Review Summary: Dreams embodied in marvelous synth music.
The connection between the miraculous and mysterious experiences of dreaming, and art inspired by it is an exciting topic.
A Compendium of Curiosities’ latest release is a very interesting and adventurous album in this aspect, because it manages to capture and deliver the very essence of the artist’s dream through not only by the music itself, but through an additional written narrative by the artist.
Just looking at the very dreamesque artwork, (which really resembles the exciting sci-fi fantasy worlds created by, for example Michael Moorcock) could set the mood of this release even before actually listening to it. And when the first synth melodies are approaching at the horizon, an ever morphing world swimming in gold and clouds greets the listener. The whole creation feels like a window into an ethereal dream, in a similar fashion to some of the albums created by legendary synth-master Jim Kirkwood. The combination of the richly textured drones (bit glitchy?), the wonderful Berlin-school electronics and the spacey and reverby atmosphere was arguably the perfect match in recreating the desired effect. The album consists of three longer songs (the three songs each approaching ten minutes), and each one of them represents a certain scene, like in a cinematic voyage through unknown universes. The first song presents the mystery through eerie ambient / drone harmonies, which later morphs into a more dynamic and adventurous episode in the second song where the Berlin school electronic and bit of new age elements make their first appearance. And of course there is no good story without a perfect ending. The listener who dared to travel this far won’t be disappointed by the third song either, where a more epic, and truly old-school dungeon synth sound-palette accompanied by the still and mysterious atmosphere stands at the dream’s end - reproducing the same deeply calming atmosphere as Vindkaldr’s most magnificent album,
Enchantments Of Old Lore.
The production, the songwriting and the smoothness with which these transcendental worlds blend into each other prove that there is great talent behind this release.
Heaven Feels Like Floating Around in a Golden City is an excellent album where the listener can really see through the artist’s perspective, and the music itself is exciting enough for those who might want to experience a sonical adventure.
