music albums reviews
Anantakara’s inspiring electronic music albums reviews
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a stunning album
There is nothing quite like being able to listen to the artistic endeavors of a musician who has such a grasp on mood motion and reality, and to that point, I am most grateful to be able to bring to you my thoughts on the latest release by Anantakara entitled Forgotten Key.
This is truly a quality album that has such wonderfully smooth tones and crisp but pertinent notes of value. By listening to the opening foray entitled Right Time – Right Place we have a track that hovers and floats around us, and vibrates at a resonance that manifests something so fascinating, that you will never ever wish to leave it environment.
A slight but sensitive back percussive element can be felt within this next track called Behind Below And Above, almost an alternate suggestion on Phil Thornton’s New Age classic called As Above So Below. Here the artist manifests waves of electronic music that drift, ebb, and flow, with a crafted keyboard that is the master off all that it surveys; this is an experimental arrangement that is simply idyllic for any seeker of a free musical sanctuary.
At the half way juncture we come across an offering that I adore, and I am sure that Eno himself would salute this track called Ask The Seer, the inspiration I drew from this piece as a musician was immense, moving from new age legends like Deuter to the aforementioned Eno. This is classic ambient music, a hovering intensity, a manifestation of musical genius to create a void in musical time and space and thus, Ask The Seer is born, this is ambience personified, this is without doubt my personal favourite track off the album.
A horse of a totally different colour can be found on this next composition called Unnamed Rituals. At times this is a track that drifts into the realms of Germany’s Al Gromer Khan, it has a wonderful ethereal flow to its back drop of ambience, whilst in the forefront, a minimalistic sense of a setting is so atmospheric and moody, and wrapped up in an environmental dome of musical pleasure.
Forgotten Key is a stunning album and pieces like La Force Du Coeur [That Heart Courage] shows me that the artist is literally touching the helm of composers like David Wright or Isao Tomita with ease, this is an offering that moves forward and back and from side to side, and whilst doing so compensates for every musical nuance along the way, and is without doubt one of the most inventive pieces from the album.
The last track off the album is called Times Are Changing, this is an arrangement that seems to coalesce and swim within itself, and whilst doing so manifest something different from its exit on the other side of the composition, a clever way to leave the album indeed.
Forgotten Key by Anantakara in my view is the artist’s best work so far; he has challenged his audience to step out of those preconceived boundaries of life, and offered up musical solutions and tones, in a sanctuary of musical ambience and artistic brilliance that I truly believe to be some of the most magnificent electronic music I have heard thus far this year.
(One World Music Radio)
(Cyprus/UK)
Boulimique de musique (Canada)
The Belgian artist with an instrumental work with meditative properties filled with sounds that act as a mental balm. From the first notes of this exceptional musical creation, the eardrums are bewitched by a soothing atmosphere. The magnificent images of the video clip that accompanies this track further amplify the effect of immersion in a world where time seems to slow down, if not stop.
luminousdash (bel)
With Forgotten Key, our countryman Philippe Wauman delivers his third album on the American Aural Films label. Wauman’s electronic sound calligraphy has also gained some notoriety on the other side of the ocean. The enormous dedication that this artist puts into his music manifests itself in a richly filled catalogue of interesting electronic spins. On Forgotten Key, Wauman once again kneads together a lush palette of sounds that result in a diverse blend of electronic music. The cinematic aspect is clearly present on Forgotten Key and therefore belongs perfectly on Aural Films, a label that publishes soundtracks of non-existent films.
Those who have been following Anantakara for a while know that the man from Louvain-La-Neuve challenges the listener with unexpected turns and atmospheres in his compositions. On previous albums we were sometimes presented with less balanced (read sloppy) changes. On Forgotten Key Wauman succeeds this time in fusing his electronic modeling (ambient, electronics, downtempo, ethnic and neoclassical styles) with a subdued and smoother production. Needless to say, a diversity of transformations pop up in the songs with a lot of hidden layers surfacing. Wauman indulges himself between the peaceful and mysterious ambient fragments with piano songs, Vangelis-like synthesizer work and avant-garde rustling.
On Forgotten Key, Anantakara succeeds in translating his ballistry and devotion into a captivating and varied album with plenty of sharp edges. There is a lot to enjoy on this electronic package that does not present itself as a bite-sized chunk. A second merit with this release is that Wauman increasingly displays his own style and a recognizable Anantakara sound. The road to a more original concept slowly comes to the surface with this album. Highly recommended for fans of tantalizing electronic tissues.
an art form all of its own
I have been following the musical pathways of Philippe Wauman in another guise for some years now, but here he partners with fellow electronic musician Frédéric Gerchambeau and thus produce between them one of the most fascinating EM journeys I have taken this year so far, with this new release entitled Ashta.
