RAINBOW DOME MUSICK

Rainbow Dome Music, recorded by Steve Hillage especially for the Festival For Mind, Body and Spirit way back in January 1979 has been in my collection for a hell of a long time. The album was in fact played by Dr Alex Paterson (no relation!) of The Orb at his legendary chillout sets back in the early 90s, bringing the album back into the public eye once again

The album is unlike the remainder of Hillage's work, due to the ambient nature of this album.

Featuring only two lengthy ambient pieces, this is an album of blissed out tranquility, a masterpiece of the ambient genre. The dominant instruments are the synthesizers which wash over the listener in waves throughout. Aided by Hillage's heavenly guitar work, the music really does provides the most relaxing experience.

Of the two tracks, Garden of Paradise is the most popular, featuring more of Hillage's guitar, however, my preference is for the second piece, Four Ever Rainbow, which is the more ambient of the two. The familiar sound of Tim Blake's crystal machine is in evidence, and the many keyboard sounds provide a backdrop of stunning beauty, at times a little edgy, but nonetheless very peaceful.

I do appreciate that this album will not be universally popular with fans of more mainstream prog, only those with a strong inclination towards electronic or ambient music can be expected to really appreciate this. However, for me it is a great album and for fans of ambient and electronic music I would consider it to be a very important addition to their collection.