LIGHT YEARS

One of the most difficult subgenres of music to review, in my opinion, is Progressive Electronic. The differentiating characteristics of each song and artist are dependent on variations of tempo, instrument choice (such as the use of 'drum/percussives'), and But the moods so often conveyed through Progressive Electronic soundscapes are usually either floating/ethereal or traveling/driven, without much variation from the two. Thus, I have found myself hesitant to do many PE reviews--especially song-by-song, movement-by-movement reviews. A lot of what I hear is, of course, rendered into categories according to who they sound like (to me). Yet, there is an awful lot of Progressive Electronic music that I have grown to love. I want, therefore, to be able to extoll the praises of these albums in order to promote the artists creating the beauty from which I and others can so benefit. The act of trying to put a review into words just feels intimidating, even daunting. Perhaps I just need to find another, more creative way of using words. Stellardrone is the name that Lithuanian artist Edgaras ?akevičius has been using to release self-published music over the past ten years. While Edgaras' output has been at a fairly pleasing level from the start, it feels to me that until this album, Light Years, each of the Stellardrone albums has provided me with a bit of a rollercoaster ride--a lot of great songs pitted with the valleys of some weaker ones--songs that feel underdeveloped or 'cheesy' in their simplicity or in the choice of computer synthesized sounds chosen therein. Light Years is the first Stellardrone album that I absolutely love start to finish. There is no song-skipping here, no weak songs, only shifts in dynamics and speed, evocations of dreaminess or movement and adventure.

Five star songs: 1. "Red Giant" (3:15) (9/10); 2. "Airglow" (5:16) (10/10); 3. "Eternity" (6:21) (10/10); 4. "Light Years" (6:04) (10/10); "Comet Halley" (3:42) (9/10); 8. "Ultra Deep Field" (5:44) (10/10), and; 9. "Eternity (Reprise)" (3:33) (10/10).

Four star songs: 5. "In Time" (3:47) (8/10); 6. "Cepheid" (4:32) (8/10), and; 10. "Messier 45" (2:26) (8/10).

An album of beautiful music which does a wonderful job of provoking emotional and visual responses. Truly a masterpiece of modern electronica.