This video captures Vangelis at what is probably his bombastic peak – performing Mythodea: Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens on June 28, 2001.

Mythodea was made the official theme music of the mission involving the NASA unmanned spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars.

I prefer Vangelis’s more electronic work – partially because it seems like a waste to have an orchestra of hundreds performing such simple stuff and partially because Vangelis has such a great ear for symphonic electronic orchestration. 

Let me know what you think!

Music Composed, Arranged and Produced by Vangelis.
Electronic Keyboards by Vangelis.
The London Metropolitan Orchestra
Blake Neely, Conductor
The National Opera of Greece Choir

The lyrics that are allegedly sung by the choir are:

Dia Ela (Come Zeus)
Esy Pe Di (Almighty,you must)
Dia Erota,Zito Sy Ela (Zeus Eros,I call for you to come)
Dia Sy Thee Mou (Zeus my God)
Eso Men Sy,Esy Pe Thee (You’re inside us,you Almighty God)
En Zi Theos (God lives inside)
Zito Te Tin Mitera Thee(I call for the Mother,God)
Men I Ek Tou Dia Men (Coming from Zeus)
Moni Ek Tou Dia Men (Only from Zeus)
Pe Zef,Pe Di (Zeus Almighty you must)
Deomeni Arhontos Dii (We pray to Lord Zeus)
Deomeni Deomen Si (Praying we call for you)
Deomen Deomen Deomeni (We call praying)

[source: www.geocities.com/ehetlaios/]

It’s an interesting psychoacoustic effect – one that at least some people think can help you do things ranging from concentrating to opening your chakras.

Mainstream media has picked up on this so-called “digital drug”, though, and is offering hysterical coverage that recalls the days of Reefer Madness.

Check out what USA Today’s Kim Komando has to say about these new age-y audio files:

The sites claim binaural beats cause the same effects as illegal drugs. These drugs impair coordination and can cause hallucinations. They’ve caused countless fatal accidents, like traffic collisions.

If binaural beats work as promised, they are not safe. They could also create a placebo effect. The expectation elicits the response. Again, this is unsafe.

At the very least, digital drugs promote drug use. Some sites say binaural beats can be used with illegal drugs.

The sites also look favorably on the effects of illegal drugs. So, talk to your children. Make sure they understand the dangers of this culture. It could be a small jump from digital drugs to the real thing.

Yeah – talk to you kids, Kim Komando. And while you’re at it, tell them that Mom’s a gullible buffoon – that for some scary reason – has a national audience.

In this video, new age artist Kitaro explains how and why he uses the synthesizer as he does. He also offers some criticism about the “wrong” use of that instrument.

It’s another great release on the AD Label, which is home to Robert Fox, Code Indigo, Ashok Prema, Richard Bone and many others.

Momentum is a studio reworking of music Wright performed at a recent Gatherings concert in the US. Here’s how Wright explains the genesis of the album:

“The music on Momentum came out of a 2007 concert in Philadelphia, USA, where I intended to premier music from a new studio album Dreams and Distant Moonlight.

But things didn’t go according to plan and the day before the concert I changed the set in favour of a mainly improvised one. The decision was an instinctive artistic reaction to the wonderful surroundings, people and venue that prompted a desire to experiment and do something completely different for the occasion.

It was also helped somewhat by having access to a powerful Alesis Andromeda A6 synth, (courtesy of Radio host and concert organizer Chuck van Zyl) which helped take my rehearsals into new musical territory.

And so, quite unintentionally, Momentum was conceived and presented in my first Stateside appearance”

Wright packs about 70 minutes of music, made up 13 tracks, into the album. The tracks flow into each other, forming two larger sections. The music ranges from ambient music and environmental sound to percolating downtempo electronica.

Throughout the album, Wright explores beautiful, complex electronic sounds. But, while much of the music is mellow and relaxing, Wright avoids the trap of getting overly sweet.

