Aug 3, 2014

Sundaze 1431

Hello,

It is not hard to tell that Ukranian-American composer Gregory Kyryluk absorbed a lot of old-school German spacemusic in his formative years. We can be thankful he did because, along with fellow Americans like Jonn Serrie and the group Spacecraft, he's grown into one of the world's most sensitive practitioners of ambient spacemusic, whether new-school or old. His one-man project Alpha Wave Movement has taken the classic Berlin sound across the Atlantic and into the 21st century without succumbing to either brazen recycling or moving it too far from its sonic roots. . .....N'Joy

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Alpha Wave Movement is the project of Gregory Kyryluk. Alpha Wave Movement began in 1990 when Kyryluk released a track called "Blink of an Eye" for a small AM-radio talk show in Jacksonville, FL. "Blink of an Eye" was rhythmic and melodic, but quite obscure. It was, however, this release that began Alpha Wave Movement and started a string of releases. Between these initial forays into electronic music, Alpha Wave Movement was Gregory Kyryluk's preferred mode of electronic music experimentation. 1994 yielded Alpha Wave Movement's first compilation contribution and first commercial release with Silent Records' From Here to Tranquility, Vol. 4 compilation. Between this release and Alpha Wave Movement's first full-length release, Gregory Kyryluk experimented more and more with his sound, trying to achieve a bridge between American electronic music and the Berlin-school style of electronic music, along the lines of Tangerine Dream, Ashra, and the always notable Klaus Schulze. In 1995, he came the closest that he had come to achieving this sort of "über musik" that would be his own, yet reminiscent of the electronic music that he had come to love and enjoy; this release was Transcendence on Gregory Kyryluk's own Harmonic Resonance Recordings label. As mentioned, this CD was a definite step toward the sound environments that Gregory Kyryluk enjoyed dwelling in, and his sonic experimentation continued further.

Gregory Kyryluk and his Alpha Wave Movement project began to focus more on the cosmic, spacious, and reflective aspects of his musical persona. It was this direction, whether he knew it or not at the time, that would certainly elevate his work to more and more audiences. Around this time, Gregory Kyryluk began listening to explorations into classic Arabic music both popular and traditional, as well as hybrid ethno-Indian music like that of Sheila Chandra and Michael Brook's projects with vocalist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. This exotic music left an indelible impression on Gregory Kyryluk and he felt the urge to incorporate the rhythmic pulse and atmosphere of this music into his own electronic inspirations. Following the successful debut of Alpha Wave Movement's Transcendence, several other recordings in the same vein were released over the course of the next half decade; including 1996's The Edge of Infinity on the Groove Unlimited label, as well as 1998's Concept of Motion and 2000's Drifted Into Deeper Lands, both of which were also featured on the Groove Unlimited label. 2001 saw Gregory Kyryluk and Alpha Wave Movement doing a very successful and well-received collaboration with Jim Cole of Spectral Voices fame by the name of Bislama. This work truly brings to life some Gregory Kyryluk's interests in Arabic and Far Eastern ethnic music, only it's brought to life by a wide and panoramic stereo field that seems to suck the listener in. Alpha Wave Movement and Gregory Kyryluk continue to go strong.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Bislama is very three-dimensional, with its rhythms and melodic rumblings panned from left to right and right to left, a great headphone record. The production work on this recording even gives the best of the ambient genre (i.e., Robert Rich and Steve Roach) a run for its money. This is definitely not a sleeping or meditational recording like most ambient works, or even like much of Alpha Wave Movement's or Jim Cole's previous work. While Bislama is very pleasing and very contemplative, it's above all else a listening recording. This is ambient with a pulse, space music that creates space and takes you on a journey. This Spectral Spiral Music release contains the vocal, overtone singing talents of Jim Cole and Alpha Wave Movement's Gregory Kyryluk who definitely adds just the right amount of synthesized ambient atmosphere and pulsating rhythm to make this recording evolve quickly and leave you wanting more. Bislama, as the title might suggest, is of a more tribal or ethnic feel, but it's different than a lot of the other attempts at this feel; this recording is distinctly Jim Cole and Alpha Wave Movement. Jim Cole and Alpha Wave Movement have created a fantastic and lively recording. This is a must-have recording for the upbeat contemplative section of your ambient collection.



Alpha Wave Movement and Jim Cole - Bislama  (flac 331mb)

01 Bislama 10:06
02 Offering 7:46
03 Satari 10:47
04 Theidea 4:56
05 Sanguine Moon 9:22
06 Waking The Divine 10:23
07 Samui 11:09

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

A Distant Signal returns to the extra-planetary themes and spaces of Edge Of Infinity. Gone is some of Infinity's prettiness and in its place is a certain melancholy loneliness, like the floating strings and dislocated bleeps of "Liquid Cosmos". There is a complexity to the drum patterns on "Outward Bound" that most spacemusic composers rarely bother with, but Kyryluk can be bothered and emerges with one of his most distinctive tracks. For sheer enveloping warmth "A Place Of Peace" and "No Mans Land" are the album's highlights.



Alpha Wave Movement - A Distant Signal  (flac 330mb)

01 Mapping The Heavens 6:02
02 Distant Signals 7:31
03 Liquid Cosmos 6:52
04 A Place Of Peace 7:26
05 Outward Bound 6:54
06 Centauri Memories 2:47
07 Requiem For C.S. 3:27
08 Portal Full Of Stars 7:31
09 Plasma Cloud 4:10
10 No Mans Land 6:28
11 Lunar Sunrise 2:13

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Alpha's seventh album Cosmology is distinguished by its generous melodies, developed rhythms and polished production. These qualities make it the most accessible album for newcomers from a dance or rock background even if it's not AWM's greatest release. The fifteen-minute "Teutonic Voyage" is driven by an urgent sequencer pulse that recalls Tangerine Dream's most exciting moments, and both this and "Celestial Mechanics" play with an updated sound that echoes the patterns and sonic language of modern club trance. For pure ambient spacemusic "Distant Edens" stands out with its waves of blissful keyboard washes that unfold with all the delicacy of a beautiful flower.



Alpha Wave Movement - Cosmology (flac  369mb)

01 Prologue Sequence 5:12
02 Teutonic Voyage 15:19
03 Sailing Orion 10:52
04 Celestial Mechanics 5:25
05 Rendezvous 5:49
06 Deep Outpost 4:57
07 Astral Navigator 5:28
08 Distant Edens 9:42
09 The Far Side Of I.O. 2:11

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

2 comments:

  1. Can you reup this second part of posts dedicated to Kyryluk's albums, please? He has real taste in music.

    Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amazing music. I hope other visitors like it too. Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete