This disc comes from "The Brave, creator of the
multi-platinum Sacred Spirit and Grammy-nominated Sacred
Spirit II" and is apparently "the perfect discovery for music
lovers who think they've heard it all"! However, for all the hyperbole
which adorns every available space on the CD inserts and booklet,
this has to be one of the least stimulating listens I have had
for quite some time. While classical pieces form the basis of
several tracks (and very predictable the choices are too, in most
cases), this disc has its origins in the worlds of "Dance, Club,
and Beach music", and it shows; neither these perfectly legitimate
popular genres nor the classical world gains anything from the
cross-fertilisation offered here. The main reason is that there
is usually just too much going on, any real interest submerged
beneath layer upon layer of largely irrelevant and superfluous
sonic gloop, and this is definitely a situation where more quite
clearly means less. How do you make the music of Bach, Hildegard
von Bingen and the Russian liturgy boring - by drowning it in
sugary synthesisers and inane drumbeats! The booklet states that
"instead of just tossing some electronic beats over the music,
he approached each song with respect and has delicately added
contemporary elements to enhance the works without drowning them
out". That is not how these ears hear it. If you remember groups
like Deep Forest or even Enigma from the early 1990s, well, this
makes their efforts sound like Messiaen; an exaggeration, perhaps,
but does Barber's Adagio really need cathedral organ and
muted synthesisers to make it "haunting and beautiful at the same
time"? I thought it was anyway, and even more so in its original
incarnation for string quartet!
The whole package is unquestionably put together
with some skill but I am left asking again and again, why fix
something that isn't broken to start with? I have nothing against
crossover whatsoever when it takes the form of, say, Yo Yo Ma's
work with Appalachian or Oriental musicians, but the fact that
the first line of the booklet notes quote "The Brave" as saying
"This is chill-out music" sums it up perfectly. Released on Higher
Octave Music (via Virgin) whose "mission statement" is "We believe
there is a place within us all. It is a place of vision and clarity
where the rhythm of life moves in harmony with a higher consciousness,
the purpose of our music is to take you there", you just sense
that the contact address is going to be in Malibu, California.
Sorry, but even of its kind, this is highly predictable and disappointing
stuff - music to have your colon irrigated to, perhaps! Maybe
if I was on Prozac I might feel differently, but give me the source
musics any time!
Neil Horner
Written, produced,
arranged and performed by "The Brave" (Claus Zundel)