Two tracks on the first half of the album, Desire – Parts I & II, are so gently and lushly orchestrated that you just want to wallow in the sound of it. But Wright also skillfully weaves in sections like Panic Attack that are edgier and darker.

While the first half of the album leans more towards symphonic electronica, the second half contrasts ambient pieces like Secrets In The Mist with the more driving, modern synth music sound of Momentum.

While I hear shades of Blade Runner era Vangelis on this album, especially on tracks like Panic Attack and Momentum 3, Wright’s own distinct voice shapes the entire release.

Momentum builds on what Wright’s done previously, but it also moves his music forward, with some of his most sensual music ever. The music has beautiful melodies and lush sounds, but they are balanced with surprises in his arrangements and sounds that border on noise.

I really like David Wright’s Momentum – to my ears, it’s his best release yet.

You can preview Momentum at the AD site, and other work at his page on MySpace.

While the music is primarily electronic, Williams uses a lot of imitative synthesis. At its best, this gives the music a massive orchestral sense. On tracks like Where Worlds Collide, Williams makes effective use of percussion, virtual strings & choir to create powerful virtual orchestrations. In addition, Williams uses flute and guitar to expand her palette and give her arrangements more of a live feel.

The album makes a lot of stylistic jumps, which might make it feel disjointed to some, but that also showcase Williams’ range. For example, Ever-Changing Calm leaves the world of orchestral electronica behind and takes the CD into more of a dance electronica territory. The track features a driving pace, percussion that dances from the left channel to the right, steady four on the floor kick and a collage of synth sequences. It’s a fun mix of later Berlin-school synth music and trance music.

On a few tracks, Williams uses sampled virtual orchestral instruments for solos. These tracks are less effective, because virtual wind and brass instruments tend to sound cheesy when used as replacements for real instruments. It’s difficult to reproduce the expression and lyricism that a good player brings to these instruments when playing virtual imitations. On Amber Dawn, Williams uses a sound palette that sometimes sounds like an imitation of an orchestra, rather than either a traditional orchestra or an electronic orchestra. The climax of the piece is rousing symphonic electronica, but in the quieter sections, Williams lyrical melodies would have been better served by either bringing in some traditional instrumentalists or by using purely electronic sounds expressively.

Edge of Human demonstrates Williams’ strengths in several styles, and features several great tracks. The best tracks on the album are very good, but the fact that the CD jumps from style to style and a presence of a few weaker tracks give the CD a bit of a disjointed feeling.

Tracks:

• Amber Dawn (Twilight Mix)
• First Light (The Awakening)
• Firewalk
• Ephemeris
• Where Times Collide
• The Azmara Variations
• Ever-Changing Calm
• Xanthe’s Garden
• The Human Edge
• Amber Dawn (Original)

On Treasure, Helpling and Jenkins create music that moves gracefully between the worlds of space music and more rhythmic “chillout” style grooves. The CD kicks off with Grand Collision, which alternates quiet sections that focus on synth string pads and evolving textures with more propulsive sections. The track also features interesting textural guitar work, which reminded me a bit of Steve Tibbetts’ work.

This contrasting of an ambient/space feel with more rhythmic sections continues throughout the CD. On The Knowing, Helpling & Jenkins create a track that begins very quietly, and for the first half of the track they explore subtle textural variations over a repeating harmonic progressions. About halfway through, they move into a more overtly rhythmic section, adding layers of guitars and building the track to a peak.

Some of the tracks avoid strong percussive elements and stay in the space music/drone space. Beyond Words, for example, has long ambient drones underpinning much of the track. Synth strings and deep bass notes create a tranquil feel, but not without a hint of mystery.

Not A Soul, Not A Sound explores similar textures, with textural guitar emerging occasionally from a background of synth string washes and echoing guitar notes. A bass voice is introduced about seven minutes into the track, and it brings with it a deeper sense of progression or motion for the remainder of the track.

Overall, Treasure is another fine Spotted Peccary release. The CD is at its best when Helpling & Jenkins take the time to explore interesting ambient textures and to submerse you in lusciously orchestrated sound. Tracks like Now More Than Ever bathe you in a gorgeous soundscape where time seems almost irrelevent.

