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Autumn's Apple
Average customer rating:

Allison pulls off a remarkable feat.

Autumn's Apple
Darshan Ambient
Manufacturer: lotuspike llc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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re:Karma

Exergonic

The Gate

High Rising

Structures from Silence

ASIN: B00076V754
Release Date: 2004-12-20

Tracks:

Azure Day
Deep Garden
Pastorale
Acre of Sun
Sea Stars for Tristen
Rain Parade
Pebble In My Shoe
Autumn's Apple
Man In the Window

Album Description

The long awaited release of darshan ambient's sequel to The Zen Master's Diary is here. Although not so much a concept album as the previous recording, Autumn's Apple is a dedication to family, children and love of tradition. There is a very different feel to Autumn's Apple that can be traced to Allison's love of soul records he collected as a child. That and a very distinct chill-out lounge flavor of the CD give this release a fascinating meld of soul-groove and ambient electronica. Also features the talents of Jeff Kowal (Terra Ambient) on guitar.

Customer Reviews:

Allison pulls off a remarkable feat........2005-01-26

Autumn's Apple
Darshan Ambient
Lotuspike

First things first. I mean talk about big shoes to fill!?! I gushed over the organic, multi-instrumental, world-ambient artistry of the inaugral Lotuspike release, The Gate by Terra Ambient, so my expectations were very, very high going into Autumn's Apple by Darshan Ambient(Michael Allison).

Would this record create its own voice? A voice as memorable and penetratingly original, as its label's predecessor?

In a word, yes.

In fact, I walk away firmly believing--I suspected as such on Darshan Ambient's self-released gem The Zen Master's Diary--but now I can honestly say: No ambient artist out there today has better understood and internalized the most influential ambient record of all time (IMHO), Brian Eno's 1978 release Ambient I: Music for Airports then Michael Allison.

This kind of discreet precise approach to note selection and soundscaping cannot be taught. And Allison demonstrates this once again with his simply virtuosic playing and composing on this release; not a single note on it is wasted or excessive.

What is even more impressive is that this is by no means Eno-redux (i.e., boringly minimalist music that drones on and on like musac). To the contrary, Allison caresses the listener with luminescent notes that circulate in, around, and through very dynamic, percussion infused arrangements...

One of the many pitfalls of this kind of music, of course, is that the rhythmic elements can swamp the piano thus undermining what is truly ambient about the work (I have heard many releases when this is the case and the songs invariably become forgettable and thus forgotten in the heap)...

Instead, Allison pulls off a remarkable feat: Each and every track, and thus the work as a whole, accomplishes a wonderfully balanced rhythmic and atmospheric ambience. But more than a demonstration of impressive technical skill, the sounds that emanate from the core of Autumn's Apple feel effortless.

A few specifics about each of Autumn's Apple's 9 tracks:

Autumn's Apple begins with "Azure Day," a composition of slowly evolving tone-scapes and an accompanying high hat that morphs into a groovier beat loop that itself expands. The conga-like percussion lends a nice organic feel that carries the listener into the twinklingly seductive daylight--a sky of deep azure, indeed.

"Deep Garden" has a wonderfully Enoesque opening of slow piano progressions. Once again the high hat that blossoms into a thickly layered backbeat propulses us forward deep into the garden's lush landscape. The synth, however, stays patiently focused--it breathes, disappears, and then reappears seemlessly throughout the mix. Allison really demonstrates his brilliant composer's ear on this track.

"Pastorale" is simply a beautiful track. I won't even try to spoil it with words. It is just too mesmerizing and must be experienced to be appreciated.

"Acre of Sun" starts with a very funky back beat that grows and then snakes around the patient twinkling of Allison's keys. The wonderful contrast between observation and movement is clearly realized once again.

"Sea Stars for Tristen" is the album's most epic sounding piece: Allison's tribute to his newborn son. The observation-movement dynamic remains: A proud father cradles his lightly sleeping newborn son. A feeling of wonderous awe.

"Rain Parade" opens with a nice tight, in-the-pocket back beat. The metallic, breathy drones grow slowly forward. The melody on this track may be as strong as "Pastorale." I'm undecided. The rhythmics are also quite fascinating on tis track: the stutters fall forward like rain drops against glass.

Listening to "Pebble in My Shoe" creates a very interesting sensation: I find myself both relaxing and tapping my foot. This track also has very effective bridge section--it is somehow constantly rhythmic and spacious at the same time.

The title track opens with soft blurps of atmospheric synth that slowly evolve into something much bigger: Life's inescapable inertia. We are constantly changing "colors" and nature is as well: Autumn. As the backbeat builds and propulses along with a lovely melody we, the listener, are reminded of this pronounced time for growth and change--from seed to tree to flower to apple. Allison's ode to the changing colors of this inescapable passage on the seasonal cycle is at once heartfelt and toe tapping.

The last track "Man in the Window" in many ways is an accurate reflection of the album as a whole. Here, Allison takes a very daring step for an ambient artist: He lends his soft, throaty Peter Gabrielesque vocals to the mix. I admit that I went into listening to this track just waiting on the edge of my chair to shake my head at the trite, new agey cliche that I thought would follow.

