reviews / 2009

GREG DAVIS - Mutually Arising

Name: GREG DAVIS – Mutually Arising
Item: Mutually Arising
Rating: 5.5
Author: Francesco Nunziata

2009 (Kranky)

ambient, drone

by Francesco Nunziata

5.5

Not particularly incisive, Chicago musician Greg Davis's career continues with "Mutually Arising", steeped in a mystically-tinged drone ambient.

Armed with analog synthesizers and laptop, Davis gathers, in just over fifty minutes, cosmic explorations marked by extremely slow, crescendo-driven unfolding. Infinitesimal mutations of a sound zoomed in on in slow motion, as if wanting to savor, to the point of agony, every single, minimal variation.

Still, it's a record for fans of a certain kind of muffled sound diluted over time, one that relies heavily on the cheaply reproducible (in terms of creativity) nature of a genre too often left at the mercy of overly superficial compositions.

Split into two long compositions, the album opens with the undulating drone of "Cosmic Mudra", a scant twenty-nine minutes of ascesis sailing toward the usual symphonic apotheosis. All very conventional, in any case.

Slightly more intriguing, though without any particular standout qualities, "Hall Of Pure Bliss" is a continuous, unrelenting dawn. Twenty-two minutes of bargain-bin ecstasy.

Not recommended for those with no time to waste.

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10/09/2009

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Francesco Nunziata, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition