Sonolumina — Solar Logos

The new project Sonolumina is a duo consisting of prolific electronic producer "bios+a+ic" (a name which admittedly quite amuses me) and a dancer/musician named Jewl Petteway, who plays several acoustic instruments on their debut album "Solar Logos".  It belongs to the 'ethno-ambient' niche, as each track is a sparse pastiche of ambient elements constructed around repetitive tribal drum patterns.

There is a good energy to the album, and it makes pleasant, unintrusive background music for contemplation, reading or work.  The esoteric, mysterious and primal atmosphere the band is going for is at least partially achieved, though it seems a little forced.  Many elements of the bands sound are inherently pleasant to the ear, such as the complex and multifaceted hand percussion work (tabla, dunbek, and more), and the earthy, fuzzed out bass tones, which come from some middle ground between electronic and acoustic.

However, it seems the band is indecisive as their energy level; they don't know whether to sink completely into tranced out atmosphere, or strengthen the rhythm enough to have it completely possess the listener's consciousness.  The resulting middle ground renders the pieces less than immersive, like the psychic forces hinted at within the interplay of elements was never directed with enough focus or intent to truly materialize.  Many tracks never quite get off the ground even within fairly lengthy 6-12 minute running times.

This could partly be due to the production, which is raw to the point of awkward incongruity between elements, at times.  The programmed drums found here are very rigid, sequenced in archaically simple patterns, recalling late 70's electro like Kraftwerk, except clearly digital and lacking in analog grit.  It's completely at odds with the dry-sounding, unprocessed tabla.  It's no coincidence that the sound seems to gain sonic and spiritual dimensions the instant the electronic beats are gone, best exemplified by the 10 minute "Tablaji", in which the rich tones of the tabla are presented alone atop a very subtle and muffled melancholic chord.

I would have liked to hear Petteway's playing of acoustic instruments be given a lot more prominence on this album.  The band's artist description speaks of "lush vocals, violins, trumpets, strings, and flutes".  While I do hear mournful flute calls not unlike in Robert Rich's music, the only vocals are here are quiet, distant moans and distorted whispers, and there are certainly no notable instances of violins or trumpets.  Bios+a+ic's lonely synth pads, on the other hand, are quite audible.

So, another album of grimey post-industrial tribal ambient beat.  Nothing particularly awful, nor particularly inspiring here.  An album with a good mood.  Go pick up some O Yuki Conjugate or Muslimgauze and see how it's really done.