Here is Ashta, its meaning is eight in Sanskrit, and here this sojourn can be taken by crossing eight valleys, each associated with eight Crystals or stones. This is indeed a riveting subject, and I Indulged a couple of listens before beginning to write my thoughts, as the first time around I became so encapsulated by the subject matter and performances within, that I lost myself. This interests me deeply also, as a composer of ambient music myself, and one who has an interest in the properties of Crystals.
The trail starts with the gentle and ever onward The Amethyst Valley and then morphs into a far more intent offering entitled The Citrine Valley, both pieces highlight a truly addictive journey, and the styles of performances although different, accompany each other perfectly.
Our sea is the color of this next track, The Lapis-Lazuli Valley, and the stereo experience on my new headphones was blissful, this track again differed, with a few Jazz styled ethics; various amalgamated percussion could also be found within, and reminded me at times of another EM outfit in Sensitive Chaos (Jim Coombs).
The tracks flow with such precision and crafted care and attention, that it is utterly a pleasure to be a part of this musical experience. One of the finest examples of that for would be the piece The Topaz Valley, an arrangement that seemed to swirl around me in almost excitable energy and allowed me to drift into the concluding offering entitled The Journey Is The Destination, a piece with a powerful percussive essence, backed by some truly intent and intense synths, something about this reminded me slightly of turn of the century Al Gromer Khan, but heavier in construction and more complex in build and progression, but none the less a brilliant way to leave the album.
Ashta by Philippe Wauman & Frédéric Gerchambeau is an art form all of its own, it is a wonderfully symbiotic amalgamation of electronic music styles, one that to be honest I enjoyed immensely. Each track is a tale to be told on its own, and it is the perfect release for the listener who loves a musical adventure, taking ones as it goes, as the journey through Ashta is fascinating, intriguing, and enlightening.
(One World Music Radio)
(Cyprus/UK)
I was very surprised by this record. I didn’t expect it at all. I thought I was listening to electronic music, but yes and no. What struck me was the breadth of this music. A space opens up and expands as you listen. One exceeds the dimension of a music score. We are in the galactic space of music. And no, it is not at all soaring music.
I went from the spring bloom to the Hawaiian wave on which I surfed: the size of the wave, the size of the music.
Then I crossed paths with the 5th element and was lulled to sleep. And then I found myself facing, in a symphonic allegory. Who deposited me there, in the land of the samba and my pelvis danced and rolled down the stairs of Rio in a whirlwind of notes.
And then I arrived in New York, carried by the sax. And the music flies flies away.
And when it stopped, I said: already ?!
Caroline Guillou
boulimique de musique (Canada)
An instrumental composition with highly evolving electronic sounds. An audacious audiovisual project, highly stimulating for the senses! This sound and auditory fresco is a delight for fans of polyrhythm and particularly inspired multimedia works!
The Sounds Won't Stop ( USA)
[Citrine Valley] That song was super cool and cinematic for sure! I love the vibe
Dark Impala ( mexico)
[About Citrine Valley ]Wow, this track is so cool, I love it guys.
About Citrine Valley ] What an interesting song and sound you created here, but we absolutely loved it. It was moving, passionate, and really showed a lot of talent. The way it came together was the best for us, but it’s also so unique from anything else in the genre. Incredible work!
About the track… ( citrine valley)
It’s hard not to get into it. We are quickly caught by the sounds, by this very singular universe, but highly addictive. The created atmosphere is incredible, a mixture of full of influences, with a remarkable work on the sounds. And then, there is this detail which is not one: the piece “lives”, develops slowly, we are plunged as in sound history, in fact. It is really excellent! Bravo!
the whole album
“The two artists, experienced musicians, and world thinkers have set this journey to music in such a way that we can easily associate our thoughts with the listening. The ambient electronic minimalism, as well as the accuracy of the worked sounds, allow an immediate evasion. The questioning, as for him, comes slowly, as the compositions pass by. The quest for enlightenment, in the form of a river track at the conclusion of the album, is done by stages, necessary and obligatory passages. Beyond the concept, it is a great sound success.
No lies, this is an album that requires a lot of patience to let discover its charms. And they are numerous! Structures, for the most part disjointed and even crazy, ASHTA reveals that anti-music can serve as a springboard to astonishing structures that highlights the genius of Anantakara and of Frédéric Gerchambeau who sounds much better here than with my friend Bertrand Loreau.
Simply compelling.
