Vidna Obmana - An Opera for Four Fusion Works, Act 1
AN OPERA FOR FOUR FUSION WORKS is a unique project by Vidna Obmana and Hypnos -- a four-CD album, released one CD at a time. The first disc will be released next month in a case (similar to the one used for Robert Rich's Humidity) that will have space for all four discs, though slots 2, 3 and 4 will be empty. The listener can then purchase the later installments as they are released gradually over the next year or two, and insert them into the case. The second, third and fourth discs will not be sold in their own cases, and will be shipped in a plastic sleeve only! This will allow us to release the project gradually, and will facilitate convenient storage for the completed four-disc set. Of course it will mean that you need to purchase the first disc in order to have a proper case for the other discs. Only when all four discs have been released, we will make available the whole set of four discs, pre-packaged together.
In each of the four chapters or "Acts," Belgian ambient/experimental artist Vidna Obmana will rework or "recycle" the sound sources of a different musician or group. The four acts will be linked in a thematic sense, but will use completely different and distinct sound sources as raw material for Vidna Obmana's manipulation.
"Act One" of the Opera (a conceptual title only -- you won't find operatic vocals here) is "Echoes of Steel" featuring guitar recordings by Dreams In Exile (see www.dreamsinexile.com for more information). The result is an austere, yet beautiful collaging of textures at once recognizably guitar-like, and at the same time abstract and strange.
Vidna Obmana continues the bold artistic exploration he began on Hypnos
with LANDSCAPE IN OBSCURITY, continued with the diptych THE SURREAL
SANCTUARY and THE CONTEMPORARY NOCTURNE, and most recently the two-disc
SOUNDTRACK FOR THE AQUARIUM.
ACT ONE track listing with MP3 sample clips:
1. IV
2. V
3. III
4. II
5. I
Purchase direct
Reviews
"The first of a 4-CD set to be released individually over the course of the next year or so, this inaugural volume sees renowned Belgian ambient/world artist VIDNA OBMANA manipulating and recycling guitar sounds from the American group DREAMS IN EXILE. The resultant album is a lovely and nearly ambient selection of tracks that do retain a guitar feel, yet flow like ambient music--drifty, pastoral, and dreamlike. 'Echoes Of Steel' is a symphonic tapestry of metallic strings and gently wafting melodic shifts, perfectly suited for a quiet evening of peaceful relaxation. Later tracks like 'III' include wispy and harmonic vocals, creating a soothing and warm ebb. The final track, simply titled 'I', is just about as gorgeous as music gets--a great piece of 'pure' music to touch the soul. Can't say enough, but this release is superlative in every way, evocative and imaginative, a beautiful landscape without equal."--Godsend E-zine
.
.