You can learn more about David Helpling and Jon Jenkins from an episode of the Spotted Peccary podcast, which features some tracks from their collaboration. You can listen to the show below, or subscribe to the podcast by adding this URL to your podcast client: http://www.spottedpeccary.com/podcasts/sppodcastfeed.xml

Tracks:

• Grand Collision
• Treasure
• The Knowing
• Beyond Words
• Into the Deep
• Not a Soul Not a Sound
• The Frozen Channel
• Now More Than Ever
• This Day Forward
• The First Goodbye

The Chariots Of Fire theme performed by Vangelis as an encore of the Mythodea Concert at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens on June 28, 2001.

The soundtrack of “Chariots of Fire” won the Oscar for Best Original Music Score back in 1981. It spent 5 months in the US Billboard and it was the biggest-selling single of the year in Japan. It was also used by the BBC as the opening theme for the coverage of the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games.

Mythodea: Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey is a choral symphony composed by Vangelis. It was made the official theme music of the 2001 NASA mission to Mars, involving an unmanned spacecraft orbiting the planet.

Music Composed, Arranged and Produced by Vangelis.

Electronic Keyboards by Vangelis.

The London Metropolitan Orchestra

Blake Neely, Conductor.

via babylonianman

Elswick is a unique electronica artist. A practicing lawyer, Elswick created the project in his spare time, collaborating with vocalists such as Jody Quine, Kirsty Hawkshaw, Kristy Thirsk, Caroline Lavelle, Kyoko Baertsoen, san.drine, Nicola Hitchcock, Lauren Edman, Jerri Eckert and Israel Curtis.

What could have turned out to be an expensive vanity project, though, turned out to be an accomplished collection of melodic vocal synth music. According to Elswick, his influences include Sarah McLachlan, Enya, Adiemus and Delerium. His music reflects these influences, exploring vocal new-age/orchestral electronica territory with some world-music influences.

Throughout the CD, the music is melodic, the arrangements are lush and the vocals are gorgeous. Highlights include Desire of the Ages, which feaures Harland on vocals; Just Say It, with Kyoko Baertson; and Kiss to Savor with Jody Quine.

A surprising track choice is Berlin’s The Metro. Elswick’s take is fairly close to the original, but his relaxed pace and orchestration put the focus on the vocals rather than the beat.

While Elswick shifts from vocalist to vocalist with nearly every track, the consistency of the arrangements keep the release from feeling like a compilation package.

Sleepthief’s The Dawnseeker is an impressive debut that should appeal to fans of female vocal electronica and new age music.

Here’s the video for Eurydice, which features Jody Quine on vocals:

You can learn more about Sleepthief and preview the music on The Dawnseeker at his MySpace page or his site.

Tracks:

• Eurydice (Jody Quine)
• Desire of Ages (Harland)
• You Did A Good Thing (Nicola Hitchcock)
• Just Say It (Kyoko Baertsoen)
• The Chauffeur (Kirsty Hawkshaw)
• Tenuous (Jody Quine)
• Sublunar (Sweet Angel) (Kristy Thirsk)
• Nightjar (Caroline Lavelle)
• Fire From Heaven (Roberta Carter Harrison)
• The Metro (Jerri Eckert)
• Kiss To Savor (Jody Quine)
• Afterthoughts (Lauren Edman)
• Entre Ciel et Mer (san.drine)

Schroeder was discovered in the seventies by Klaus Schulze, and had a successful first album, Harmonic Ascendant. Since then, he’s released both solo CDs and work as Double Fantasy.

Brainchips has five vocal tracks, and the remaining tracks are new-age and synth music instrumentals. Rahal Brimil contributes the vocals, which take the music into more of a synth pop territory.

The CD is full of interesting synth work. Highlights of the CD include Space Track, a drone-based track that has more of a symphonic electronica feel; Froggy, a humorous instrumental built around samples of a vocalist singing “do”; and Hotspot Zone, a spacey instrumental.

