Spaces & Places

Jiang Xiao-Qing is a member of the famous Li Hua ensemble ("Asian Blossoms," "road to OASIS"), and Pacific Moon is now proud to present "Breathing Spaces," her first solo album for the label.

To enhance your enjoyment of the music, removable incense sticks are included in the spine of the CD jewel case.

Customer Reviews:

I don't like New Age Music.......2006-03-26

But this is good music. I got this to do Tai Chi to and it works great . I've bought Cd's that are supposedly for Tai Chi and the flow required just isn't there. This cd is not only smooth and flowing enough for Tai Chi, but also 'quiet' and soft enough for meditation, and at the same time just nice enough to put on at home or in the car and just LISTEN to. It never sounds repetitive or too minimal , and yet it doesn't change so drastically in tempo or tone that Tai Chi or meditation is adversely affected. I love it and very highly recommend it.

Breathing Spaces.......2006-03-09

Hypnotic ~ this is the utmost best albulm. Her music is breath-taking. It mentally catures you, takes you away to a magical place, then leaves you with a tingeling sense gladness. I listen to it all the time. I wish Jiang Xiao-Qing had more CD's ... I'd buy them all.

Music that touches your soul.......2005-06-17

Absolutely brilliant and peaceful.
If you can combine "calming, touching, heartwarming, soothing" into one word, let me know so I can describe just how good this CD is!

Jim

In Love Jiang.......2005-04-20

I have found a new and personal friend in Jiang Xiao-Qing. A very personal serenade for those quiet moments in the evenings of life.

The Exquisite Heart of Stillness.......2004-10-01

From the very first listening I was encaptivated by these beautiful gentle melodies. Easy on Western ears but with wonderful oriental instrumentation and tonal scales. The music has an undercurrrent of spirituality, you can tangibly feel Jiang Xiao-Qing's committment to her playing and the emotion she has poured into her performances. Just one track from this album is enough to make me feel relaxed - I play it in the car, I play it when I get home from work and I play it before I go to bed. It is calming, restful and uplifting; the exquisite heart of stillness.

Average customer rating:

hypnotic yet melodic
The Spaces You Forgot to Listen In
Henry Frayne gives us more luminescent guitarscapes

Highways
Lanterna
Manufacturer: Badman Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

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Desert Ocean
Elm Street
Sands
Lanterna
Blue Sky, Red Guitars

ASIN: B0001GF2EC
Release Date: 2004-03-02

Tracks:

Clear Blue
Brightness
Last Practice
Canyons
Seasons
Brooklyn
Adriatic
Half-Light
Highways

Customer Reviews:

hypnotic yet melodic.......2007-05-10

one song is reminiscent of an instrumental version of All I want is you by U2... Can become repetitive over time...

The Spaces You Forgot to Listen In.......2005-03-29

If you were dreaming and driving at night with someone you love, this album is what you would hear on the wind.

We've got access finally to a lot of independent, new music. This is a time to explore and if you're up for it, anything by Lanterna (Henry Frayne is the key individual) is worth the time and the money. Highways is the latest incarnation of this talented musician's sonic mind. I listen to Highways in the early morning and sometimes driving by myself at night. This is definitely music to listen to by yourself. It is music for the soul--jangly guitar, acoustic rhythms, textured drums, poetic vibrations, and ambient sounds...even an intentional few minutes of silence in there on the title track for those of us who pay attention--and a payoff afterwards...kind of an untitled new composition.

Word is that Lanterna's coming out with a new album sometime in the summer so pay attention. Highways is a great jumping point for the uninitiated though. Elm Street is still my favorite, but I'm really looking forward to the next edition. Stay tuned.

Henry Frayne gives us more luminescent guitarscapes.......2004-03-02

An hour with Henry Frayne, creator of music under the band name Lanterna, is a little like an hour of exploring the ocean depths or the vast reaches of space. He creates sonic pictures of the mind with his lingering, layered electric guitar chords and atmospheric melodies. The leadoff track, "Clear Blue," is just the latest fine example of Mr. Frayne's instrumental art. It shimmers with a kind of subliminal beauty, made by echoing sustained guitar tones that could be described as "ambient," but are best appreciated without concern for category. The CD is called Highways, and listening to its nine tracks is indeed something like a journey along the back roads, sometimes in contemplation and sometimes in sheer enjoyment. On this fourth Lanterna disc, the trend continues (begun on the Sands CD) of mixing in more of a rock feeling with some of the songs. This time it's on the Metheny-esque "Brooklyn" and especially on "Brightness," which features some David Gilmour-like choppy electric guitar chords.

