Van Bradder Images Oceaniques

This is the second album by Van Bradder, his first being ‘Dreamscapes’. I would call his style ambient space music. It is unusual and a welcome change for someone from the UK to be following this style as it is usually Canada and the USA where most of such music emanates. More often than not this music is very dark. That, for the most part, is not the case here. We still get slow drifting sound paintings but it tends to be of a lighter hue. Pastoral synth pads provide the backdrop for a slow delicate melody on ‘Corona Mundi’, all very relaxing and tranquil. ‘Feast of Silk’ does start slightly more ominously but it is the predominantly string pads that give a lighter feeling even though a bass drone and the occasional sound from the depths do hint at something a little more sinister. As the track develops it becomes more complex with cosmic sounding pads predominating. Detail is added sparingly but in a clever manner and in such a way that images are created of things just on the edge of sight, as if looking through a mist. Is something there or is the imagination playing tricks?

Vast pads dominate throughout ‘Into the Pool of Night’, flowing over each other as if objects float by on unseen currents. Around the seven minute mark extra detail is added. Creature crying out to each other as the sun slowly starts to rise? On ‘Dominion of Chaos’ the first use is made of a sequence but it is still the depth of the underlying sound that grabs most of the attention. To me ‘Fractal Domain’ conjures up similar images to track three, almost as if acting as its part two. ‘Now Wakes the Sea’ comes across as a very cold track where icy textures abound but as it develops warmer sounds materialise though I still wouldn’t risk jumping in! ‘Wild Ritual’ is the most dynamic track on the album but done in a non rhythmic way. Strange but effective. (DL)

This page is part of a frame set. If you can't see the information strip to the left of the screen then click on the smd logo above.