THEY GROW LAYERS OF LIFE WITHIN

It's almost unfair to be rating this beautiful music against the complicated, demanding efforts of rock band formatted sweathogs but when all is said and done, what you choose to listen at the end of the day, whether it be 'nglag'rd, Gentle Giant, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" or Brian Eno's ambient music, it shouldn't matter, should it? Stefano Musso and his zithers, computers, and collaborators have made another beautiful, engaging album. So let's celebrate!

1. The Atom of Existence" (26:20) droning synth wash with chimes/bells over the first five minutes. The bells disappear leaving only the multi-layered drone--a kind of chord within which certain notes strengthen and cresecendo and decay in turn with the others. Quite beautiful and mathematical. At 7:25 another "nighttime bug" sound enters and remains while the lowest notes of the "chord" enter and play a slow moving melody. At 8:20 horn-like riffs join in and a new broad-spectrum chord is constructed over, with, and supplanting the original. What started as intriguing and exciting became a little over drawn-out (despite the bird sounds in the last minutes.) (9/10)

2. "They Grow Layers of Life Within" (32:02) opens with Middle Eastern (Peter Gabriel's Last Temptation of Christ soundtrack) sounding ambient street sounds. Quite beautiful, dreamy, and reminiscent of walking the serpentine streets of a pre-industrial revolution North African or Middle Eastern town. New sounds and layers in the fourth minute make it sound as if the town (or organism) is coming to life, awakening. The marketplace setup and opening. At the ten minute mark one gets the sense that the ambulator is leaving the busy thrum of the market area and regressing into the spidery quiet alleys and occasional busy streets. He's in a daze, in a fog, walking as if searching for something without knowing what, only knowing that he needs to keep walking. At 14:30 begins another shift. The man is approaching a mosque. He enters the mosque. It is nearly empty as it is between prayer times. The bells at the 18 minute mark might designate an active pocket of prayer or group activity. The dreamer stops to observe, watching the men in discussion or the women sewing together. The dreamer's eyes are drawn upwards, into the shafts of light streaming in from the clerestory windows or gable supports. Beautiful. In the 23rd minute, the somnambulant is drawn back outside by the noise of sales carts selling handmade jewelry and scarves, cutlery and silverware, fabric and rugs. The beautiful small courtyard outside the mosque is teeming with light, heat, and tired vendors. The ambulator is suddenly fatigued, the heaviness of the summer heat bearing down. Time to sit down, lie down, die? And the market square business continues, business, life, as usual, as consciousness fades. Beautiful. (9.5/10)

3. "Real-Life Mystery" (6:09) gorgeous and frolicky with the nymph-like water play of bells and fairies, crickets and heavenly choir. (9/10)

A five star masterpiece of progressive electronic, ambient folk, or whatever kind of music this is. Wonderful stuff!