NEWT (At Whose Feet is Eternity) by Anantakara is and was one of the finest electronic ambient works of the year, a year we can’t wait to see the back of in 2020. Here is an album that has five creative and very classy arrangements contained within, and in my view his best work so far.
NEWT (At Whose Feet is Eternity) by Anantakara is an album of stylish electronic compositions, created by an artist who I rate up there with Al Gromer Khan and Darshan Ambient, it is creative colorful, and descriptive, and the ambiance it manifests is simply compelling.
(One World Music Radio)
(Cyprus/UK)
Interesting sound!
Interesting sound! I enjoyed the way you constructed the whole sonic structure, the initial pattern, and the change of sounds you added when including the piano, it was an interesting contrast of sounds.
The dynamics of the track were nice, the subtle growth in intensity was interesting, enforced by the chromatic scales that kept sounding in the background.
The concept of the track is very interesting as well, I don’t know much about the myth of Nut but it seems like a very interesting thematic material.
The strings in the background at the final section of the track were a nice touch, the harmony was expressive and climatic.
Music To Stay Up Late At Night (Columbia) on She Who Bore the Gods ( track of the album)
Really great work
Very interesting concept for an album here, I really liked the quality of the production and the good progression! Very good use of panning and volume automation to bring up the dynamics of the song; slowly bringing the track alive with very subtle elements, really great work, we loved the concept, overall a brilliant electronic piece here.
Sinusoidal Music (India) about She Who Bore the Gods (track from the album)
Not always obvious but so attractive
I have become a big fan of Anantakara since I discovered Momentum Lapses in 2018. The Belgian musician has no equal when it comes to introducing earworms that haunt us without really knowing where they come from when we are hums it a few weeks and/or months later. NEWT [At Whose Feet is Eternity] is a rather disturbing neo-classical album that centers on the myth of Nut, the Egyptian goddess of sky and night. Nut had the particularity of swallowing the sun each evening to give birth to it the morning after. We cannot have a more dreamlike vision of a god or a goddess! Each title composed by Philippe Wauman is inspired by epithets that the ancient Egyptians chanted to her. We are far from the borders of the Berlin School here! Except that Anantakara always likes to tie some bonds here and there, in particular in its structures of rhythm. And, like always, there is a real danger of getting addiction from one listening to the other. In fact, Anantakara reminds me more and more of a fusion between Philip Glass and Mike Oldfield, in a more acoustic vision, while spreading very well all the diversity of EM made in Belgium.
Furtively, She Holds a Thousand Souls moves to the weight of a double bass walking side by side with sober keyboard chords. Sinister and disturbing, this slow procession is made up of minimalist art with a violin and a cello stuck to it, carving their harmonies in a silk of melancholy fear. And it’s the piano’s turn to hammer out its frank and trembling notes and to inflict on them a destiny of pain which goes to the same place as this double bass that has disappeared from the background. She reappears after a bridge of ceremonial breezes in a haunting second part of She Holds a Thousand Souls which comes alive with an electronic enuresis before ending its procession in a more spiritual setting. It’s in the echo of the double bass’ notes that In Whose Hand is the Always screeches in a sonorous cornucopia, creating the colors and the effect of a majestic rainbow. The title then marries this wonderful rhythmic rout that Edgar Froese gratified our ears in his wonderful Stuntman. Elastic bass and shamanic percussions, In Whose Hand is the Always structures a superb ambient trance in a rhythmic vision of Berlin School with a more than seductive acoustic vision. This is the kind of air that obsesses us from listening to listening, as its musical envelope is rich and protean in terms of the instruments and especially their nuances in tones.
Lady of the Sycamore’s music fits very well with the image one can has of the title in his black and white vision of Picture Palace Music. The resonant bass weaves a sinister texture on a zigzagging rhythm made up of a series of circular riffs. A piano pierces this velum tinted with felt and masked by reverberations, while a latent madness lurks. The resulting rhythm is based on the circadian movement of a metronome struggling to maintain its authority over a texture of quavering and ghostly murmurs. This is the kind of track that requires a few listening. And it’s the same with She Who Bore the Gods, arguably the most disturbing and complex track in NEWT [At Whose Feet is Eternity]. The opening is based on the phases of hesitation between bass and piano versus the driving force behind the often phantasmagorical atmospheres that are usual in this short 37-minute album. Bass and piano are in evidence as an odd air, a bit like in In Whose Hand is the Always, which spreads its veil of slightly cold cackles. Anantakara is feeding this circle having developed a certain harmonic cohesion with layers of violins whose short ambient staccatos are pecked by percussive clicks also dancing on piano notes. Each new element erasing another, we find ourselves alone with the bass for a second round. The piano takes up its ritornello in a slow finale in hues of Jazz and cinematographic music for a black and white film filled with these shaky thin black lines, auditory here, which give it this appearance of obsessive neurotic. This part seems to me be the only misstep of this album whose happy conclusion is made with this piano and double bass duo in a harmony more than easy to whistle from One Who Hears.