The combination of vocal tracks and instrumental synth work is a bit uneasy. Schroeder appears to understand this – an instrumental version of Brainchips is also available which may appeal more to fans of pure electronic music.

Tracks:

• Doo Doo
• Wafer
• Electron
• Heaven
• Space-Track
• Froggy
• Serenade
• Long
• Hotspot Zone
• So Check Me
• Passing Streams
• Shallala

The title Gnosis comes from a Greek word that means a type of enlightenment derived from self-awareness and personal experience with the mystical. Gnosis explores meditative and mystical moods. Many of the tracks feature ambient drones with world instruments such as oud, sarangi and table, or the addition of Greek vocals.

While many CDs are paced to build in intensity, Gnosis seems to do the opposite. It starts out with more rhythmic tracks and moves on to more ambient tracks. As a result, the CD seems to be increasingly relaxed.

The CD ends with the ambient We Are One, which is explores slowly drifting drones.

Avgerinos’ music on Gnosis has a timeless quality. It recalls ancient religious music, early new age works and yet also feels contemporary. The combination of electronic and acoustic sounds and instruments from around the world also seem to remove the music from a specific time or place, making it easy to listen to the music free from definite associations.

If you’re familiar with the pioneering early new age music of Stephen Halpern, you’ll recognize elements of Halpern’s approach here. Halpern’s style stripped music of melodies, harmonic progression and propulsive rhythm, creating a style that emphasized waves of beautiful sound with the pulse of relaxed human breath. Avgerino’s Gnosis explores similar territory, but tends towards a darker, more mysterious feel.

Tracks:

• Pure In Heart
• Follow YourListen
• Awakening
• Know Thyself
• Journey To Now
• Gnosis
• Peaceful
• Waves Of Bliss
• Breathe
• We Are One

Deeper is a collection of melodic new age and symphonic electronica tracks. The CD cover hints at the music inside, which, at its best, is sensual, hypnotic and beautiful.

Wright leads off with Nomad, a sequence-driven track that’s combines elements of 70’s-era Klaus Schulze with jazz and progressive rock influences. An ostinato runs through most of the track, and Wright layers solos over this using a variety of synth sounds and textures. At times, the synth work takes the track into more of a progressive direction, while at other times it gives the track more of a jazzy feel.

The Sound of Waves is a relaxing new age track that starts and ends with the sound of surf, and in between explores waves of tranquil synth sounds. Some listeners may be reminded of the feel of Vangelis’ Ocean.

The title track, Deeper, is a long crescendo. Wright starts the track with some quiet percussion, and then adds synth effects and solos using a variety of synth voices. As the track builds to a satisfying conclusion, adds strings and layers the various lead synth voices over each other.

One of the highlights of the CD is the track Bamboo, which is a funky jungle synth romp. It begins with some deep electronic percussion, and then Wright adds pulsing, percussive synth keyboards and synth solos. About half-way through, Wright breaks it down for a moment before building the track back up. Bamboo borders on the club-friendly, without distancing itself too far from the feel of the rest of the CD.

The last half of the CD is a five-part work, Sea of Dreams. These tracks flow together to make a larger work. Part 1 is largely ambient, using synth noise and drones to create a mysterious electronic landscape. This flows into Part 2, a relaxing sequence-driven track that builds to more of an orchestral electronica climax. Part 3 is a quiet interlude that mixes environmental sounds, sample-and-hold synth tinkles and muted piano and guitar work that brought to mind the quieter moments on Klaus Schulze’s classic Body Love. Part 4 is built on some of the same elements as Part 2, feeling like a variation on the earlier section. Finally, this fades into the last section, Part 5, which takes the same sequences and sounds but puts them into more aggressive context. The middle half of the track has a driving, almost techno feel, before Wright returns to a more ambient mood to close the CD.

David Wright’s latest CD, Deeper, is a hypnotic blend of sequences, effects and synth work that should appeal to fans of both classic synth music and more recent new age and symphonic electronic music.

