Thursday, September 23, 2010

Simon Fisher Turner - The Many Moods of Simon Turner (1993)


Simon Turner, although not widely known, has lent his talents to many great film scores and lies in the upper echelon when it comes to crafting atmospheric filmic ambience. His work with Derek Jarman's final film, Blue, is just astonishing and the way his notes linger and resonate captures the poignant inflection of Jarman's death bed sentiments strikingly and flawlessly. The "moods" on this particular compilation are redolent and elicit foreign but strangely familiar emotions from deep within the psyche, specifically on more ambient tracks such as "Isles of Spice," "Exotic Hats," and "Sloane Square" oscillating from one colorful timbre to the next. The beginning of "Colours of my Life" suggests a vast cold room of starch white, with nothing but walls and silence; a chapel for contemplation. As the song progresses, echoing percussion enters like pillars rising forth adding weight to the empty space. Soon, with another subtle metamorphosis, the percussion gives way to sparse shimmering piano notes and flowery vines entwine the pillars giving color and life to the blankness before a wave of sound erases the sonic canvas and the recurring lyric "silence" is spoken one final time before "Violet Crumble" begins its melodic closing. It's a very powerful album from start to finish, and one of my favorites to relax and paint to.

Rating: 10/10

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