Not always obvious but so attractive, Anantakara flirts constantly with the limits of our tolerance in order to play within the fields of acoustic psychedelia to finally offer in NEWT [At Whose Feet is Eternity] this fabulous journey where music has no more borders.
Sylvain Lupari ( synthsequence.com)
( Canada)
A great album that I highly recommend.
“Serenity Despite The Storm is the most realistic album I’ve heard about emotions versus global containment”
SERENITY DESPITE THE STORM is the most realistic album I’ve heard about emotions versus global containment. I believe that its acoustic side has something to do with it, thus creating a sensation of promiscuity as tangible as that which ties us in from the first breaths of Manyfold Quiet Trances. No matter how much I dig, but I can’t find a dead moment there. A great album that I highly recommend, even if we are quite far from the Berlin School. Except that fans of Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma era will be delighted by this Anantakara.
A peaceful splendor
The mix of electronic melodies and soundscapes underlines the duality of tranquility and restlessness in the psyche. Philippe Wauman uses his confinement as a catalyst to produce a peaceful splendor. The wide range of ambient, electronic, and ethnic sounds are caressed between the ears. The message on Serenity Despite The Storm is more than clear; Anantakara creates a salutary electronic work during the current tsunami of unrest.
PATSKER OMAER BEGUIN on https://luminousdash.be/
A state of mind of serenity
Another fine album by Anantakara who used the lockdown in this corona crisis to reflect on some of the emotions that this special period has triggered in people. By describing and perhaps reliving these emotions, he takes us to a state of mind of serenity. He does it the way we are used to with a palette of synthesizers with an emphasis on classical sounds. The album opens with an ethereal voice that initially takes us into a silent verbal trance to culminate after a while in a gently undulating sequencer river. In Alluvium we hear tinkling bells with an intriguing loop in the background that radiates a certain threat. Handsome in its simplicity. In Serenity, after about 3 minutes, the melancholy melody slowly but surely settles in our heads and never lets go. As the song unfolds further, hope slowly floats to the surface. Here is the state of mind that I love so much. The wise and reflecting lake reads and listens as a poetic visual description. Walking again is a nice rhythmic exercise seasoned with all kinds of mysterious sounds. The first sounds of Link to the mountain seems to take us to an oriental temple, but soon a disturbed rhythm takes over. It’s obvious that the mountain demands a steady effort from the listener. At the end of this beautiful album, we are further spoiled with a fantastic video where Anantakara visualizes his own state of mind through a revival of the beautiful track Serenity.
johan de paepe aka owann
Awesome moments here and moments of tenderness unique to Anantakara.
It’s a tough album with sharp twists in the 12 tracks that have this very intimate thread connecting them to each other. There are moments of pure madness, as there are moments of pure genius. These moments are more numerous, leading us little by little to the discovery of an album where even his music always transcends its logical borders a little more.
[…] AMOR MUNDI (Life As An Infinite Flow) is not for all ears. But creativity quickly resurfaces in the middle of this record that we learn to love with each new listening. There are awesome moments here and moments of tenderness unique to Anantakara. To discover and listen to it alone.Sylvain Lupari
(Canada)
An astonishing opus
An exciting and compelling album, complex yet compelling, grandiose and varied, inspired by SPINOZA and his vision of the world. Amor Mundi is an album that seeks to integrate all the beauties of the universe, all its aspects, all its richness.[…] With Amor Mundi, ANANTAKARA gives us an astonishing opus in truth, rich in a beautiful harmonic and sonic aestheticism, to listen and listen again to savor its multiple facets.
A captivating release.
An album that all fans of electronic music, seekers of ambiance, and worshipers of truly artistic tones will adore, it’s a journey that never ends, but one that will create layer upon layer of expectation, intent, and anticipation as you listen. If this appeals to your sense of musical perception, then you need to make this album a home in your musical world as soon as possible.
