997), the band released
Azalean Sea (Ambulancia, 1998), a collection of unreleased material.
On Urchin Tear Soda (Precipice, 1999)
Trance To The Sun's atmospheric songs have vastly improved from a purely
sonic point of view, but still lack the bite that would make them a lasting
experience.
The languid cocktail-lounge soul-pop of
Calling All Vanished Airplanes harbors textures of immense
sophistication, propelled by techno-funky rhythms of Peter Gabriel magnitude.
In general,
Sain's scores aim for a suspense that sounds ever more noir than gothic
and often hint at chamber music (Swing Lower, Czar Chasm).
But at last in Heart Transplant a propulsive rhythm pushes the
envelop and enters techno territory.
Two ten-minute suites crown the album. A plethora of sounds and techniques
helps paint soundscapes of minute detail and broad perspective.
Spider Planet's three movements recall progressive-rock in
its heyday (early Genesis and King Crimson).
Vortex Airplane Itinerary is a more dissonant and sparse affair,
with Steve Roach's electronic music in mind and a coda of otherwordly noises.
It may very well be Sain's masterpiece.
The duo's weakness are the vocals. The female singer only "speaks" over the
music, thereby detracting from the score.
Sain, on the other hand, has achieved the stature of a full-fledged electronic
composer, and should try a solo instrumental album.
His crowded compositions would fare well in any auditorium.
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