Mind Over Matter
On the Wings of the Wind
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(Excerpt from track 'Fullmoon Desert')
CD / 5 tracks / 64.28 mins

The man behind Mind Over Matter is Klaus 'Cosmic' Hoffmann-Hoock. I have to admit that I'd not come across this side of Klaus' work before, so I was intrigued. The 'concept' behind this release is to create music that conjures visions of hot air balloon flights. The influence for this musical journey is Volker Kuinike, musical collaborator, playing a variety of recorders, and champion hot air balloonist.

Insect sounds and the sound of a trickling stream open 'Crossing Jamuna River (Ballonflight of our fantasy)'. A haunting, mellow synth pad rises and a plaintive recorder melody weaves in and out of the mix. It's beautiful and deeply relaxing. Things become more symphonic around the 2 minute mark; and the melodic duties become shared by gentle and understated sitar work (real, not synthetic!). Everything is now in place and we are allowed to 'float', and what an apt description that is! The sound of thunder is an obvious but effective introduction for 'Mountain Thunder'. A very eastern-sounding wind instrument plays an evocative melody; tablas add yet more of an eastern feel; whilst mellotron choirs suggest Klaus' 'day job'! A heavily filtered synth lead and glorious strings add melodic and harmonic support. This is superb stuff, I am very impressed by the playing. This is not the new age 'twaddle' I feared!

'Journey to Brittany' very much follows the pattern of the previous tracks, but adds a vocal performance to the mix. It's very 'abstract' really, not singing words (as far I could make out), but using the voice more like an instrument. It fits the music well, but I didn't really enjoy it: simply skip the track if it didn't suit your tastes.

'Fullmoon Desert' opens with the sounds of insects, and then a flurry of percussive (marimba-like) notes suggests 'take-off'. Yet another cracking melody is deployed and we're back to glorious drift. Like so much of this CD the music is deeply visual, it would perfectly fit a wildlife or travel documentary. A tinkling melody is added at just the right moment. This is a key feature actually. The musicians have carefully judged when drift could become tedious, and have ensured that fresh musical ideas are added, when necessary, but they never interrupt the flow. Deep drones signal the arrival of 'Cloud Ghosts'. Strings and recorder begin to fill in the melodic detail. There is a melancholy feel to this track, heightened by some abstract vocal samples. The lavish and beautiful insert booklet describes the inspiration for this track as 'gliding silently through the air at 2 to 3 kilometres for a whole day' and the way that this encourages 'philosophising'. This track, and in fact the whole CD, would be perfect for this. If you ever 'use' music for relaxation, buy this immediately. (WP)

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