The ones I listen to... #8
I take great pride in my taste in music and films, something I’ve been developing mostly by myself since childhood. Over time, I discovered exactly what I’m looking for and rarely feel the need to step out of this. I rarely succumb to popular opinions and countless recommendations that are, thanks to the Internet, hard to avoid these days. Still, in some cases, I’m glad to have made certain exceptions there, as I have discovered some fine artists I hadn’t known before in the process.
The resource instrumental in this was Allmusic.com. For those perhaps unfamiliar with it, this is a huge database for music, much like IMDB is for films. On the website, you can learn basic facts about a certain artist, view their discography, but also get recommendations for artists who are similar and therefore you might like, depending on your taste. The term “similar” is perhaps not the most fortunate one, though, especially for us who are also pursuing music and art. Still, I have profited from this feature several times, as I mentioned earlier.
The first artist whom I discovered through Allmusic.com is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer, Patrick O’Hearn. Born in 1954 in Los Angeles, O’Hearn was initially a highly-regarded bass player who collaborated with several jazz legends and also with Frank Zappa. Thanks to Zappa, O’Hearn discovered synthesizers and fell in love with electronic music. From the mid-1980s to the 2010s, he released 13 albums of ambient and new age music. The first two, called “Ancient Dreams” and “Between the Two Worlds”, were created only with synthesizers and other electronic instruments, plus a fretless bass guitar, which is a lead instrument for O’Hearn.
O’Hearn’s musical style is rather diverse and colorful, with plenty of World Music influences. An excellent example of this is his 1989 album “Eldorado”, which, along with “So Flows the Current”, is my particular favorite. All the albums by O’Hearn have a very cinematic feel to them and seem like sound documentaries infused by a sense of adventure. O’Hearn has also composed music for several films. The most notable of those is likely “White Sands”, directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Willem Dafoe and Samuel L Jackson amongst others. Usually, I’m very fond of Donaldson’s films, but this is, IMO, a rather forgettable one. Still, it has its mood and atmosphere, much thanks to O’Hearn’s soundtrack.
The second artist I discovered rather late is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer, David Arkenstone. He was born in 1952 in Chicago. From what I’ve read on Wikipedia, Arkenstone read a lot of Tolkien and Fleming in his youth, which greatly influenced his musical work. Indeed, his music is very imaginative, colorful, and whimsical. The highlights are certainly his earlier albums, “Valley in the Clouds” and “In the Wake of the Wind”, both mostly produced with synthesizers. While listening to these, you can truly escape from everything and easily picture yourself searching for treasure, sailing the pirate ship, or flying the magic carpet!
Arkenstone is very fond of World Music with a special emphasis on Celtic styles. His 1998 album, “The Celtic Book of Days,” was masterfully performed by a group of fine musicians. Arkenstone is primarily a guitarist and keyboardist, but over the years, he also learned to play a plethora of folk instruments from all over the world, mostly by himself. With his wife Diane, he recorded a series of new age albums, advertised as music for relaxation and recreation. Arkenstone also composed music for several high-profile computer games in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The last artist I will mention here is a Norwegian composer, Erik Wollo. Born in 1961, Wollo is primarily an ambient artist who uses guitars, synthesizers, and other equipment in his music. Wollo’s style is generally minimalistic and very contemporary in sound and feel. His trademark of sorts is using an Ebow: a device that replaces fingers or picks when playing a guitar and creates a characteristic infinite tone, similar to string instruments. Sometimes this has a somewhat cold overtone, most suitable for Wollo’s expansive vistas and soundscapes. My favorites, though, are earlier albums: “Guitar Nova”, “Red Sky, Blue Guitars”, and “The Wind Journey”, which mostly rely on acoustic guitars with subtle synth backgrounds. Wollo is a highly prolific author, although some of his more recent releases sound a bit sameish.
All in all, I’m very glad to have discovered these artists. Listening to their music not only relaxes me, but also motivates and inspires me.