Paul Ellis – Panoramas CD-II

2 reviews for Paul Ellis – Panoramas CD-II

1. 

   Sylvain Lupari – 2022-11-22

   Paul Ellis starts PANORAMAS CD-II with the very first track he has composed for this project. A buzzing wind takes precedence over an azure one from the opening of Silver Star Mountain in Winter Monochrome. These drone murmurs begin as soon as a fat chord falls to establish its circle of reverberations that extend like those of a finger dipping into still water. And according to the strength of the winds, the amplitude can be vast. Like here where the reverberating rays contort to undulate with languor until discreet orchestrations insufflate a little poetry to this dark ambient music. We get at the 6th minute and the last sighs of the buzzing lines end in the spells of a cello, instrument par excellence to give more darkness to our thoughts. A mellotron auscultates the skies while the reverberating fingers continue to multiply these rays while a little further a suspended stream sparkles. Silver Star Mountain in Winter Monochrome continues t o develop with slowness and atony until the synth sounds a trumpet some 35 seconds into the 11th minute. Darkness gives way to a form of brightness and life bursts forth into this Silver Star Mountain of British Columbia, Canada. Birds mock the first few minutes by chirping away at this manufacturing facility creating sonic drones that resume their rights and shapes after 14 minutes. A translucent filament envelops this tonal phenomenon, giving two shades to this sound mass that moves like these big black clouds held back by lack of winds. A revival is created after the 19th minute, when the drones stop ventilating and the synth dares dryad songs. Elements of distortion come from the depths, giving a prismatic aspect to these airs that find refuge on the ambient layers of the synth. Only 6 minutes remain before the atmospheric elements are unleashed to lead Silver Star Mountain in Winter Monochrome into a finale where the wood’s specters are gurgling in a storm of wiisshh, while th e anaesthetizing layers still try to keep a semblance of control in the bowels of this mountain where not even winter keeps its secrets.

   A dreamy piano makes sing its notes on a forest dew full of celestial whispers in the opening of Trillium Lake and the Blue Reflection. On this singing ground, the synth extends its tonal dew with pastel-colored sprays that spread like stratus on the edge of the woods. The piano passes the baton to the mellotron to continue this ode to nature around the 11th minute. From then on, everything turns upside down! Cracks on the wall of the woods and banging contribute to create a whirlwind of intensity over a distance of 8 minutes. Deformed voices, reverberating waves, muffled rumblings and electronic graffiti are all discordant elements that twirl under a rhythm line that crumbles chord for chord from its original meaning. This segment, where Paul Ellis has even flirted with the illusions of Cosmos, brings us to the 20th minute, where Trillium Lake and the Blue Reflection returns to the serenity of its introduction. No piano, but synth waves that invigorate a forest resplendent with its usual serenity. We can hear songs rising with these waves in the colors of life, as well as discreet chirps and crumpling of leaves that scramble to dress the ground. The music is also present with arpeggios finding themselves after the abandonment in synth grooves with increasingly sharp harmonies, even going as far as to provide shivers and emotions in this last stage of a long track that took us through a whole range of emotions.

   Long segments that develop quietly in good moments of turmoil and that make the listening obsessive so much the cornucopia is full of small sound nuggets, PANORAMAS CD-II carries our ears and our emotions in structures that reflect its synopsis. Produced on a CD manufactured in a limited edition of 200 CDs, it is in the same mold as its predecessor, Panoramas CD-1 and is tamed in the same way.

   2021. Sylvain Lupari

2. 

   Alain Lamri – 2022-11-22

   Paul is an architect of sounds, a creator of soundscapes as magnificent as the landscapes of Oregon or Washington that he knows so well. To fully appreciate all the talent of this musician, it is necessary to be able to enter into his music. We then discover a wonderful musical world, a sort of fourth sonic dimension. The listener walks in his music as one walks in a maze of unprecedented sound sensations. Each of his albums is an exotic sound journey and this one is particularly captivating and touching as the music is simply beautiful without embellishment. Be sure that I have already reserved my ticket for the trip with the 3rd opus of Panoramas.

   2021. Alain Lamri