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Ambient, new age, inprov, chill-out, or what?
Some of the most inventive music, made by some of the most inovative musician/producers working today. Is it ambient, new age, inprov, chill-out, or what? It's gorgeous music-perhaps late-night music. Cobalt Blue CDs are amazing. Organic percussion, heavenly guitar, and production to die for. Get one of their CDs if you can.
[Wednesday, August 03, 2005]
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The infinite guitar
I'm not sure what the infinite guitar actually is, but I am fascinated by its sound and have seeked out every album that it's on, played by Brook of course, though I know the Edge uses it from time to time too. Hybrid is also very recommendable as it is a collaboration with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and Dream from the Real World Label has Brook playing a more out of control and loud guitar on it, which I really enjoy.
[Thursday, July 24, 2003]
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Very underappreciated artist
Generally the field of ambient music is dominated by musicians, producers, and DJ's who are able to coax atmospheric bliss from keyboards and, aside from Talvin Singh's msterful tabla exploits, not much else.
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Then there's Michael Brook. Probably the mystery of Michael Brook's anonymity involves his choice of instrument and the music he makes with it. He plays guitar, so he can't be techno-ambient, but he lacks that "granola factor", so he can't be New Age, either. I had first heard of him when I bought "Night Song", an excellent collaboration with the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and one of the finest examples of East/West musical fusion I've ever heard. "Night Song" also utilizes layers of synthesized ambience, but the sound of something called the "Infinite Guitar" is also fairly prevalent (as near as I can tell, the "Infinite Guitar" is either a pet name for Mr. Brook's own customized effects rig, or else it is an electric guitar with no frets on its fingerboard, enabling a wider, "infinite" selction of tonal varieties).
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This double CD provides a much more telling glimpse of the guitarist's talent. The chill-out factor alone makes this CD a must-have if you like to listen to music during meditation or other times of introspection. The guitar sound is much more dominant (and more clearly defined) than it was on Mr. Brook's earlier "Hybrid" CD, the sound of which was absolutely saturated with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois' involvement. The studio recordings on the first CD are magnificent, and the live set that appears on the 2nd CD is reminiscent of the The Orb's "Live 93" recording, in that it proves that electronic music performed live does not need to be by definition the pressing of a playback button from a reel-to-reel tape machine...very surprising.
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In short, Michael Brook is the maker of very satisfying music; anyone who appreciates ambient electronica and an original guitar sound owes to themselves to give him a listen.
[Friday, January 25, 2002]
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