Vidna Obmana Soundtrack for the Aquarium

Originally recorded in 1992-93, this long out-of-print work has now been given special treatment for a new reissue. For one thing, it is now two CDs instead of one, the second disc being a live German performance of the original studio piece.

For those not familiar with the original, it is relaxing ambient music with water as the centerpiece, created for the aquarium at the Antwerp Zoo in Belgium. It begins simply and elegantly, with the crisp, clear sound of rainfall. Slow washes of synthesizers add a calming touch. Dark underwater echoes, like whale song, are heard some distance away. Only a couple minutes in, the music has pulled you in and captured you, spending the next hour plus in a surreal sonic waterscape. Basic titles like 'Aqua 1 (theme)' and 'Aqua 2b' leave no doubt as to the water imagery, but leave the rest up to the listener to fill in. Though extremely relaxing, the mood is sufficiently neutral that it is neither distinctly light nor dark. I find it tends to have darker overtones for me playing it at night, but it is warm and comforting in the morning. Unlike Vidna's more recent works, which have been starkly complex, this is a very simple but highly effective composition. For example, 'Aqua 2a' is running water, light shimmering drones, and perhaps a bit of wordless vocals in the background, but what really gives this piece its character, at least in the opening minutes, is the stretches of silence between the sounds.