AMITABHA BY ALIO DIE & AGLAIA

Prog Electronic artists Stefano Musso (ALIO DIE) and Gino Fioravanti (AGLAIA) have teamed up once again to create an album of hypnotic soundscapes often reminiscent of the Ambient music of Brian Eno in the early 1980s.

1. "Monte Analogo" (09:47) has a distinct feel over its opening minutes that it's going to break a full blown 1970s TANGERINE DREAM song. By the third minute, the distinctive Stefano Musso contributions make it clear that no rhythmic sequencing is going to burst forth, that we are on a typically dreamy float through the ether on one of Stefano's magic carpets. Nice fake, nice song. (9/10)

2. "Il Portale dell'Invisibile" (07:42) higher pitched reverse guitars and whistles played over multiple tracks of deep bowed double bass loops makes for an interesting astral journey. A little long and lacking in variation to make this a replay song. (8/10)

3. "Outer Space Forest" (03:43) nighttime nature noises with treated traditional Arabian instruments and radio- sample noises makes for a kind of song that Holger Czukay effected in collaboration with David Sylvian in the 1980s. (8.25/10)

4. "Celestial Stream" (12:04) is a very pleasant, meditative place to be. Rapidly vibrating foundational sound creates a feeling like space motoring, astral strobe-viewing, with super-fast-paced voice editing/clipping. Very cool! (9/10)

5. "Cosmological Scale" (06:22) pulsing synth washes, organ chords, vocal banks, treated zither strums, single bell strikes, and piano notes all make for quite a celestial sound. Not unlike a HAROLD BUDD/BRIAN ENO sound from the early 1980s. (8.75/10)

6. "New Form of Elementals" (04:02) cavern lake dripping with background bagpipe and distant tubular bell play with gurgles and deep bass notes make for another Plateaux of Mirror or On Land-like song. (8.25/10)

7. "Amitabha" (06:25) feels full on like a precursor to an Eno/Budd song from Ambient 2: Plateaux of Mirror ("Failing Light"); aye, this song would have fit perfectly on that album had it been a double album or the song receiving release as an extended play EP. (9/10)

8. "Bright Circles" (09:18) high pitch buzzing notes float around the soundscape as gorgeous synth washes imbue and permeate the atmosphere. But, what starts out so celestially becomes stale and old, despite some subtle inputs from heavily treated keyboard piano, flute, and voice. Still, a great song to daydream or meditate to. (9/10)

9. "Reflections on the Abyss" (07:35) the deep vibratory thrum of large industrial vehicles beneath water as birds, bells, zither, and other incidentals are thrown into the mix is quite unsettling--and quite ingenious. (8.5/10)

10. "The First Step Depends on the Last" (09:23) an opening loop of heavily-treated guitar and keyboard notes and arpeggi is gradually added to, thickening the soundscape to almost disturbingly overwhelming barrage levels. (8.5/10)

Four stars; an excellent contribution to the catalogue of Progressive Electronics.

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