Surprisingly, these preconceptions were mistaken.

Allison uses his vocals very purposefully to add an additional layer of emotive resonance to the mix. In essence, the vocals on this track may be thought of as providing one perspective--the man looking out through the window. Taken together, the vocals behind "the glass" and the wide open sonic landscapes that the piano creates in front of it combine to form the song's central narrative: The relationship of man to the physical world. We, the listener, are both behind and in front of the glass that opens to these picturesque, beautiful vistas.

"The Man in the Window" succeeds because it, like the other eight tracks on Autumn's Apple, are heartflet infusions of sonic poetry.

Autumn's Apple is heartfelt poetry-in- effortless-motion. A poetry that does not shy away from its inspirations; the birth of Allison's son, Tristen, being Autumn's Apple's most audible. Strongly recommended to those who truly appreciate virtuosic ambient artistry and songmanship. ****1/2 (out of *****)

By Ben Fleury-Steiner

Average customer rating:

"Re:Karma" is an excellent collection!

re:Karma
Darshan Ambient
Manufacturer: lotuspike
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Autumn's Apple
Exergonic
It Won't Be Soon Before Long

ASIN: B000BVXQZO
Release Date: 2005-10-03

Tracks:

The Cool River
Boundless
Tiger in the Grass
The Ocean Whispers
Premonition
Soul Chameleon
Box of Sky
A Walk Along the Ganges
Mountain
Slow Drift
After the Night
Black Mountain Morning
The Gift

Product Description

re:Karma is a collection of music selected by the artist to represent a career of elegant music making. This CD includes remastered "best of" tracks and previously unreleased material, as well as some new tracks created just for this release.

Customer Reviews:

"Re:Karma" is an excellent collection!.......2006-05-29

Having had a career that has spanned over ten years, Michael Allison of Darshan Ambient has released a compilation of work from earlier discs and unreleased tracks. "Re:Karma" is a fine collection of songs that show the breadth of his talent as well as introducing a side of his work that some fans might not be aware of. Fans of Darshan Ambient's ambient work will no doubt be impressed by tracks such as "The Ocean Whispers", "A Walk Along the Ganges" and "Slow Drift", beautiful pieces that are very much in keeping with the lush ambience of "Providence" and "The Zen Master's Diary". Of particular note is the previously unreleased track "The Cool River" which opens the disc, a track taken from 1994 where a slight melody plays overtop a sustained background of pads. Serene, dreamlike, and beautiful in it's flow, "The Cool River" is a beautiful piece that stands with the best of his more ambient moments. Tracks like "Boundless" and "Tiger in the Grass" are slightly more indicative of the overall sound of the disc, percussion driven pieces where piano and synth lines float along the soundstream in chilled laid-back grooves. Of these more groove-based tracks, "Soul Chameleon" stands out as a complex percussive piece where shimmering tones and pads mingle and dance around eachother. Very inspired. Without doubt, "Re:Karma" is an excellent collection, fully displaying the talents of a very accomplished and talented electronic artist. Both an excellent place for new fans to be introduced to the music of Darshan Ambient, and a place for older fans to become reacquainted. Highly recommended.

rik - ping things

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Darshan Remixes
David Sylvian
Manufacturer: EMI Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Damage
Money for All
Approaching Silence
Flux + Mutability
Everything and Nothing

ASIN: B0000074AG
Release Date: 1993-12-13

Tracks:

Darshan (The Road To Graceland) (Translucent Remix - David Sylvian
Darshana - David Sylvian & Robert Fripp
Darshan (The Road To Graceland) - David Sylvian

Album Description

Dedicated to the memory of Edie Fripp and the birth of Ameera-Daya Sylvian. Three mixes with help from Trey Gunn, the Future Sounds Of London duo and The Grid.

Average customer rating:

Pretty Good

Spectra
Darshan
Manufacturer: Fly
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000K296
Release Date: 1999-09-10

Album Details

Trance: Second Album from this Acclaimed Band. Darshan Embrace Flying Rhino's New Ethos, Pushing Back the Boundaries of Trace.

Customer Reviews:

Pretty Good.......1999-09-10

This one is really ok, but i must admit there were a couple of "Un-Darshan-like" tracks that kinda frazzled me, but it just takes some getting used to. It does however make up for it by cleverly maneuvering over to the throbbing bass, kickin beats and dope-ass sampling that the Good Darshan's known for. Kept me dancin for a good while though!

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Kare Jag Darshan Tera
Rajesh Shagun
Manufacturer: Padmini Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000K3GEQQ

Product Description

(BHAJAN) MUSIC: RAJESH SHAGUN. LYRICS AND PERFORMANCES BY VARIOUS ARTISTS. 1. CHAYEE KHUSHI JO 2. RAM NAAM JEEVAN 3. US KA NAAM SUMARLE BANDE 4. BRIJ KE BIHARI GOKUL KE SHYAM 5. MAIN HOON TERA CHAKAR 6. SAPNO KO SAKAAR KARO 7. SAI POOJAN.