CONSTELLATIONS

A recent discovery of mine, Karda Estra is just the type of music I've been looking for: a kind of mood-setting modern-day chamber music. How much I love oboe and choir anglais and Hackettesque guitar playing is confirmed and affirmed in KE(Richard Wileman)'s music.

I'd been listening to all the streams and samples I could find on ProgArchives, Lala, Lastfm, Amazon, myspace, and iTunes before I bought Constellations, Eve, and The Age of Science and Enlightenment. Of the three, Constellations is my current favorite for its more uplifting moodscapes. Eve unleashes absolutely stunning, beautiful music, only a bit darker. I guess I tend to gravitate to musics that lift me up. Constellations is an album full, however brief that it may be (approx. 45 mins.), of absolute five-star instrumental gems (vocalist IIeesha's voice is here used as another instrument, never articulating words--as far as I can tell). In fact, the cover of a Steve Hackett piece, "Twice Around the Sun" (6:14) (8/10), along with "Hydra" (6:13) (8/10) and "Vela" (9:29) (9/10), are my least favorite songs--and they are all four star songs! The composition and musicianship throughout the album continue to sustain the group's exceedingly high standards. Another thing I love about Karda Estra is that they are behaving quite prolifically--pumping out an album a year for almost fifteen years now. Would that some of our other favorites would so favor us. (Are you listening, Anekdoten? After Crying?)

Five stars for this, a masterpiece of progressive rock music. An album that ranks in my Top 40 Favorites of the Naughties.