a r t i s t : Iasos
t i t l e : Inter-Dimensional Music
d a t e : 2005
l a b e l : EM (EM1050CD)
g e n r e : New Age
r l s. d a t e : Aug/2006
t r a c k s : 15
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 89,1 MB
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New age. Pretty much the ultimate diss when you want to put
down someone's musical taste. Or harsh on some band, or
record. Tough to think of a more purely musical putdown.
Sellout? Maybe. Poser? Definitely, but not necessarily
musical. But New Age. Oof. Moms and Grandmas listen to new
age. Yanni ferchrissakes! And with all the ambient music we
love so much here at AQ, we're extra conscious of negative New
Age connotations, cuz it's always a fine line between shimmery
droney dreaminess and whooshy New Age schmaltz. But c'mon,
trust us, trust the folks at EM Records, and take our word
that if you're only ever gonna buy one unabashed actual New
Age album (and Andee hasn't already forced you to get some
George Winston or Kitaro), then this should absolutely be the
one.
Iasos was born in Greece and moved to America when he was 4,
began playing piano at 8, then flute at 10. In the late
sixties, he began to hear a 'new' music in his head and moved
to California to try and realize this "heavenly music". And
finally in 1975, he did it! Iasos 'invented' new age music
with the release of 1975's Inter-Dimensional Music Through
IASOS, which has now been reissued by the fine folks at EM,
and has stood the test of time pretty darn well.
It's all here, tinkling piano, swooshing synthesizers, running
water sounds, bird calls, maudlin melodies, fluttering flutes,
crickets chirping, lots of nature sounds, thunderstorms,
strange sound effects, gentle keening drones, whirling sonic
washes and sweet swirls of soft focus sound. Even the song
titles: "The Bubble Massage", "Rainbow Canyon", "Crystal
Petals", "Clouds Prayer", Libra Sunrise." Yep, this is
definitely New Age, there's no two ways about it, but if you
can look past that 'stigma', this record is actually quite
beautiful. And mysterious. And delicately lovely. It has lots
of elements that plenty of AQ faves share, strange production,
lots of fuzzy airy drones, plenty of insect sounds, bird
calls, all wrapped into sweet expanses of dreamy sound. In
fact if we listed this as some super limited cd-r on some
upstart microlabel in Tasmania, and it had some murky forest
photo on the cover, we'd sell tons, and no one would be the
wiser. It's easy to forget that the modern crop of drifting
ambient experimentalists owe quite a bit to new age pioneers.
And let's not forget about all the pretty cool bands who
either WERE new age, became new age, or incorporated elements
of new age into their sound: Popol Vuh, Ashra, Tangerine
Dream, Klaus Schulze, Deuter, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Vangelis.
But Inter-Dimensional Music, regardless of pedigree, or genre
classification, is just a dang good record. A little cheesy in
places maybe but so what, hasn't stopped us from listening to
this practically every day!!
Like all EM releases, the packaging is amazing. But the Iasos
has a truly striking cover, even by the already impossibly
high EM Records standards. Metallic gold embossed printing on
glossy white paper. The cover image a man's torso, emerging
from a cloud, arm upraised holding a flute, which is being
struck by lightning. Some of you may recognize the image as it
was stolen for a record cover many years back by Canadian
noiserock guitarmy Superconductor. And of course there's also
gold and white obi, as well as a massive booklet full of liner
notes (all in Japanese, sorry) and loads of photos. As with
all EM releases, SO RECOMMENDED!!!!
www.aquariusrecords.org
www.emrecords.net
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01-Libra Sunrise [01:34]
02-Formentera Sunset Clouds [04:50]
03-I Passion You a Leap of Love-Flame [00:46]
04-Lueena Coast [04:11]
05-Rainbow Canyon [07:04]
06-Lagoon Night [01:16]
07-Siren Shallows [02:27]
08-Aries [01:32]
09-Crystal Petals [03:20]
10-Osiris Bull-Man & Elephant Walk [05:44]
11-Creation [01:44]
12-Cloud Prayer [05:18]
13-Angel Play [10:34]
14-The Bubble Massage [04:42]
15-Maha-Splendor [05:54]
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60:56 min