modern classical / ambient
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After the previous sludge-metal assault, I really needed something to calm my nerves. On those occasions, it's nice to see an email from Eilean Records coming in. In the past months, this label has always managed to come up with something I really, really, really like and I don't think they will disappoint in the future. In fact, Eilean is becoming synonymous with high quality ambient like ECM is synonymous with high quality jazz and Cold Meat Industry was synonymous with high quality...well, whatever CMI released.
Jason Van Wyk is a composer and producer from Cape Town, South Africa. For this album, his second, he delves into the world of modern classical music. Armed with piano, synths and electronics and aided by violin and cello players, he tries to immerse the listening into the elements, the calm atmosphere of an ocean, the inspiring appearance of stone, water or air. Does he succeed? Obviously, if not, Eilean Records wouldn't have released this beautiful piece of work.
It's very easy to compare this album to works of people like Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm or Sebastian Plano. However, I feel like that doesn't honor this album as it should. In fact, it's because of people like Jason Van Wyk that I've started to realize that Arnalds can be a bit too modern, electronic and cold for me, that Frahm is sometimes too experimental and that Plano might be a bit one sided.
Don't get me wrong, I love those people's music. I spent countless of hours enjoying them. It's just that I think I will enjoy the warm soundscapes and the fragile piano of Jason Van Wyk more. There's also plenty of variation, some pieces are minimal pieces of modern classical music, others, like 'Outset', my favorite, have a certain rhythm, reminding me of Tangerine Dream, for example. That variation gives the whole a nice flow, perhaps even something narrative.
Of course I recommend this album to everyone who loves ambient music and modern classical stuff, perhaps even to some new age adepts out there. This is a warm, gentle and seductive album that will often appear in my playlists. I can only advice you to check it out and let this gentle storm overtake you. It's a soothing journey, I can promise you.
​Serge
Jason Van Wyk is a composer and producer from Cape Town, South Africa. For this album, his second, he delves into the world of modern classical music. Armed with piano, synths and electronics and aided by violin and cello players, he tries to immerse the listening into the elements, the calm atmosphere of an ocean, the inspiring appearance of stone, water or air. Does he succeed? Obviously, if not, Eilean Records wouldn't have released this beautiful piece of work.
It's very easy to compare this album to works of people like Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm or Sebastian Plano. However, I feel like that doesn't honor this album as it should. In fact, it's because of people like Jason Van Wyk that I've started to realize that Arnalds can be a bit too modern, electronic and cold for me, that Frahm is sometimes too experimental and that Plano might be a bit one sided.
Don't get me wrong, I love those people's music. I spent countless of hours enjoying them. It's just that I think I will enjoy the warm soundscapes and the fragile piano of Jason Van Wyk more. There's also plenty of variation, some pieces are minimal pieces of modern classical music, others, like 'Outset', my favorite, have a certain rhythm, reminding me of Tangerine Dream, for example. That variation gives the whole a nice flow, perhaps even something narrative.
Of course I recommend this album to everyone who loves ambient music and modern classical stuff, perhaps even to some new age adepts out there. This is a warm, gentle and seductive album that will often appear in my playlists. I can only advice you to check it out and let this gentle storm overtake you. It's a soothing journey, I can promise you.
​Serge