As much of a huge Lanterna fan as I am, I'm a little sad to hear some signs of stagnation on Highways. A song such as "Canyons," a gentle acoustic-electric number that never really goes anywhere, makes me wonder if Henry has taken this particular "instrumental themes" thing about as far as it'll go. I hope not, because I'm still prepared to travel along with him for awhile longer.

Rautavaara: Garden of Spaces; Clarinet Concerto; Cantus Arcticus
Average customer rating:

Jazz for the classical listener

One word: Gorgeous

A Clarinet concerto like NO other...

Rautavaara: Garden of Spaces; Clarinet Concerto; Cantus Arcticus

Manufacturer: Ondine
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Rautavaara, Einojuhani | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Clarinet | Reeds & Winds | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Rautavaara: Violin Concerto; Angels and Visitations; Isle of Bliss

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Rautavaara: Piano Concerto No. 3 "Gift of Dreams", Autumn Gardens / Ashkenazy

Rautavaara: On the Last Frontier

Rautavaara: Book of Visions [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B0007Y0DCY
Release Date: 2005-05-24

Tracks:

Garden Of Spaces
I. Drammatico (Ma Flessibile)
II. Adagio Assai
III. Vivace
The Bog
Melancholy
Swans Migrating

Customer Reviews:

Jazz for the classical listener.......2006-11-17

Garden of Spaces is very nice. Well-written, solidly-performed.

Cantus Articus is fine. Although this performance is as good as any -- and far better than the other two I've heard -- I'm just not sophisticated enough (maybe) to listen to the bird noises. They bug me. Just a personal issue, I know, but I can't handle it.

But the Clarinet Concerto is out of this world. Truly. Personally, I feel this piece in a jazz sense. Don't get me wrong -- it doesn't swing or have cheesy blues riffs. Instead, if you've ever understood a really fine jazz performance, this recording will ring true. Stoltzman plays so fluidly and honestly he could be improvising. The orchestral structure is perfect -- complex, beautiful and exciting. Rautavaara manages to keep a tonal feel while stretching harmonies. Overall, it feels like the sophisticated version of Stan Getz's "Focus." If you are trying to convert a friend from jazz to classical, give them this work. Unreal.

One word: Gorgeous.......2006-08-12

This music is stunning and the playing is fantastic! The music of the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928) is becoming relatively well known thanks in part to the enterprising Ondine and BIS labels. For those unfamiliar with Rautavaara, this disc makes an excellent introduction to this composer.

This performance of the Cantus Arcticus - Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, Rautavaara's best known work, is the finest available. The orchestral playing is extremely clear and is perfectly balanced against the recorded birdsong, which itself is also very clear on the present recording. The birdsong accompaniment, consisting of the calls of larks, swans and other avian species, was recorded in Limuka, in northern Finland. In my opinion, the combination of recorded sounds with orchestral playing is seldom successful. This piece, however, might be the exception, as Rautavaara's writing is masterful and is never less than beautiful. In fact, this is probably the most beautiful piece of music composed in recent years. The soaring melodic lines and ethereal string texture perfectly compliment the birdsong. This is an amazing piece, which transports the listener to a different world, that is, unless the listener already happens to be sitting on the shores of a bog in northern Finland. The recording of this piece alone is worth the price of this disc.

The Clarinet Concerto (premiered in 2001) is a recent work, and is immediately identifiable as Rautavaara. Similar to orchestral pieces which contain recorded sounds, concertos for the clarinet are usually not my favorite pieces of music, yet Rautavaara manages to compose a very beautiful and compelling work. The clarinetist, Richard Stoltzman, for whom the concerto was written, does an amazing job with the difficult solo part, which requires some of the highest clarinet playing I have heard (listen for what I believe is the world record high note 6 minutes into the first movement). The piece begins in a modern and spiky fashion, but the entrance of a noble horn theme changes the mood completely. From that point onward, the music is lyrical and haunting, with the personal style of Rautavaara is quite identifiable, evidencing itself through broad lyricism and swirling accompaniment that is evocative of the Northern landscape. The middle movement is based upon a long lyrical clarinet line, and is also quite lovely. The finale is almost playful, but is terser than the previous two movements. Like many modern works, the concerto ends somewhat ambiguously, with the clarinet in its highest register over pounding drums.