Tracks:

• Nomad
• The Sound of Waves
• The Sound of Light
• Deeper
• Bamboo
• Sea of Dreams Pt 1
• Sea of Dreams Pt 2
• Sea of Dreams Pt 3
• Sea of Dreams Pt 4
• 10. Sea of Dreams Pt 5

On this album, Wright & Fox are joined by Dave Massey (production, rhythm and bass programming) and Andy Lobban (lead and rhythm guitars). The addition of Lobban makes this collection different from other Code Indigo releases, with guitars placed front and center on many tracks.

Chill is an excellent collection of downtempo numbers. The tracks have the haunting appeal of early Pink Floyd and Vangelis’ work for Blade Runner. Filtered vocals frequently burble around the mix, and echo effects take sounds from left to right speakers.

Throughout the CD, the synthesizer work is great, moving from ambient effects to melodic space music seamlessly. Lobban’s guitar work adds an emotional pull to the melodies and a sense of restrained power.

Highlights of the CD are Chill, a beautiful mellow track that backs a new age piano solo with gorgeous airy synth orchestration; Vapour Tales, which has a murky Blade Runner feel to it; and the excellent Culture Shift, which combines sampled “found sounds”, world instruments, tasty synth work and ambient guitar effects. Code Indigo also uses several melodies as recurring themes throughout the CD, and a consistent sound palette, giving the CD a nice sense of continuity.

Code Indigo’s Chill is a great collection of synth music that should appeal to fans of new age, ambient and space rock. Check the Code Indigo site for track samples and purchase options.

Tracks

• Autumn Fades
• Chill
• Vapour Tales
• Ten Degrees per Second
• Vapour Trails
• Back with Weather – Calm
• Back with Weather – Storm
• Vapour
• Cultures
• Culture Shift
• Vapour Tails
• Lost Radio (tuning in)
• Lost Radio (prog 1)
• Lost Radio (prog 2)
• Lost Radio (tuning out)

AD’s first “best of” collection, Ocean of Light, managed to introduce listeners to a wide range of artists, but the tracks were effectively selected and ordered to create an CD that managed to be coherent, too.

Sacred Skies brings together previously released tracks and a couple of new tracks from a wide selection of artists, including Bekki Williams, Code Indigo, Robert Fox, David Wright, Witchcraft, Enterphase, Callisto and others. While there are a ton of artists on the CD, the music gels together well, perhaps because label honcho David Wright is a member of several of the groups, along with Robert Fox, or maybe just because of the label’s “ear”. 

We’ve talked about several of the artists and tracks in previous reviews, including Code Indigo, David Wright, and Callisto, who fall into the broad world of orchestral electronica that should appeal to fans of classic synth music from groups like Vangelis, Tangerine Dream and Jarre. The CD also has tracks by Bekki Williams. The Plains has a spacious orchestral electronica feel. This is followed by Nandana, by Catalin Marin, which combines wordless vocals and world electronica in a manner similar to some of Vangelis’ more recent work. Synth freaks will enjoy the CS-80-esque riffs throughout the track.

Witchcraft contributes the ethereal vocal track Angel Dust. The female vocalist’s singing is heavily effected with reverse reverb, filters and echos, giving the vocals a lush instrumental quality. The CD hits a high point with Raviv Gazit’s Jumping Air, which has the most modern feel – moving the CD closer to an electronica/dj vibe.

Overall, Sacred Skies  is a great follow up to Ocean of Light, and great introduction to the various artists of AD Music. AD seems to be developing into one of the major labels for melodic instrumental electronica. If you like this genre, Sacred Skies will provide a relaxing listen while also highlighting a wide collection of artists.

Track Listing:

• The Plains
• Nandana- Paradise of Indra
• Angel Dust
• Fallen
• Over Turquoise Seas
• Taiga
• Call of the Earth
• Under the same Sky
• Sacred Skies
• Flame Sky
• Iceberg
• Jumping Air
• Night Flier
• Three Sisters
• When the Morrow Breaks
• Setisphere Part 1
• Cathedral
• Code 11

This is the music video for Vangelis’ classic Chariots of Fire – back when it was cool to smoke through your video!

