DANIEL BIRO

The first 7 minutes flow seamlessly through the electronic piano chords then they are joined by strings keyboard and a flugelhorn sound. This section reminds to the first tracks of BLADE RUNNER's soundtrack, but only for the mood and the horny sounds. The passages are typical of Biro's music and his style is recognizable also in the collaborations with Colin Bass.

The transitions are smooth and the various parts may underline different states of mind. It's a trip, not intended as an acid one, but as the title says, an introspective travel through different sensations and feelings. The jazzy section that start after minute 15 is particularily interesting also from a technical point of view. The chords and the melody is backed by a sequence of few notes. A repetitive sequence at the level of the best TANGERINE DREAM.

Apparently the suite may have been designed for a vynil, as around minute 20 there's a little pause and a change. There's a sort of transition, but this is clearly different from what came before. The structure is still based on a sequence, but the sounds and the mood aren't the same.

Also this part is very enjoyable- The sequence has iys own rhythm so the absence of percussion is not a problem. There are more strings in foreground until a sudden stop starts a section made of minor chords and synthetic female choir. When it ends, the chords become more dissonant and the fast notes loose any possible melodic aspect. Few minutes and a bass sequence takes the lead. The ambient is now darker synth percussion are added together with some background electronic noises.

At 3/4 of the suite where it's going is now unclear. Three bass notes bring it back to more familiar jazzy soundscapes. It's a very pleasant part, There's a very smooth transition to another sequencer based base which brings a nice chords progression in. Then only the sequenced base remains and slows down progressively until it stops.

But it's not the end. Now the thing goes ahead at low volume, with some electric piano chords above the basic sequence. It's like a little music box is playing. One minute more and it's done.

Briefly, this is the kind of suite that lets you be transported. The different parts are so well transitioned, apart of the break at minutes 19, that it's like moving across different places in a single journey.

Use good speakers. Headphones may be too heavy.

The sequence which occupies the first minutes is very reminding of the sophomore outputs of ALIO DIE, but the chords that insist on that sequence have the typical soundscape that can be found on the album "Still" that's the result of the first collaboration between Daniel BIRO and the Camel bassist COLIN BASS.

The track is entitled "Morning", and if you look at the cover art, it can give the idea of a slow awakening, but probably because of my mood, I find it very appropriate with a rainy or cold day spent at home in front of a fireplace. It's only when the chimes enter after about 13 minutes, that the ambient becomes initially fairy, then it slowly grows toward a little darkness.

It's like a lucid dream in which the mind transforms external inputs into something unreal.

After 17 minutes it fades out and a jazzy fender piano (or something similar to a fender piano) plays a solo full of notes which move around a single chord. Other layers of sound come and go. Now it's like the awakening has become the city chaos of the peak traffic hours...well not really. The electronic sounds resembling grotesque water drops remind to the "Invisible Connections" by VANGELIS. It's like we are still dreaming...

This atonal section ends at minute 23 when the soundscape is back to the "Still" realm, but with apparently randomic piano chords together with sounds similar to a hangpan. Then a sequence like the background noise of a train on march. Are we going to work still partially asleep?

At minute 27 there are some hints of a melody. We are again in the soft dreamy ambience of the beginning. This music is apparently full of "alpha waves". It inspires visions of relaxing environments: which ones depends on the listener. A fireplace, a rainy day, a city by night, mountains...whatever makes you feel relaxed, even when a bit later the notes become more dissonant and the sounds more similar to an industrial environment.

Everything proceeds smoothly. Piano and bells fulfill the section started at about minute 36. Then a crescendo, in number of notes and sounds, not in volume, which seem to rush to somewhere. I have the mental images of goldfishes in a bowl or ants going up and down a wall. This goes on for several minutes, constantly increasing the number of notes per second The apparent chaos seems to be ready to turn into something, but it goes on and on for several minutes.

47 minutes are now gone. A couple of dissonant chords are the base for some higly reverbered piano that plays different chords. The rushing is gone, but the ambient is still resembling the distorted reality of a lucid dream. The backgroud disappears and the piano is left alone one more time. 7 nnibutes to the end and it's back to melody, Dark and rainy in my view. This long coda has a sort of "Blade Runner" mood, and thinking better, it fits well with the imagine of the immense dark metropolis under the rain. The very lass repeated sounds give me the idea of a wakeup ring about to start, but it fades out and the track is done.

An electronic trip.