Aucourant Records - Ambient Music, Computer Music, Contemporary Classical, Electronica, Avant-garde

Robert Scott Thompson
Alchemy
Total Time: 53:01
Record Label: Aucourant Records
Catalog Number: AUREC 0019
UPC: 649783001929
Type: PRO CD-R
Released: 2000

$11.98

Alchemy presents ambient soundscapes of delicate nuance and beautiful musicality. In this recording, Robert Scott Thompson returns to his roots of minimalist, tonal composition within the ambient genre. This CD presents subtle music of serene proportions and brilliance.

Recorded expressly for Jim Brenholts, and his book "Tracks Across the Universe - A Chronology of Ambient and Electronic Music", in Fall of 2000, Alchemy proposes a new direction for Robert Scott Thompson’s ambient music. The disc is comprised of 11 tracks which are carefully sequenced for an evocative flow. The design of the album emphasizes a recurring thematic identity together with subtle shadings and perspectives.

Alchemy is a disc which embraces the general aesthetics of "classical" ambient music but also presents materials derived from state-of-the-art computer music techniques. Beautifully recorded, mixed and spatialized in enveloping dynamic stereo.

This recording was re-mastered in 2007.

Alchemy is a sweeping tour de force of expansive minimalism from ambient master Robert Scott Thompson. Continuing his pattern of providing the vehicle for self-discovery and introspection, Robert again approaches that role from the gentler side of the genre. Indeed, there are echoes of the dark side. They serve to remind listeners that it still exists as either a return or new destination. The gentle soundscapes and lush codas provide the opportunity for focused meditation Robert's subtle piano and a choral vocal sample, offset by experimental textures, serve to both carry and ground deep listeners. This psychoactive set is a very personal statement from a gifted artist! The healing power of this music is downright shamanic!

- Jim Brenholts