For over nearly thirty years, Kitano has been creating relaxing new age music, using a combination of synthesizers and traditional instruments. On Reinterpretations, the artists take several approaches to reworking Kitaro’s music. Some of the artists take a remix approach, changing the mix or adding instruments to help bring Kitaro’s music to a new audience. Other artists use Kitaro’s music as a jumping off point, and create tracks that sound more like collaborations than remixes.

The CD includes twelve tracks, including tracks reworked by DJ Peas, Appoggee, Turbotit, Timmy the Terror, Inside the Sun, Audio Moe, Occidental and Stephen Hauptfeur. Kitaro fans will be happy to know that the artists stick close to the mood of the originals, with most of the remixes taking Kitaro’s new age tracks and giving them more of a chill-out vibe.

What’s most interesting about Reinterpretations is how the original Kitaro songs bring a cohesiveness to the compilation, even though each electronica artist brings a different voice to their remixes. Some tracks sound more like remixes, like Audio Moe’s Crystal Tears, Timmy the Terror’s Shizuku 2.0 or Inside the Sun’s Theme from Silk Road. Others seem more tangentially related to Kitaro’s music, like Peas’ Beat Break or Low Pass Dub. Nevertheless, the album flows together well, and the result is an interesting collection of chilled-out tracks.

The relatively conservative approach taken by the artists on Reinterpretations helps the CD feel coherent, but also means that listeners wanting more challenging or innovative reworkings will be disappointed.

Reinterpretations is a must for Kitaro fans, because the tracks take Kitaro’s music into new territory, and they have a relaxing vibe not far from the original tracks. The CD should also appeal to fans of downtempo or chilled out electronica. It can be enjoyed without any knowledge of Kitaro, and may help introduce a younger generation to his music.

• Crystal Tears – Audiomoe
• Michi – Turbotito
• Theme from Silk Road – Inside the Sun
• Beat Break – Peas
• Shizuku 2.0 – Timmy the Terror
• Kuu – Appogee
• Tienshan – Occidental
• Shizuku – Inside the Sun
• Low Pass Dub – Peas
• Mercury – Inside the Sun
• Fairy of Water – Occidental
• Cocoro – Stephen Hauptfuhr

Code Indigo’s music draws upon a wide set of styles, including new age, orchestral electronica, jazz, chill-out, and world music. The tracks on TimeCode blend these styles seamlessly into a continuous musical work.

On this release, Code Indigo is made up of Robert Fox and David Wright on keyboards, Louise Eggerton – vocals, Andy Lobban – guitar, and David Massey – programming and production.

Four members have composition credits. They must have been very much in sync, because the tracks are endlessly melodic, and sound like the work of a group, not a like bunch of tracks by different people. While Fox, Massey and Wright’s keyboard work and programming provide the overall sound of the album, the importance of Eggerton’s vocals and Lobban’s guitar work can’t be overestimated. Eggerton’s wordless vocals soar above the tracks, giving them a sense of immediacy and humanity. Lobban’s guitar work is understated and tasteful. In places, Lobban solos over orchestral electronica backgrounds, creating an effect that is reminiscent of early Pink Floyd. In other places, he contributes distorted but subtle guitar chords on top of the synths, adding an extra dimension to the sound.

The tracks on TimeCode are loosely themed around ideas of time and space.

The CD starts off very slowly, with the track Existence. The track uses drones, synth strings and wordless vocals to build from nothing to a massive sound. This establishes the mood of the album and leads seamlessly into Zero Hour, one of the highlights of the CD. Zero Hour is a lengthy track that combines the contributions of the various band members very effectively. Massey sets up a chilled groove, while Fox and Wright create a lush backdrop for Eggerton’s vocals and Lobban’s guitar solos. The band members vary the arrangement throughout, sometimes building to a very orchestral effect, and at other times dropping down to almost nothing. Towards the end, the track gives Lobban some space for an extended solo. His guitar work shines here, melodic and a little bluesy, but not showy.

