Lien, Christen / Elpis
Album: Elpis   Collection:General
Artist:Lien, Christen   Added:Jun 2018
Label:Self-Release  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2018-07-04 Pull Date: 2018-09-05
Week Ending: Sep 2 Aug 12 Jul 29 Jul 22 Jul 15
Airplays: 2 1 2 1 3

Recent Airplay
1. Sep 01, 2018: Music Casserole
The Escape, Scintilla
4. Jul 26, 2018: Butter and Jams
Horizon
2. Aug 30, 2018: Ad Hoc Variety Show
Love Of Fate, Prologue
5. Jul 24, 2018: Bloop&Quack
The Escape
3. Aug 08, 2018: Everyday PMA
The Escape
6. Jul 17, 2018: Bloop&Quack
Prologue, Prologue

Album Review
Be Sharp
Reviewed 2018-06-28
QUASI-CLASSICAL WITH ELECTRONICS

A varied set of intriguing soundscapes by multi-instrumentalist Christen Lien. Her primary instrument is viola, which is processed with guitar-pedal effects, looping & layering. Bass is added # 8, 9, 12, and harmonica # 6. Other musicians provide synthesizer, tympani, voice. No lyrics, but poems (in booklet) accompany each piece. Other works brought to my mind were Jarre’s Oxygène, Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, and Morricone’s The Mission soundtrack.

Mainly instrumental (except # 4, 9). No FCC issues.

1 ** Mid-fast, energetic overture to start. Simple pizzicato arpeggios; then add a warm bowed melody; then seemingly a whole orchestra. Builds & builds. Sudden stop. (4:43)
2 Slow, melancholy adagio movement. Spare: just viola & a bit of synth’d strings. (4:53)
3 Very slow. Somber as a funeral march. (6:21)
4 Mid-slow. Eerie, impressionistic. Viola played like a guitar. Nonverbal female vox. (2:42)
5 Very slow. Eerie becomes downright terrifying. Apprehensive, anxious, tense. (5:46)
6 Very slow. Somber (again), spooky. Lien adds harmonic and her own breathing. (3:20)
7 * Mid-fast. Some relief after a 5-track downer. Light-hearted, exuberant. (6:10)
8 ** Mid-fast pizzicato intro; then several slow, layered, bowed parts on only viola & bass. Lovely, warm & moving. A hopeful feel following so much prior gloom. Slow fade. (2:57)
9 * Mid-fast. Drum machine, electronic effects, sounds, vox. The most avant-garde. (3:29)
10 Slow. Just viola, loops, effects. Shimmering & dreamlike, but not much to it. (3:47)
11 * Mid-fast. Bouncy folkdance elements with ominous undercurrent. An ironic musical simile of family dynamics? A fight seems to break out. (4:25)
12 ** Mid-slow. Intro on bass; viola theme in stately ¾ time. A Moog comments. (6:45)

Track Listing
1. Prologue   7. The Escape
2. Love Of Fate   8. Horizon
3. Bitter Majesty   9. Externalities
4. Vanishment   10. The Missing
5. Fog Of Fear   11. Family Reunion
6. Scintilla   12. The Waltz