Notes
As one who devotes so much time to delivering music to the world, it is good to see radio show host, reviewer and concert producer Chuck Van Zyl also spending time at being an Electronic Musician. His release 'Rituals' (57'01') is one of Spacemusic's sonic miracles. An album with incomparable penetration Rituals is so alluring and ingenious that listeners will find it's atmosphere of cosmic yearning on an equal level with that of it's ceaseless sonic invention. The mood and message of this third volume extends the trajectory of his two previous CDs. While 'MemorySpace' (2010) and 'Cenotaph' (2012) took two years each to conceive, concertize, record and produce, 'Rituals' (2014) took just two weeks. Using modular systems, a variety of modern analog synthesizers and sequencers and operating at an emotional and enthusiastic pitch, van Zyl realizes music that possesses as much the buzz and crackle of electricity as it does the frigid black of space. From his instrument's storm force of sound comes delightful throbbing bass lines, echo-warping chimes and a mystery machine pulse, against which van Zyl sways and plays Rhodes piano, synth strings, Mellotron choir and full-blooded melodies. Staccato synthesizer blips interlock and pound out mighty sequencer patterns, yet this mechanical rigidity is somehow softened - as lines of dancing arpeggios pump up against tuneful leads and ethereal harmonic progressions. Disarmingly quiet passages reduce the level of density and energy with insinuating modulations and vaporous aural forces. 'Rituals' pushes and pulls itself, expands and contracts, and manages to establish an interesting contour through various scenarios and scenes... to attain a rare unity. Offering vivid synthesized sonorities the appeal lies in it's minimalist values and in this musician's ability to create an intimate and absorbing listening experience. As with albums by Arc and Redshift 'Rituals' has an immediacy that can overwhelm, yet it's cosmic beauty is easily experienced over and over. The creative act is the one defense against the ruin of the world. Singing the mental electric with an inventive sonic flair Chuck Van Zyl makes music that fills up the empty spaces and places of life. Embracing the early-day attitudes of the Kosmische Musik movement, he transcends them - elevating the most familiar themes to another sphere. Anyone in love with Spacemusic and it's very specific poetry will want to hear this recording.
