Aguas da Amazonia

5 Comments

1. Peter Cooper says:

   March 31, 2010 at 10:27 pm

   Imagine you’re in a small boat drifting down a river flanked on both sides by giant trees. Their leafy branches extend out across the river and are left dangling just metres above the water. You close your eyes and hear the music.

   Well, that’s what this music is. It evokes the feel of being there, under the leaves on the river. The first track, ‘Tiquie River,’ is a simple organ/pizzicato affair, and at under two minutes long, it instills an initial sense of calm, before drifting into ‘Japura River’.

   Japura is darker, and the piece is much more rhythmic. Glass marimba floats over the underlying xylophone texture, and pan-pipes emerge from the shadows from time to time. The piece builds up and generally gives off the mood of travelling down a darkened river, shaded by thick jungle. It’s mysterious, but it’s not scary.

   ‘Purus River’ is a happier piece with a mixture of marimba/xylophone/piano/panpipes and native Amazonian percussion.

   ‘Negro River’ has a more tribal feel, and also debuts a rather unique Amazonian string instrument that sounds rather like the Turkish ’saz’.

   ‘Madeira River’ starts off with a rather atonal string instrument, but eventually builds up into a fast flurry of xylophones and marimba creating a waterfall-style effect.

   If Koyaanisqatsi had scenes from the jungle, ‘Tapajos River’ is the ideal tune. There are similarities to Koyaanisqatsi tunes and themes here, but with the jungle edge.

   ‘Amazon River’ finds us reaching the end of our river cruise in a fast flurry of trees, water, waterfalls, and fast percussion pushing us along. The piece becomes flurried towards the end, and then leaves us, waking up from our dream.

   ‘Metamorphosis I’ seems to be a bit of an ‘add-on’ to the album, simply being a ‘cover version’ of Metamorphosis I by Uakti. It’s good, and their instrumentation makes it feel like yet another journey through the jungle, but it’s tighter and more restrained than the other pieces, so we’re not on the river, we’re on foot. The piece moves well, and ends with us running through the jungle through to the climax.

   A delightful album with EXCELLENT instrumentation. It’s a great listen, but it’s also delightful to fall asleep to too. An album for any occasion.. active listening, or just in the background at an outdoor summer barbecue.
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. David Milner says:

   March 31, 2010 at 11:37 pm

   I was a fan of both Philip Glass and Uakti before the release of this album, so I was absolutely thrilled to see this collaboration. And the CD surpassed all expectations.

   Glass’ composition is brilliant. Other reviewers here have pooh-poohed the composition as simply plagiarized from his previous works. Who cares? It works here – magically. And Uakti’s instrumentation and performance have a wonderfully humanizing effect on Glass’ music. The instrumentation is lush, like the rivers and rainforests themselves. And the addition of apparently improvised solos (improvisation in a Glass piece?!) gives the music a warm, organic, and even untamed feel to it.

   This truly is one of my all-time favorite CD’s. It’s simply mesmerizing to sit and listen to it on a pair of headphones. On one level, it’s wonderful to just soak in the lushness of the sound. On another, it’s fascinating to decipher the puzzles and games Glass plays with the composition. Listen carefully and take note of the time signatures, for instance. Not only does he make liberal use of compound meter – 5 or 7 beats per measure, for example – note how often the time signature changes in the same piece. And yet it’s done so flawlessly the casual listener wouldn’t notice anything unusual at all, just that the music feels particularly “lively.”

   I’ve had this CD for a couple of years now. It’s still one of my absolute favorites.
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. Anonymous says:

   April 1, 2010 at 12:21 am

   I bought this disc because I had heard one or two tracks and really liked them. How fantastic to find out the entire thing is so pleasantly interesting. What hooked me at first was the candy-like sounds of the marimbas. But what made me listen again and again was figuring out the many musical puzzles. Uakati plays with speed and precision, but also with real warmth, not at all cold and mechanical. Plus, the unique instruments guarantee you’ve never heard anything like this (they don’t SOUND home-made). If only I enjoyed all my CD’s this much.
   Rating: 5 / 5
4. M. J. Smith says:

   April 1, 2010 at 1:18 am

   I used to be a Glass fan, eagerly awaiting each new release. Then I discovered that Glass, like any other composer, can produce mediocre music as well – something I believe Glass is especially prone to given his style. However, this recording shows what Glass can be, not so much that the composition is inspired as that the instrumentation is inspired; instrumentation is based on instruments constructed by Uakti and traditional instruments – glass marimba, pan pipes, xylophone, flute, tabla, keyboards …

   This particular work is intended as the score for a ballet company; it certainly would work in the intended context but it also works as a piece in it’s own right. If you don’t listen carefully, it may fade into the background as what I think of as “generic new age” – however, if you truly listen to the work, the changes in instrumentation and tempos will convince you this is not generic anything but an innovative rendition well worth your full attention.
   Rating: 4 / 5
5. Anna Graham says:

   April 1, 2010 at 3:53 am

   If you believe that Glass can be lovely, then this is one of the loveliest pieces ever written. I hope the composer is aware of how much sheer joy he can bring to people. Here is music as sultry, dusky, liquid magic.
   Rating: 5 / 5