TimeCode is another extended track that shows off the group’s sound. The band brings a rich sense of history of electronic and new age music to this track. The arrangement seems to draw on influences from the 70’s synth music of Jean Michel Jarre all the way to current tracks by groups like Afro Celt Sound System.

The next track, Stasis, is a lovely interlude that focuses on Eggerton’s vocalizing. 24am is the jazziest track on the CD. It features a piano melody that builds as it goes up and down the scale, and a lovely chordal chorus. Synth harmonica adds to the effect. While the track has a jazzier feel, nobody breaks out into bebop solos; instead the track focuses on tasteful, mellow keyboard work.

Eden to Chaos is another long groove. It maintains the chilled-out mood of the previous track, but adds a strong undercurrent of tension. The gives Lobban plenty of room to cut loose. He again delivers the goods, with some barely-contained soloing. This track should appeal to fans of the early space-rock of Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream.

The next two tracks, Foundation and Galileo, are shorter pieces that showcase the group’s arranging. Galileo is one of the most orchestral-sounding tracks on the album. It combines a horn-like lead melody with lush synth string backing for a lovely combination.

Call of the Earth moves the CD into more of a world-groove territory, and has the most mainstream new age sound of the tracks on the CD. Massey’s drum programming features more of a ethnic feel than on other tracks, which adds some interest. While the track again highlights Code Indigo’s tight group sound, the track lacks the tension and hints of darkness that give other tracks more of an edge.

Code Indigo wraps up the album with an extended track, Endgames, that has a blissed-out feel. This track has beautiful synth and guitar work, but is let down somewhat by the vocals. Here Eggerton switches from wordless vocalizing to sing “la-la-la-la”, along with occasional words, such as the CD title or the band name.

Overall, though, the CD is a very strong release. The CD packaging has a 8-page insert that features layered images relating to space and time that is a nice complement to the music. Throughout the CD, the production is excellent. With TimeCode, Code Indigo delivers a solid collection of instrumental music that should appeal to fans of new age, space music and anyone that appreciates a laid-back groove.

Peas got the idea for this CD while scoring a Japanese anime film, Ninja Scroll, with Kitaro. Peas decided to produce a CD that would incorporate samples from Kitaro’s music into new, beat-heavy, electronica tracks.

It’s an interesting concept, and Peas pulls it off without the music sounding like new age music with a disco beat. In fact, even hardcore Kitaro fans may have a hard time hearing a connection to the original Kitaro pieces, because Peas weaves the samples expertly into tracks in a wide range of styles, far from the originals. Listeners can just appreciate Filters as a fun collection of chilled-out tracks, and leave tracing the lineage of the samples to die-hard Kitaro fans.

The tracks on Filters cover a variety of styles, work together to create a well-paced collection of downtempo, chilled-out tracks. Peas starts the CD with Fences, a hypnotic track.that takes its time building from a gentle harp sample to a powerful vocal dance track. Looks Like Heaven is a samba-flavored dance track that seems full of blissful summer warmth.

Towards the middle of the CD, Peas builds things up with some tracks that are a little harder edged, without being jarring. On Certifiable, he seems to be channeling BT. The track features filtered vocals, glitchy break beats, and big synth bass lines. Never Stop The Music has more of a hip-hop feel, and contrasts a rap about, you guessed it, never stopping the music, with a catchy female vocal chorus.

Many Might Try and Get Ya has more of a funk feel. The vocal is sung in a male falsetto, and 70’s funk percussion percolates, chugga-chugga style, in the background. A little wah-wah guitar wouldn’t have hurt this track, which gets things moving but doesn’t quite catch fire.

Overall, the CD is an interesting colection of tracks that show of Peas’ skill as a remixer, arranger and songwriter. A few tracks on Filters feel like they never reach an emotional peak, and could have benefitted from more of an edge. As a result, the album will probably appeal more to fans of chilled-out electronica than to fans of harder, darker electronic music styles.

Peas’ new CD, Filters, is a varied set of tracks that take their inspiration from the work of synth music pioneer Kitaro. Kitaro fans may enjoy listening for quotes from the Japanese master’s classic tracks, but Peas’ work succeeds on its own merits, delivering well-crafted tracks in a variety of electronica styles.

Tracks:

• Fences
• Shoes Under My Bed
• Looks Like Heaven
• Beat Break
• Love Stuck Haze
• Certifiable
• Don’t Be Lonely
• Wrong
• Spinning
• Never Stop the Music
• Many Might Try and Get Ya
• Low Pass Dub
• Thirteen
• Air, Oil

Pereira creates meditative and ambient pieces that range in styles from new age to experimental. His influences include Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Vangelis.

Download free MP3 music from Pereira at Download.com.

Deep Breakfast was a hit when it was released on stations that played new age music. The music makes extensive use of Yamaha DX7, a synthesizer that is great at making bright, clean sounds. The combination of pleasurable sounds and melodies makes Lynch’s music easy to get into.

The tracks fall into the category of light new age music. The tracks are all very accessible and upbeat, with fairly conservative electronic orchestration. The opening track, “Celestial Soda Pop”, captures the sound and style of the CD. The track is upbeat and bouncy, sort of in the tradition of the classic pop synth track “Popcorn”. Nothing too deep or complicated, just pleasant pop synthesis.

A few of the tracks lean more towards space music, including “The Oh of Pleasure”. This is more of a space music track, with some similarities to the music of Jarre. “Your Feeling Shoulders” is a standout cut. It is part space music and part symphonic electronica. It mixes drones with synth strings, and switches between pensive slow sections, and quicker melodic sections.

“Rhythm in the Pews” is more accessible new age music, like “Celestial Soda Pop”. “Tiny Geometries” makes good use of sequenced patterns that echo, creating a trance effect. Lynch combines this with his strong sense of melody to create an interesting melodic space track.

Deep Breakfast is a great example of what can be done with DX synthesizers. Lynch’s ear for melody also makes it a great album for fans of  the lighter side of new age music.

There are two pieces on the CD, “The Way Home”, and “Perelandra”. Both are new age/space music pieces with a sense of mystery and wonder. Braheny uses synthesizers in an symphonic way, orchestrating the tracks delicately with airy electronic voices, bells and harps.

“The Way Home” is a magical piece that makes extensive use of an instrument known as the Fairlight CMI. The Fairlight Computer Music Instrument was a tremendously expensive synthesizer when it was released. It was one of the first computer-based digital sampling instruments. While it was groundbreaking at the time, it was very primitive by today’s standards.

Nevertheless, Braheny uses it to great effect. Many of the sounds have an airy quality that sounds like they come from some exotic wind instrument. In fact, the orchestration and sound of “The Way Home” is some of the most beautiful ever recorded.

“Perelandra” was inspired by a novel by C.S. Lewis, and is less new age than space music. It sounds just as beautiful as “The Way Home”, but has more motion. There are some noise-based sounds that sound a little like surf or wind that start off the piece, along with some droning synthesizers. A very slow melodic sequence repeats against the drones, along with some improvised embellishments. Braheny also plays flute-like melodies over this backdrop using a Steiner Electronic Wind Instrument. This allows woodwind-like inflections to be played using electronic sounds, giving them a great deal of expression.

The first section is created using primarily analog synthesizers. The second section is the most beautiful part of the piece. It uses vocal samples that fade in and out, singing “ahhs”, creating the effect of floating through angelic choirs. This section seems inspired by similar work by Brian Eno on his first ambient album. The final section returns to a combination of analog sounds and lush pads.

The two tracks on The Way Home are both classic electronic works, combining the best traits of new age and space music.

The Way Home was one of the first releases on the Hearts of Space records. This classic captures the best of the spirit of HOS, and is a must-have for new age and space music fans.