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)