Steve Sheppard
Meditative music with a zest of creation
n a year, I get a lot of requests to hear an album in order to write a review about it. The list is long and in this one, there is an incredible number of unknown artists to my ears who offer albums of all kinds, as long as synths and sequencers are used on it. No need to write that my ears hear of all the tonal colors! And there are good surprises. Nice discoveries like this one; Anantakara. A Philippe Wauman’s project, a Belgian musician who defines himself as a contemplative sound calligrapher, Anantakara, a Sanskrit adjective meaning to make infinite, proposes in MOMENTUM LAPSES a little jewel for the pleasure of the sounds and ambiances which flirt with a New Age rather progressive, even experimental.
Arpeggios whose limpidity is dancing with their sibylline shadows accompany the smothered knocks in the very theatrical opening of Momentum. Immediately, gurgles flutter in this setting embellished by waves with abrasive rays which come and go in a tonal envelope always growing. A synth wave perfumed of Mark Isham’s trumpet tones explores these ambiences, giving it a seraphic charm that adds to the dramatic power of this charming opening title. And that’s not all! Keyboard riffs take on an orchestral garb and sculpt a ballet choreography with a gentle staccato movement whose intensity is driven by percussions that are very limited but oh so well placed. The piano also sets its delicate notes in a finale that swaps its passive rhythm for a brief movement of sound oasis, just before resuming the rhythm of classical dance that brought Momentum to its emotional bloom. The tone is set and the music of MOMENTUM LAPSES is launched. The orchestrations are less jerky in The High meets the Low which, having left chords juggling in suspension, animates the ambiances with clanic tom-toms. Sound jewels gravitate suspended on this rhythm very close to the spiritual trance and the synth waves smear the horizons with rays which flirt with the doors of oblivion. Breath of an Unstained Desire does in music decomposition with a rather daring approach where everything seems to be played backwards. The result is amazing. Even if one recognizes small bits of structures that come and go in this 7th album of Anantakara, including a beautiful finale more musical, we are rather in the perfumes of Universe Zero here. Intuition’s Breeze takes us on the paths of an unarmed war with a bass line whose resonances found echo in the tears of the Martenot waves. The rhythm without bumps progresses beneath a sonic sky well adorned by multiple synth streaks full of strident weeping and by electric piano notes which sparkle in a contracted melodious approach. The percussions, which have been grafted in all subtlety around the 3 minutes, give a second rhythmic breath to this title that caught my attention from the first listening. Slow and very sinister in its development, The Great Chi in the Sky has nothing to do with this Rick Wright classic in Dark Side of the Moon! Its rhythm is slow, like a giant clock whose pendulum intimidates and orders submission. The chords and arrangements which sculpt it are king of its sneaky musicality, since they magnetize our attention while deploying a musical force that forms a din that still remains at the doors of a fascinating musicality. These sounds, these notes as well as these orchestrations on continuous evolutions in order to create musical layers on a bed of slow, almost hypnotic rhythms, are the strength of this album of which one never knows on which foot to dance … or on which neuron to meditate. Ditto for Doorways to Unnamed Power which, on the other hand, is more complex and more evasive in its melodious approach. The light rhythm, Spiral Bridge to Timelessness unfolds like a series of melodies chained in a music box. Percussions and percussive effects are just divine here. Those with blown glass tones tickle the ears, and start this chain of melodies, while others closer to the real offer a clever mix of Tibetan tribal and oriental tribal in a soundscape adorned with graffiti and fantasy which can possible only by the means of EM and its vast array of equipment. The final sprinkles our ears with a Steve Roach fragrance. An affirmation that is necessary considering the opening of The Meaning in Every Curves and Lines. The peculiarity of this title are these lassos of sounds that come and go like immense sound fronds whereas gradually a slow rhythm imposes its stability in a kind of esoteric Groove with another display of percussive effects high in colors.
The color and the calligraphy of the sounds is the goal aimed by Anantakara and force is to admit that MOMENTUM LAPSES reaches Philippe Wauman’s real intentions. All in all, it’s an amazing album that is musical enough for the genres imposed through a delightful palette of tones and a sound aesthetic that does justice to the ambitions of the Belgian multi-instrumentalist. Meditative music with a zest of creation that brings us into a world where few artists dare to venture!
Sylvain Lupari
An astonishing opus
An exciting and compelling album, complex yet compelling, grandiose and varied, inspired by SPINOZA and his vision of the world. Amor Mundi is an album that seeks to integrate all the beauties of the universe, all its aspects, all its richness.[…] With Amor Mundi, ANANTAKARA gives us an astonishing opus in truth, rich in a beautiful harmonic and sonic aestheticism, to listen and listen again to savor its multiple facets.
inspired by Jung
Hard! Very hard, but there are good moments that justify this roughness balance between light and dark. This is now what one has named; Intelligent Ambient Music (IAM)
Sylvain Lupari
(Canada)