The Garden of Spaces is very much within the same genre as the other two works. The orchestral writing is very atmospheric, yet dramatic and beautiful. As with the previous two pieces, the broad melodic lines over the wind-like swirling of the flutes and violins, is what identifies this music as being from the pen of Rautavaara. Although, this work is somewhat unique, as the different orchestral groups enter at the discretion of the conductor, with the order in which the different orchestral groups enter not specified. The result is that no one performance of this work will sound like another. Although, I was unable to pick up on this before reading the composer's notes, as the ending result sounds very purposeful.

In summary, this is gorgeous. This release is also important, as it continues to make the case for Rautavaara, as one of the greatest composers of the modern era. If you give this music a chance, I am sure you won't be disappointed, I certainly wasn't. Get it.

59:08

A Clarinet concerto like NO other..........2005-11-21

This is a Clarinet Concerto like NO other. A truly unique experience in music.Stoltzman (for whom it was written/with his input) is arguably the best Clarinetist on the Planet and in this concerto you WILL hear why. He coaxes both beautiful and other-worldly sounds from his instrument without ever really sounding atonal. this is, for the most part, a tonal piece of music and a GREAT one. Right on the edge as is rautavaara's style. And Stoltzman is ASTOUNDING. His various timbres and control are magnificent. I am a musician (a pretty good one too) and what he does here just simply makes my hair stand up and takes my breath away. Cantus Arcticus is here in the best version I have heard. The Helsinki Orchestra led by Rautavaara conductor extaordinaire, Leif Segerstam, give a Beautiful, graceful, virtuostic and definitive performance that just surrounds you and lifts you up to soar with the birds. As they also do during the entire CD. A main reason for this is the Sound...SPECTACULAR...Clean, clear,spacious with a wide dynamic range. Can't imagine recorded sound being much better than this. Reason alone to get this CD if you are a Rautavaara fan..

Average customer rating:

the sound of dry air and sand, and blue, blue skies......
Inspiring...
wide open spaces
wide open spaces
Roach's first official collaboration

Western Spaces
Steve Roach , Kevin Braheny , and Richard Burmer
Manufacturer: Fortuna Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Desert Solitaire
Midnight Moon
Dust to Dust
Invention
Structures from Silence

ASIN: B0000007TZ
Release Date: 1992-01-23

Tracks:

The Breathing Stone
Desert Walkabout - Kevin Braheny
New Moon At Forbidden Mesa
Desert Prayer - Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny
In The Heat Of Venus
The Slow Turning
Western Spaces - Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny

Amazon.com

Combining Roach's ambiance with Braheny's lyrical passages on electronic woodwinds, Western Spaces was the first of two collaborations based on the landscapes of the American Southwest--in particular the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. The ambient "New Moon at Forbidden Mesa" contains hints of high winds, muted angelic voices, and echoing coyote howls, while "Desert Prayer," opening with a cathedralesque keyboard figure, introduces a synthesized vocal sound not unlike a violin or a Middle Eastern cantor. Where later Roach albums deal strictly in color and timbre, Spaces incorporates the idea of melodic text. The solo voices and arpeggiated figures become a narrative that knits together the streams of consciousness expressed through layers of drone and percussion--like a sidewinder leaving trails across the desert floor. --James Rotondi

Customer Reviews:

the sound of dry air and sand, and blue, blue skies.............2007-04-15

This CD represents the zenith in ambient musical imagination. Roach has actually captured sonically the expereince of gazing out over a summer desert landscape. Anyone who has been lucky enought to wander around the US desert southwest on foot, horseback or even in a car, chasing the endless horizon and feeling the heat waft over the skin, will recognize the emotions that this disc elicits. Minimal percussion throughout, although what is there enhances the deep, shimmering synth waves tremendously. Please play this on a high-end sound system and don't be timid with the volume control.
Highly recommended.

Inspiring..........2001-12-20

The awe and picturesque environs of the Southwest have long provided inspiration to writers and painters. What better way to bring out the desolation, expansiveness, and metaphor of the region than via state-of-the-art electronics? Roach, of course, was already investigating the means whereby organica becomes electronica on his classic DREAMTIME RETURN set. Together with fellow synthesist Braheny, Roach again uses his amazing conceptual acumen to bring out the desert's unrevealed secrets.
Listening to "In the Heat of Venus," you can also see the heat haze wafting sinuously through the air and circling the mountain's edges-a spell woven with kalimbas, woodblock percussion, and synthesizers whose sounds are burned amber-red. "Desert Walkabout" embraces a more elegiac, serene, and almost classical sensibility, shot through with Braheny's ghostly electronic wind-instrument caterwauls, mock-harp spicing, delicate percussives, and Roach's lonesome synth chords. Check your compass at the door, and melt into the horizon.

