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Lebowski - Cinematic CD (album) cover

CINEMATIC

Lebowski

 

Crossover Prog

4.04 | 198 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Andy Webb
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin
4 stars Spiritual machine, sublime journey

Lebowski is a young project, born in 2005 in Poland. The band created an interesting blend of music, fusing cinematic atmospheres (most likely the namesake of the debut album), psychedelic ambience, and a steady rocking beat to master a fantastic feel and a superb, ponderous atmosphere of complacent textures and voluminous soundscapes. The album, Cinematic, transitions between sections of cool passiveness and heavy aggressiveness with amazing ease and incredible sensation. The album is entirely instrumental, except the movie SoundBits taken from Polish, French, and occasionally English films. The instrumentalists are able to effortlessly craft atmospheres of amazing bliss and conform them to a superb cinematic feel, fusing psychedelic mastery with the knowledge of the symbolism of music to create an extremely engaging and inviting experience.

One of my favorite features of this album is the fantastically dense nature of the music present in all of the tracks. Full of thought out synth and guitar atmospheres and heavy ambiences mixed throughout, the album presents itself as a superb effort by this young band. As a debut, it is incredible, with extremely professional production to heighten this experience even more so. The melodies backing these atmospheres are equally infectious, with sweeping post-rock esque grandeur fused with cinematic melodic structure to create a truly incredible musical experience. The guitar is especially essential to this supreme sound, creating sweeping melodies and atmospheres as well as contrasting crushing leads and heavy riffs at times. The great dynamics really add to this album, creating an incredible psychedelic journey.

The steady pace of this album is another obvious feature to compliment the music of this album. With a very steady rocking feel, the band is able to weave in and out of jam-like sessions, with mellow soloing from piano, synth, guitar, and even bass. The rhythmic nature of the music is very melancholy and precise, using some very standard rock and psychedelic beats and rhythms to the music's advantage. Even in those few moments of metallic crushing, the actual pace of the music stays relatively the same, with only the physical dynamic of the music changing to conform to the feeling of the atmosphere. One obvious example of this style of theirs is on the opener, Trip to Doha, which has an almost blast beat section gracing the still steady pulsing atmosphere of the track's music. The soundtrack-like feeling enhances the pulsing nature of the music even further, creating a truly infectious soundscape for the listener's pleasure. This album truly is like going to the movies on an album.

In summary, although the album may run a bit long with its very few tempo changes and constant pulsing atmosphere, the album is full of fantastic melodies and diverse ambient soundscapes crafted beautifully by this band. At some points the music may get a little repetitive, but this album is truly a master craft from this quartet of genius movie-loving Poles. The music is a real treat for both any music lover and for any movie lover; it crafts a sublime atmosphere suited both for pleasurable listening and the moviegoer's soundtrack special. In the end, this album is certainly an excellent addition to any progressive collection; the 10 tracks sponsor a host of progressive tidbits and themes, and are truly fantastic. 4 stars.

Andy Webb | 4/5 |

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