Vidna Obmana & Jeff Pearce True Stories

This is on the same label that recently released the two Robert Scott Thompson albums ‘Frontier’ and ‘The Silent Shore’, the Steve Roach produced various artists album ‘The Ambient Expanse’ and the Ma Ja Le album ‘Imaginarium’. In other words they know what they are about. Vidna provides the synths whilst Jeff brings his ambient guitar effects to the project .The first track imaginatively titled ‘Opening Theme’ features notes being left to hang in the air whilst the melody is plucked over the top. A very serene start. ‘Wander’ combines Vidna’s ambient synth drones with Jeffs guitar providing a little detail over the top. ‘Horizon of Thoughts’ makes me think of when I was young lying on the ground staring up at a star filled night sky, nothing disturbing the calm except the occasional far distant light of a plane making its way to the horizon. This is typical of Vidna in dark mode and would have been at home on his collaboration with Steve Roach ‘Ascension of Shadows’. ‘One Question’ makes good use of the ambient guitar with cosmic effects provided by Vidna. ‘Frozen Breath’ sounds much more Vidna dominated to me but such is Jeff’s skill in coaxing all sorts of noises from his guitar that it is often difficult to tell. On the title track soft plucked guitar notes act like splashes of water in shifting washes of sound. ‘Viewing the Distance’ uses wave upon wave of synth drones with very delicate percussive detail that makes it sound as though the sea is breaking on a pebbly beach. ‘A Scattering Flock’ has an almost vocal quality to it and as with most of the album is extremely laid back, can’t think what spooked the flock though.

‘The Open Darkness’ as its title suggests is a dark number with more than a hint of mystery. The gently plucked ambient guitar makes a noticeable re-appearance on ‘Bright Clouds’ and the added detail it provides lightens the atmosphere. ‘Still unknown’ mixes the sound of running water with sand, as if falling through the fingers of your hands, and an ever shifting backdrop of synth pads. Mysterious but very relaxing. ‘Closing Theme’ is basically a guitar piece and acts as something of a ‘bookend’ with the first track. For traditional Ambient fans who like some floating guitar thrown into the mix. (DL)

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