Michael Stearns - space music - synth music - ambient - "Eclectic Earwig Reviews Music and More for You!"
HOME PAGE, prog rock, jazz fusion, jazz rock, jazz, pysch/trance, space, electronic, ambient, essentially eclectic excellence
EER-MUSIC.com HOME PAGE

GO HOME
EER-MUSIC.com
MEET THE STAFF HERE


 
WITHIN: The Nine Dimensions
by Michael Stearns
Earth Turtle Music, 1998
http://www.michaelstearns.com

	I don't know how I let this one get away for so long. This
gem of an album by spacemusic veteran Michael Stearns has been
offered by Backroads Music and others for three years now, and
somehow I never bought it. That means that I haven't gotten to
enjoy it until 2001! Well, I finally have it and what an album it is –
spacemusic at its richest.

	The original music was composed by Stearns for a
"channeled" workshop by mystical author Barbara Hand Clow, but
since I have no idea what the workshop was like, I just appreciate
the music for what it is. There are nine pieces, each supposed to
correspond to a "dimension," plus a final recapitulation and
summing-up piece. Stearns uses not only his array of synthesizers,
but a wide variety of percussion, toned bells, and sampled human
voices, including Gregorian chants, African tribal songs, and
Islamic recitations. There are also sounds of whales and other
animals. Each one of the nine pieces has quite a different mood,
from driving rhythms (track 1, "Double Helix") to spooky and dark
(track 2, "To the Center," or track 7, "Telluric Realms") to exalted
and reverent (track 3, "Seven") to hymnlike melody (track 6,
"Longing.")  The Nine Dimensions ranges from awed
whispering to a shimmering wall of sound, one of Stearns'
trademarks. No one does the Big Space Sound better than Michael
Stearns.

	The album cover and liners feature lots of whirling
psychedelic fractal computer art, appropriate for an album concept
which harks back to the inner explorations of the '60s but uses the
sound-technology of the '00's. Some things never go out of style.
Even if you have no Inner Contacts with Pleiadean Masters, this
album is full of sound that will transport you into an imaginal
adventure. So don't wait as long as I did, and listen now.

HMGS rating: Nine dimensions out of 10 Hannah M.G. Shapero 6/20/01
 


RETURN TO:


If you are seeking out-of-print and hard-to-find CDs . . .
try my new eBay page where I post CD finds for sale.
Rare CDs at eBay
"Jazz Fusion Guy" @ eBay page


To purchase this recording and get more info, soundclips, etc.

CLICK ON ARTIST'S NAME ABOVE

OR . . .

Please visit my BUY IT E.E.R. NOW INDEX PAGE
OR...
Please try my brand spankin' new

EER and AMAZON.com QUIK-LINKs
buyer's guide to recommended music.


OR ...
go to my LINKS page and find the vendors' section.
Happy hunting!


ALL YOUR CDS ARE BELONG TO US.
Observe how the word
wheel reverses direction
if you try and read words.

EER-MUSIC.com HOME PAGE