wide open spaces.......2000-12-04

This wonderfully sublime album comes from Roach's "atmospheric ambient" period of the late 1980s that produced 'Dreamtime Return' and 'Desert Solitaire,' among other works. There is a good deal of the Southwest outdoors that Roach loves on this work, and the pieces breathe with the same kind of expansiveness and natural harmony that made 'Dreamtime' such a success. The original release of 'Western Spaces' in 1987 included works by Richard Burmer; these are deleted in the 1990 Fortuna version. This is truly too bad, because one of those pieces is "Across the View," Burmer's signature work and one of the few ambient compositions yet produced that justly deserves the tag "masterpiece." Even without it, however, this one is well worth the listen.

wide open spaces.......2000-12-04

Roach's first official collaboration.......1999-02-04

Ambient/space music pioneer Steve Roach worked with other artists before Western Spaces, but this is his first official collaboration for strictly discographic purposes. Originally released on Innovative Communications (a label founded by Klaus Schulze, Roach's primary musical influence), the album contained contributions by Richard Burmer, who was cut out when the album was re-released on Fortuna Records in 1990. Western Spaces remains one of Roach's most beautiful releases--the solo track by Braheny and "Desert Prayer" are perhaps the best, but the Roach/ Thom Brennan piece "In the Heat of Venus" is astounding---I don't think Roach has recorded a more powerful piece of music since, quite honestly, though some could argue effectively against that I'm sure-- Dreamtime Return may be the only exception.

Average customer rating:

Stunning & gorgeous!
Running Down
Baby food music....
Ambient, addictive and nearly perfect
Lanterna

Sands
Lanterna
Manufacturer: Badman Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

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Highways
Elm Street
Desert Ocean
Lanterna
Blue Sky, Red Guitars

ASIN: B00006JSH7
Release Date: 2002-10-08

Tracks:

West Side Highway
Sands
Windward
Fields
Greek Island 1975
Atlantic
Early August
Lonely
Grey

Album Description

9 tracks filled with ambient space, psychedelic sonic washes, and a wall of reverb. Perfect for a drive down a lonely highway. Badman Records. 2002.

Customer Reviews:

Stunning & gorgeous!.......2006-09-30

Geez! How do I describe this work?
1 guy; 1 guitar, 1 echo chamber/reverb...
It sounds like it'd be interesting for about four minutes, right?
Well, if you thought THAT, you'd be wrong!
This is stunning & gorgeous atmospheric work, that is well thought out & mature.
EVERY time I play this for someone, they inevitably "demand" to know who it is, so they can get their own copy.
You should get your own copy too.
The short snippets that are allowed on this website do not do the music justice. It slowly builds & develops; it is like watching a thin tendril of smoke rise in the air; not a bonfire. So if you don't really get excited by the few seconds you CAN hear, please understand that there is so much more. And, you'll hear it if you listen & allow it to work through the wispy and lovely compositions.
If the idea of having Mr. Frayne ( who IS "Lanterna") take you on a small, but delightful journey with his guitar, appeals to you, buy this CD
If you enjoy beautiful, well executed guitar work, buy this album.
My wife puts this on when she is alone in the house, then draws a bath. She's listens and relaxes for the entire album. It's that good; all the way through!
They only allowed me to give five stars. If I could I'd give more.
I've had this album for two or three years & it never fails to amaze & delight!
Buy it. You won't be sorry.

Running Down.......2005-09-12

Talk about autumnal. The third full-length release by Lanterna finds Henry Frayne exploring much the same haunted territory he's explored previously. 'Sands', if it refers to anything, seems to refer not to the joyous sun-drenched beach of a July afternoon, nor to the scorching desert, but to the sand of the hourglass upside down. Or maybe it's just rainy and foggy at the beach today. It's getting late in the year, see, and the next sound you hear will be silence. Or Young Gods' version of 'September Song'.

Baby food music...........2003-10-14

Sorry folks, but I don't get it. I wanted to like it, really.

It seems to me that each and every song would be a perfect background to a love scene from Top Gun IV starring Kathleen Turner and Jean Claude Van Damme.

Completely un-original. Our generation's version of Lawrence Welk...without the bubbles. It's awful.

Ambient, addictive and nearly perfect.......2003-04-13

This is the sort of CD you leave in the player and let play for hours.

Lanterna.......2002-12-28

I heard the music on NPR. Great CD. Highly recommend it.