Jonn Serrie Century Seasons

If you've somehow missed the delicate, beautiful floating planetarium music created by Jonn Serrie, this retrospective collection, with two new pieces, is a perfect place to start. Even if you already have all of his "classic" space music CDs, you may still want to give this one a try, as it seamlessly blends each piece into a single epic whole, suitable for your next outer space sojourn. The new ordering of these familiar tracks breathes new life into already first-class space music. The selections are hand-picked by Serrie, carefully woven together. In a first-class move, he has taken all of the space music selections from 'Ixlandia' and 'Midsummer Century' and included them here. Since these albums were a mix of more traditional new age tracks along with the space music, some older Serrie fans may have stayed away. If you hesitated before, you can now truly hear the best tracks from both of these discs.

Serrie has always had a very good knack for placement of tracks, generally starting and finishing his albums with just the right mood. So it's no surprise that he retains some of that here, opening disc one with 'Gentle The Night,' his first track from his first album. Both CDs end with what were originally final tracks on their respective discs, 'Welcome Home' from 'Ixlandia,' and 'The Last Secret' from 'Midsummer Century.' That said, Serrie isn't afraid to change things a bit, and has 'The Tachyon Directive' and 'Starport Indra' side by side, in the reverse order they appeared originally.

For the uninitiated, both discs are soft, organic, breathing space music. Though it all floats quite serenely, it isn't quite aimless. Hints of melody cling to the drifting sounds. The focus is almost exclusively on space music, although one track, 'The Legacy,' does sneak in from his 'Spirit Keepers' CD, Serrie's more recent attempt at playing the part of Steve Roach in tribal or Indian mode. The first half of the track seems out of place, with its wood flutes and primitive beats, but it moves back into space music halfway through, with a gentle sequencer pattern carrying it along nicely. Of the two new tracks, one is from a forthcoming album, so only 'Andromeda Dream' is exclusive to this collection. It opens disc two in fine form, a richly textured piece that starts with energy and ends in the expanses of deep space. The disc is marred by a noticeable recording flaw at the 6:50 mark of 'Gentle the Night.' While regrettable, it only lasts a second, and will soon be forgotten in the soothing ebb and flow. Essential space music. (PD)

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