Brian Ales - Pan-centric - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

An encounter of the very special kind is provided by New York-based Sound-Designer Brian Ales, or - more specific - his most recent album PanCentric; a unique new blend of electronic sounds and ethno elements unfolding over a complex, pulsing groove basement. As opposed to his preceding recordings, Ales has this time completely relinquished the use of guitar pat-terns, which is a remarkable thing to do for a musician who is, besides being a much-wanted producer and composer of soundtracks, originally a guitar player. Moreover, it's no longer playful juggling of masked technical effects at the core of his music; Brian Ales has created himself a whole new sonic world, using samples and sounds as subtly as sensitively. Following his last album November, which presented itself as a comparatively jazzy picture of serene mood wherein brass lines carried most of the melodic work, PanCentric sets out to explore more uncharted territory. Influences of the most diverse origins define this production; to point out but a few, there's defamiliarized samples of the "Choir of the Church of the Apostles Revelation Society", a variety of 'ethnic' instruments played by multi-instrumentalist Matt Darriau (like Chinese pan flute, Bulgarian bagpipe, a double-reed-instrument) and much more. Sounds like these fuse with the vocals of Philip Hamilton, tightly woven drum-loops by Satoshi Takeishi and Brian Ales' electro-acoustic designs, forming an organic overall impression of audio-phile, soundtrackish character. Still true, even if PanCentric is Brian Ales' most 'electronic' album to date. "This time", he says, "I really dropped the curtain and let the electronics show. I used a lot of obviously synthetic sounds, and even let some engineering 'mistakes' stay in, just to let the gears and wheels show a little. It was a lot of fun being more free with the electronics, and now I'm really into