Chronos - Inspirational Power

[Morpheus Music]

STYLE

March 2011

Downtempo psychill, lush electronica and acoustic performance. Inspirational Power opens with a gentle, beatless melodic piece built around a cycling, sequential pattern; distant male vocals hang wordlessly in the bright Autumn air; warm atmospherics; tranquil harmony. Chronos appears to be revelling in the beauty of digital sound on these tracks: gradual developments and expansive interludes in no rush to a final destination; beats that seem to inhabit the music rather than dominate; attractive melodic phrases and the intertwined twinkle of arpeggiators. There is a distinct sense of a musical journey to the album as the earlier restfulness develops into more climactic pieces with heavier grooves around the midway mark. Finally the music ascends spaceward via the synthetic sci-fi tones and philosophical musings of Optimistic Future and the meandering, ethereal, beat free concluder Forgiveness.

 

 

MOOD

The shifting mood here is often one of deep serenity and unhurried reverie. The intricacies of the beats are frequently offset by drifting ambient progressions and mesmerising evolving repetitions. There are spacey sections in places where the electronics take on a more sinewy, sharper-edged nature. Occasional global elements introduce touches of earthy exotica; most prominent on the folk remix of Sky Path: here flamenco style acoustic guitars juxtapose tribal drumming and Indian vocals before the track breaks wide open with an Irish reel played on distinctive uilleann pipes. There is even a progressive section with flute improvisation and a brief but distinct nineteen seventies vibe that arises during Deus Ex Machina.

 

ARTWORK

A jewel case presentation, Inspirational Power is fronted by a sharp graphic image of running figures upon interconnected cogs. Bold, black, dynamic - stare long enough and the whole things aches to move - set against a sleek icy grey ground that reflects the man machine in the foreground. The rear cover tracklist includes writing, production and collaborative credits laid out over greys and gears familiar from the flip side. Within, the double page spread of the insert is a rich presentation of photographs and text. There are performance shots highlighting the acoustic/electronic blend of Chronos' music with colourful instruments displayed and engrossed players at work. As well as the usual contact and technical details there is an interesting paragraph of background information on the artist.

 

OVERALL

Russian musician and sound designer Nick Klimenko delivers his third album as Chronos. Having collaborated back in 2009 with Catalizer on the Ajana release Quid est Veritas? he now follows up his debut solo of 2007 Steps to the Greater Knowledge. For Inspirational Power Chronos has turned to the Beats & Pieces label. There are ten tracks in all here that rise out of restful introspection gradually into dynamic downtempo psychedelia and global chill before floating right off through the stratosphere into infinite space. This album reveals Chronos to be a multifaceted project with both carefully crafted studio work and live performance aspects in evidence. The depth and colour of sound benefits from Nick's work developing virtual instruments and sound libraries as well as his collaborative relationships that give rise to some engrossing instrumentation threaded through the electronica.

 

 

WHO WILL LIKE THIS ALBUM

Inspirational Power is one of those electronic albums that transcends the usual genre limitations; promotional material rightly claims that "it explores the paths between ambient, chillout, ethnic music and psychedelic hypnotic trance vibrations." Fans of colourful, deeply chilled psytrance will enjoy this release, so too will those with an interest in global dance music. The Beats & Pieces website holds listening material if you'd like to see for yourself.

[Luminon]

Don't know the album yet, but this is a wonderful review style. It told me everything I need to know. I prefer it much over the crazy, unreadable Trance2MoveU's "reviews" full of unrelated pictures.

Most of people's reviews here are actually useless, they just muse and ramble about how the music made them feel, which is not very informative, for those who haven't heard it yet. They notoriously forget to mention the genre and style, so I always have to search up the album on Discogs.

(Oh, if there only would be a button to filter out all trance, EPs and V/As!)

Keep up your good work. The only thing to improve would be to add the album front picture.

[Penzoline]

Don't know the album yet, but this is a wonderful review style. It told me everything I need to know. I prefer it much over the crazy, unreadable Trance2MoveU's "reviews" full of unrelated pictures.

Most of people's reviews here are actually useless, they just muse and ramble about how the music made them feel, which is not very informative, for those who haven't heard it yet. They notoriously forget to mention the genre and style, so I always have to search up the album on Discogs.

(Oh, if there only would be a button to filter out all trance, EPs and V/As!)

Keep up your good work. The only thing to improve would be to add the album front picture.

 

You do realize people very often do provide links to buy the record and in those links you can find samples. With these samples and the words it should be clear what to expect. Not all of us produce this music, so it is hard to go into professional detail on the production. Also reviews are made by individuals, it is their opinion and not a technical instruction. T2MU's reviews have to those pictures because he want's the reviews to be entertaining too in which they definitely succeed at.

 

Don't like it? Don't have to read it. Noone here gets paid to do these reviews, they do it for the fun of it.

[amphiton]

3/5