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Sara Ayers
The album opens with the evocative "Winter and the Sound of Nothing" Graceful and gentle washes of layered wordless vocals, drifting on a bed of synth pads bring a deep sense of resignation and resolve to the song, as the piece winds down by spiralling into a slow dissolve, as if the memory of a cold winter's night was being slowly erased by a deeper, yet comforting, blackness. "Sylvatica", the title cut begins with a looped vocal phrase, which repeats for about two minutes, while layers of vocal chorus and keyboards fade into the mix. Ayers takes the listener on a powerful journey that projects images, moods, and physical impressions across the mind. "Starless" begins like a dreamy Patrick O'Hearn ballad, with a somber vocal chorus and a quietly rhythmic synth bass in the background. The lead vocal track fades in creating an atmosphere where conventional understanding and meaning of time completely breaks down. Ayers paints a surrealistic image of the barren, isolated, "starless" night sky. The next piece, "Flight" begins like a Steve Reich minimalist composition, incorporating a repeated loop in the beginning; an accapella vocal which loops the phrase, "lonely, ...a feather falls" repeatedly, ... forming a rhythmic structure with the words. This segues into layered vocals combining with into slow evolving pads, and upright piano. Then, Sara's delicate voice begins the lyrics. Her voice caresses the song with a dark air of mystery. This song is like a very special letter, written by a wise friend; the news it carries is current, but its real message is timeless. The composition "21 Years," inspired from "2/1" from Brian Eno's Music for Airports, while sounding almost like Eno's original version, fits in well with the mix of songs, and stands head and shoulders above the group 'Bang on a Can's note by note acoustical translation of Eno's 1978 masterpiece. "Falling Silent, Crushing Mix" is a somber composition; a work of both substance and subtlety, where everything is not as it at first appears. A ringing metal sound like a giant Tibetan singing bowl, creates a mesmerising bed of sound, which evolves into a wall of "Fripertronic" sounding feedback. It embraces both the darkest despair and cathartic exultation which can encompass the experience of life. "Are You Coming Home," is a montage of spoken word mixed with layered vocals. Klaus Schulze, the German ambient pioneer, called his music "picture music". This would certainly fit the bill. I was experiencing my own "cinema of the mind" as I listened to the myriad of images within this piece. 'Lachrymatory' reminded me of some of the best songs of Sheila Chandra in her trilogy of releases for Real World. It features chants performed in by combining Celtic and Bulgarian harmonic styles that blend the harmonic structure and dissonance of both cultures. Ayers combines modes of expression from these cultures in exciting new ways. "Soundtrack to Angel #3" is a very relaxing, very meditative piece. It's like a extended, slowly-evolving exploration into subdued and dreamlike states of consciousness. It opens with slow, subdued harmonies that linger in the borderland between melody and pure ambience, and gradually develop into huge, almost solid presences of sound. The textures are smooth and flowing - an unrelentless aura of atmospherics pervade an optimistic yet timeless interlude. This piece takes the listener down untrodden trails, and into landscapes of undisturbed and untouched natural splendor. "Dream of Noise" is a composition of dark atmospherics and long drones which are mantra like - they seem to pierce to my very core of being, it's hypnotic, life flowing and sensuous music. Though at times possessed of a dynamic range as wide as any classical music, the key to a full appreciation of Ayers' sonic theatre is subtlety. "Dream of Noise" prepares the listener for the closing track. "Of The Woods" begins with a deep bass synth like a giant rumbling cello. Slowly synth pads fade in utilizing great harmonic structure. Sara's voice is like a ghost, appearing in a spectral field panning from channel to channel ( amazing with headphones). Ayer's best melanges of intuitive vocals, sophisticated electronics, and acoustic sounds can summon feelings and images from the deepest wellsprings of human experience; sadness and joy, rapture and melancholy, comfort and loneliness. "Of The Woods" brings us full circle on this imaginative musical journey. Thus ends the voyage, as the music slowly fades, leaving behind a slipstream of images, and memories stirred. In summary, the music and the sound is very sophisticated. This deeply reflective, highly evocative music weaves its own kind of universal magic, touching even the casual listener deeply. Sara Ayers has a musical sensibility and sensitivity that belong to another time... a time when intimate thoughts were best expressed by someone sitting down, setting pen to paper, and sending their innermost feelings by land or sea, to be read by the intended a few days or weeks later... in short, a time when "time" really counted. "Sylvatica" will surely be regarded as a benchmark of ambient music for years to come. Review by Ben Kettlewell information: |
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With
the release of 'Sylvatica', her most impressive album to
date, Sara Ayers has really matured as a musician, and a
composer since she formed The Dialtones with Jennifer
Anderson in 1979. There is a hovering of mystique in the
means by which Sara Ayers envelops the listener with the
various timbres and harmonics she incorporates into the
pieces. The music evokes feelings of comfort and warmth.
Spacious, floating, and ethereal, the combined use of her
voice as a musical instrument, with samplers and synths seem
to stretch out and envelop everything, blanketing it in a
layer of billowy softness. Give the music the space that it
asks, and it can be exhilaratingly powerful and profoundly
moving.