OASIS (OST)

Dreaming of Cedar Breaks

While "Oasis" is described as a soundtrack in the sleeve notes, do not look on IMDB for a film of that name from 1997, you will not find one. The music here was commissioned for a documentary made by noted cinematographer of nature Gray Warriner. In this case, the documentary was about the natural wonders of the South West United States. Thus we have tracks dedicated to such areas of jaw dropping beauty as the cactus parks of Arizona, Mesa Verde NP, Zion NP and the sublime Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah.

The band at this point consists only of Edgar and Jerome Froese, who the filmmakers knew they could rely up on to provide music which would complement the beauty of the landscapes perfectly. In an audio only environment, those of us who have had the privilege of seeing these wonders for ourselves can sit back and relive the experience through our imagination. The handful of photographs adorning the CD cover help along the way, the relaxed nature of these synthesiser pieces being undemanding and peaceful. That is not to say these are slow moving new age ambiences, many of the tracks have reasonably strong rhythms, with pieces such as "Flashflood" being suitably vibrant. The music though is essentially extended improvisations on straightforward basic themes, the synth tones rarely straying from the soft polyphonic sounds which are a feature of many Tangerine Dream albums from around this time.

"Cedar breaks" is actually the best track in my opinion. Here, the electronic rhythms are dispensed with in favour of symphonic synthesiser sounds, the mood of the piece being gentler and more orchestral. This makes visualising the wonderful colours of the majestic columns which adorn this hidden gem in Utah, the simplest of pleasures.

There is nothing ground breaking or novel here, those familiar with the Froese's albums of this type will find this is very much more of the same. For me, the appeal of the album is simply that it is inspired by and dedicated to some of the most stunning places in the entire world. Happy memories indeed.

As well as VANGELIS, with his sonundtracks for Frederic Rossif, also Tangerine Dream have once been commissioned to comment a documentary. It resulted in an album an a DVD about the Sothwest of the USA. I haven't seen it, but reading the revews it seems that it's worth the 10 euro Amazon asks for.

At this point in time, TD is just a family affair between Edgar Froese and his son Jerome. Pure electronics. No guitars no drums, no other instruments. Keyboards only.

Listening to the tracks I can imagine how they might have fit as comments to images of landscapes, electric storms, canyons, wilderness and so on. Some sounds are very typical, anywa. The base of "Zion" seems coming from the Phaedra years, but other sounds are more "modern". It's clear that beina a musical comment, it's tendentially close to the newage, also consideriing that in the middle of the 90s the newage genre was at the top of its success almost everywhere.

The most "progressive" tracks is, I think, "Waterborne". The minor chords and the chosen sounds are close to Peter BARDENS solo works. Sometimes, like with the "ooh" sound on "Cliff Dwellers", it can remind to "Song of Distant Earth" by Mike OLDFIELD. Not strange. The period is almost the same and both are about "nature" in some sense. The bell sounds and the pseudo-harp at the beginning of "Summer Storm" seem taken from Vangelis' "Chariots of Fire". Luckily rhytmic is added later. It's nice recognizing some sounds present in my expander, too. I guess that they have used also a KORG M1 in some moments.

:An average 3 stars album: not great but NOT BAD AT ALL.