MAX CORBACHO - Ambient synths - electronic music - "You just found another EER review!"

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Maximo Corbacho: The Resonant Memory of the Earth
no label, release scheduled for early 2002
http://perso.wanadoo.es/maxc/portal.html
maxc@wanadoo.es

Max Corbacho's first two CD's made strong impressions in the ambient 
community.  Each one defined Max's talent in its own special way.
The Resonant Memory of the Earth defines the next level for Max.
This is a very deep and vast atmospheric effort.  No, it is not an effort, it
is a success!  Max uses the best elements from Vestiges and Far From
the Immobile Point.   And adds a subtle - yet vital - drone.  The result is
spine-tingling and chilling.

Max has been defining feelings of being on the fringe, of not quite having a 
foothold.  His titles examine the angst and frustration of unrequited efforts.
The progression of the titles is revealing in and of itself. 

Vestiges points to the leftovers or traces of what once was or has never
been Far From the Immobile Point. relates to being frozen in the fear of
isolation. Listeners went beyond isolation into nothingness.  The Resonant
Memory of the Earth speaks to the last traces of remote recollections of what
was once the dream or the promise of a reward.

The music conveys feelings of regret, frustration, anxiety and even anger.  
There is a distinct and noticeable growth in Max's composition, performance 
and intuition.  It is, by far, his best effort.  Listeners and fans hope it 
is also his greatest success!

~ Jim Brenholts, EER-MUSIC.com

Far Beyond the Immobile Point Maximo Corbacho MP3.com production, 2000 http://www.mp3.com/maxcorbacho Spanish synthesizer artist Maximo Corbacho returns here with a followup to his 1999 album Vestiges. He is still within what I call the “school of Steve Roach,” but this time he has taken Roach’s The Magnificent Void as his model rather than the more “desert-styled” Roach productions. As in Roach’s 1996 album, there is no rhythmic percussion or beat in Immobile Point; it is all long, sustained notes and tone-clusters. And this time, Corbacho chooses to use dissonant or microtonal harmonies, rather than the more conventional and even sweet chords he used in Vestiges. This gives Immobile Point a much “darker” feeling, more evocative of deep space than of sunbleached desert. Metallic-sounding electronics, floating in cold reverberations, are punctuated by soft industrial clanks and drips in cut 3, “The Threshold.” There are also some drifting drone pieces, accented by tinkling starlike electronics – rather standard fare for spacemusic. The last piece and title track, “Far Beyond the Immobile Point,” is 20 minutes long, and features a more conventional harmonic palette, giving a mood of serenity rather than the starry abyss. I enjoy this album despite the fact that I have heard just about everything on it somewhere else. Spacemusic ambient, like any other genre, has its established,even required elements, which can be used well or poorly. While remaining within the familiar soundworld of spacemusic, Corbacho uses these “traditional” motifs to good effect, creating a clean, chilly, refreshing atmosphere: one might say it is “Euro-space.” HMGS rating: 7 out of 10 EER-MUSIC.com 12/13/00

Vestiges by Maximo Corbacho "Free" records, 1999, Barcelona, Spain E-mail: mxca@maptel.es Cyberhome: http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Mesa/3816/ Vestiges, by Maximo Corbacho, is definitely in what you might call the "school of Steve Roach." There are the same percussion rhythms backed by floating synthesizer chords, and the same touches of exotic and "primitive" instrumentation such as rattles and rainsticks. The album also appears to cover the same geographic territory as Roach, the open vastness of deserts and big skies. The liner notes and titles are in English, as if it were meant for an American market. (The English texts on the album, composed by Spanish-speakers, could use some proofreading.) Though Spain has its own vast desert landscapes and an aboriginal tradition that far pre-dates anything Native American, there is nothing specifically Spanish about Corbacho's music except perhaps the use of castanets in one or two pieces. Corbacho may derive his music from Roach and company, but he is not by any means just an imitator. His harmonies, unlike Roach's, tend more towards conventional tonality, and his sound is in general more "European" than Roach. The earlier pieces on Vestiges are the most like Roach, but the later pieces bring in influences from Euro-artists such as Vangelis and Jarre, and even the non-Euro sound of Kitaro. My choice for the best piece of the lot is number 5, "Death Valley," which features a pleasing mix of well-chosen slow harmonies, twinkling synthesizer accents and subdued percussion. The mood of Vestiges is consistently contemplative and serene, the tempo always slow-moving. It is perfect music for dreaming and relaxation, for taking inner journeys to that beautiful, windswept uncrowded place which only exists within our minds. There is none of the angst of the "dark-ambient" type here, but it isn't over-sweet either. I find myself listening to it again and again, finding a bit of serenity each time. ~ Hannah M.G.Shapero, EER-MUSIC.com