MASK
''HEAVY PETAL (THE TENEBROUS ODYSSEY OF JACK AND VIRGINIA)''
2005
59:35
1 Dark Murmur 02:11
2 Global Incantation 04:14
3 Paean 02:57
4 Fall So Hard 05:08
5 Healing Senses 04:19
6 Blue Words 05:04
7 Shelter Skelter 03:26
8 Free 05:47
9 Sliding Universe 01:49
10 Lambent Spire 06:41
11 Beloved 04:06
12 Living Inside My Head 03:24
13 Waking The Dream 04:14
14 Sound Of Tears Forming 00:40
15 Those Ghosts 05:28
All Tracks By Sonja Kristina, Marvin Ayres
ABOUT THE ALBUM
By Ryan Sparks, seaoftranquility.org
Sonja Kristina/Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (Overtoning)
Marvin Ayres/Cello, Violin, Piano, Sampler, Vocals, Vocals (Overtoning)
Mask is a collaborative effort between ambient musician and producer Marvin Ayres and Curved Air/ Acid Folk vocalist Sonja Kristina. Together these two extremely talented individuals have created a spectacular and emotionally moving CD called Heavy Petal – The Tenebrous Odyssey of Jack and Virgina.
The music on Heavy Petal combines organic sounds with lush, layered ambient soundscapes as tribal beats kickstart the first sounds heard on Heavy Petal. Tracks such as opener "Dark Murmer" and "Global Incantation" serve almost as the perfect instrumental appetizer to prepare the listener for Kristina's vocals which first appear in the third track, the absolutely dreamy and reverb laden "Paean". By the time the fourth track "Fall So Hard" comes around, you are hooked as her exquisite vocals delivered over the rhythmic backbeat just suck you in completely. This track is probably the most commercial sounding one of the lot. Ayres delivers some utterly brilliant cello, violin and piano work for Kristina's vocals to just float over and around in the mix; everything jells and you'd swear this duo have worked together all of their lives. The tracks on Heavy Petal are sequenced and paced evenly as instrumental tacks are interspersed throughout. The duo show that they are more than just about painting ambient canvas's of sound as they switch gears smack in the middle of the CD suddenly changing to almost full on techno beginning with "Free" and continuing through to the last track "Living Inside My Head", which although not totally my bag, does provides a nice, unexpected change of pace and almost gives the listener the strange feeling that they've gotten 2 CD's for the price of one.
This is music to heighten the senses and it's no surprise that live Mask performances feature multimedia images projected behind them. If there was ever music that could benefit even more from visual imagery it's the music on the first half of this disc. For me this would have easily been a 5 star review had they stuck to the ambient sounds and moods created in tracks 1-7. The techno tracks didn't grab me and I found my attention starting to wane. However that being said, the first half of this CD moved me enough to still consider this to be an absolute treasure to listen to and if you ask me if I would recommend it, the answer would be a resounding yes!
BIOGRAPHY/AMG (SONJA KRISTINA)
Born 14 April 1949, Brentwood, Essex, England. Following the demise of her former band Curved Air, vocalist Kristina formed the hard rocking Escape and released a solo album in 1980 on the Chopper Records label. Marriage to her old band’s drummer Stewart Copeland, (who had since joined the hugely successful Police) and the rearing of two children delayed a resumption of an acting career that had been suspended since she resigned from the London cast of Hair in 1970 to join Curved Air. A role in the Curriculee Curricula musical and the lead in Romeo And Juliet were followed in 1988 by a spell performing in the UK’s arts centres and more adventurous folk clubs. Later, she was the brains behind a UK tour of acts from this circuit, before forming her own ‘psychedelic acoustic acid folk’ combo TY-LOR and Friends, whose personnel included a violinist and cellist. Subsequent albums confirmed an upturn in Kristina’s fortunes in the 90s. In the new millennium, she collaborated with composer Marvin Ayres in the highly experimental MASK project. The duo’s live shows are notable for their bold fusion of light and sound. Kristina has also taken part in the occasional Curved Air reunion and taught Performing Arts at Middlesex University.
