Floorian have been a mainstay of American space rock for almost 20 years now. At Your Surface is their fourth album, an album steeped in edgy, psychedelic investigations rippling through many shadowy layers. The pace of the album is perhaps a bit more languid than previous works, as the band explores a narcotic, mesmerizing world of sonic mysteries. The overall sound of At Your Surface is misty and murky, and I mean that in the best way. I mean it in the sense that Floorian’s sound is deep and sonorous, oceanic in nature (as the cover art suggests), as the listener floats on its fog haunted surface, aware of the murky depths below that conceal a sense of overwhelming mystery. I immediately h
Phil Thornton has had a long career in music, as a member of prog rock band Stallion in the 70’s, psychedelic synthpop band Expandis in the 80’s, and space rock/world dance-music band Mandragora in the 90’s, to name a few. He’s also had a prolific solo career since the earlier 80’s, having released over 30 albums. Phil’s music combines elements of deep ambient, new age, psychedelic, tribal fusion and soundtrack and world music. His latest album, the all instrumental Seven Rings, is a collaboration with didgeridoo master Sika, who also plays native flutes, bullroarer, ocarina, rattles and provides nature recordings. For his part, Thornton plays synths, e-bow guitar, chicken flute, and recorde
On the 40th anniversary of the release of his original Oxygène album, electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre releases the 3rd installment in the series, simply titled Oxygène 3. Returning once again to the liquid, analogue synth sounds that brought him to world-wide attention 40 years ago, Jarre has crafted a nicely flowing, melodic album of seven pieces that drift one into the next for near 40 minutes of pure electronic music. On Oxygène 3, Jarre mostly resists the temptation to give into modern electronica sounds (as he did on his last two albums). Although there are a few nods to more contemporary electronica sounds, for the most part he eschews thumping beats and repetitive melodies. What
Cydonia is the latest release from UK musician Kevin Heard. Heard is a multi-instrumentalist who plays an astonishing array of instruments on the album including acoustic & electric guitars, 12 string guitar, flute, tenor saxophone, ukulele, recorder, Roland JD-XI synthesizer, bass guitars, drum programming & additional percussion. Cydonia is a concept album telling the story of the first colonists on Mars in the year 2038 and their unusual relationship with the red planet. The album kicks off with Mars Orbit Rendezvous/Cydonia, a spacey intro leading into majestic space rock riffing with sweeping, orchestral-like synths that imbue the music with a Middle Eastern feel. The sound is huge, evo
