BAR DO THOS GROL

This album belongs to the "ethnic ambient" side of Senmuth, as Valery Av writes in his website. It consists in a suite in six movements entitled "Antharabhava" which is a concept taken from a Veda. It's the continuity of life and death not to be confused with the metempsychosis. It's like lighting a sigarette with one about to burn out (I think Buddha has used a similar analogy).

The first two tracks have a lazy rhythm and are full of electronics in a way that's unusual for Senmuth. The 12 minutes of the first movement are remarkable for the sounds used which remind to the late VANGELIS also for the synthetic female voices which sometimes appear. Not often Senmuth's music is so relaxing and meditative.

The second movement is a little darker but the repetitive bass sound is reminding of the TANGERINE DREAM of the early 80s while the keyboards in foreground and the electronics in the last part of the track are very close to the Greek genius.

It's with the third track that we are back into the normal Senmuth's world. Even this track has a lazy rhythm but it contains ethnic percussion, jumps of tonality and sound more familiar to who knows Senmuth. It's not bad but there's plenty of tracks of this kind in the over 100 albums released by this prolific artist.

The fourth movement proceeds on this path. Again the best reference is for me VANGELIS. The percussion hits which underline the passages lead to the orchestral accents which I usually don't like in Vangelis, but in this track are functional. The percussion have the usual ethnic flavor even if not properly Indian as the suite's title let's intend. The whole movement is played around a minor chord with a reverbed bell which sometimes transforms it into major. IT's a very good track. If you have liked "The City" from Vangelis this is your pot.

Dark and weird sounds open the fifth movement. Bells and industrial sounds before the orchestral hit which opens the core of the track. This movement is entitled "The State Of Sleep", and as usual in Senmuth, the track titles help in better appreciating what the music is trying to communicate. This track is really dreamlike, with a tick-tock in the background throughout it all. There is a similar track for mood and sounds on "Muzika Stranstviy" if I'm not confusing it with one of the other many Senmuth's albums.

"A Meditative concentration" is a title which reminds to TANGERINE DREAM and let me say that the music does it too. It's a complex track with many different moments, like in the TD works of the late 70s, and the bass square waves which lead the track after the first two minutes are the kind of sounds which are a trademark of EDGAR FROESE.

For fans of progressive electronic, it deserves the status of "excellent addition".