BIOGRAPHY/WIKIPEDIA (MARVIN AYRES)
BIOGRAPHY
WEBSITE
TO THE TOP
''HEAVY PETAL (THE TENEBROUS ODYSSEY OF JACK AND VIRGINIA)''
2005
59:35
1 Dark Murmur 02:11
2 Global Incantation 04:14
3 Paean 02:57
4 Fall So Hard 05:08
5 Healing Senses 04:19
6 Blue Words 05:04
7 Shelter Skelter 03:26
8 Free 05:47
9 Sliding Universe 01:49
10 Lambent Spire 06:41
11 Beloved 04:06
12 Living Inside My Head 03:24
13 Waking The Dream 04:14
14 Sound Of Tears Forming 00:40
15 Those Ghosts 05:28
All Tracks By Sonja Kristina, Marvin Ayres
ABOUT THE ALBUM
By Ryan Sparks, seaoftranquility.org
Sonja Kristina/Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (Overtoning)
Marvin Ayres/Cello, Violin, Piano, Sampler, Vocals, Vocals (Overtoning)
Mask is a collaborative effort between ambient musician and producer Marvin Ayres and Curved Air/ Acid Folk vocalist Sonja Kristina. Together these two extremely talented individuals have created a spectacular and emotionally moving CD called Heavy Petal – The Tenebrous Odyssey of Jack and Virgina.
The music on Heavy Petal combines organic sounds with lush, layered ambient soundscapes as tribal beats kickstart the first sounds heard on Heavy Petal. Tracks such as opener "Dark Murmer" and "Global Incantation" serve almost as the perfect instrumental appetizer to prepare the listener for Kristina's vocals which first appear in the third track, the absolutely dreamy and reverb laden "Paean". By the time the fourth track "Fall So Hard" comes around, you are hooked as her exquisite vocals delivered over the rhythmic backbeat just suck you in completely. This track is probably the most commercial sounding one of the lot. Ayres delivers some utterly brilliant cello, violin and piano work for Kristina's vocals to just float over and around in the mix; everything jells and you'd swear this duo have worked together all of their lives. The tracks on Heavy Petal are sequenced and paced evenly as instrumental tacks are interspersed throughout. The duo show that they are more than just about painting ambient canvas's of sound as they switch gears smack in the middle of the CD suddenly changing to almost full on techno beginning with "Free" and continuing through to the last track "Living Inside My Head", which although not totally my bag, does provides a nice, unexpected change of pace and almost gives the listener the strange feeling that they've gotten 2 CD's for the price of one.
This is music to heighten the senses and it's no surprise that live Mask performances feature multimedia images projected behind them. If there was ever music that could benefit even more from visual imagery it's the music on the first half of this disc. For me this would have easily been a 5 star review had they stuck to the ambient sounds and moods created in tracks 1-7. The techno tracks didn't grab me and I found my attention starting to wane. However that being said, the first half of this CD moved me enough to still consider this to be an absolute treasure to listen to and if you ask me if I would recommend it, the answer would be a resounding yes!
BIOGRAPHY/AMG (SONJA KRISTINA)
Born 14 April 1949, Brentwood, Essex, England. Following the demise of her former band Curved Air, vocalist Kristina formed the hard rocking Escape and released a solo album in 1980 on the Chopper Records label. Marriage to her old band’s drummer Stewart Copeland, (who had since joined the hugely successful Police) and the rearing of two children delayed a resumption of an acting career that had been suspended since she resigned from the London cast of Hair in 1970 to join Curved Air. A role in the Curriculee Curricula musical and the lead in Romeo And Juliet were followed in 1988 by a spell performing in the UK’s arts centres and more adventurous folk clubs. Later, she was the brains behind a UK tour of acts from this circuit, before forming her own ‘psychedelic acoustic acid folk’ combo TY-LOR and Friends, whose personnel included a violinist and cellist. Subsequent albums confirmed an upturn in Kristina’s fortunes in the 90s. In the new millennium, she collaborated with composer Marvin Ayres in the highly experimental MASK project. The duo’s live shows are notable for their bold fusion of light and sound. Kristina has also taken part in the occasional Curved Air reunion and taught Performing Arts at Middlesex University.
BIOGRAPHY/WIKIPEDIA (MARVIN AYRES)
BIOGRAPHY
WEBSITE
TO THE TOP