Daniel Crommie: The Last Thing I Remember

 Oregon's flautist/electronica magician Daniel Crommie has created an extraordinarily beautiful work based on the simple idea of trying to describe the phases of sleep and a selection of dream states. The principal approach is to layer swirling synth and keyboard textures underneath electronic loops and free wheeling flute parts. At times the arrangements remind me of some of Camel's more dreamy compositions like "Lunar Sea".

The album itself is made up of 18 short pieces arrayed into 4 different sleep patterns bounded by the 'Alpha Rhythms' of "Even Song" and "Dawn Song". Within these 4 parts Daniel employs an enterprising catalogue of hypnotic repetition and mysterious meanderings by a variety of flutes and whistles from a home made bamboo affair to a modern concert quality instrument.

The bamboo whistle-flute, broadly following a whole tone scale according to Daniel, in fact makes its first appearance on the second track. In the following song a clay ocarina is used to create an eerie ethereal mood with damped clanging bells in the background. In track 4 you could swear there is a 'tron in there at the beginning but the piece quickly picks up the pace with electronic loops and a warbling flute creating a feeling of flying (my favourite dream apart from scoring for Wigan).

Other highlights are the insistent rhythm of "Rare as a Devil-Winged Ice Monkey" (about as upbeat as it gets), the playful Jaw's harp of "The Slumberer's Procession" and the startling 3-dimensional percussion effect which jolts you out of your reverie in "Doppler Drum". The "REM" suite as a whole has less rhythmic dominance, with the focus on more mysterious effects. The exception is the last piece of the group which perhaps announces the upward surge toward wakefulness and the closing "Dawn Song".

A clever and supremely well executed album.

June 18th 2007
 Richard Barnes / Sea of Tranquility

Daniel Crommie: Sargasso Manuscript

Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter Daniel Crommie's latest release Sargasso Manuscript, is a dreamy batch of ambient electro-acoustic soundscapes and improvisations featuring a variety of ethnic flutes, keyboards, varied percussion, and dulcimer. This is the follow-up to his 2002 release Creatures of Habit.

Fans of flute music, whether it be the meditative, ethnic instrumental flavor of Jade Warrior, or the more classical oriented solo work of Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, should have plenty to dig into here on Sargasso Manuscript. Crommie's wide assortment of ethnic & wooden folk flutes and pipes add a unique element and variety to each track, which are basically ambient keyboard washes filled with looped rhythms and cascading soundscapes in which he solos and lays down melodic passages over. I preferred the spacier pieces, like "The Pillars at Dawn", with its bubbling Floyd-ian synths and Crommies haunting flute, and "Chasing Apaches", highlighted by some seriously creepy synth effects. There's also the monolithic "Needle Teeth", a dark and foreboding number that is ominous and chilling, rather unlike some of the more upbeat pieces on the CD.

Otherwise, you get lots of uplifting ethnic sounds here recalling traditional Indian, African, Celtic, Near Eastern and Native American styles, all colored and created by Crommie's expressive flute playing on his various instruments. The Native American flavored songs are probably the most heart warming, and sure to touch lovers of culturally rich music steeped in traditional ethnic sounds. So torch up the fireplace, pull out a hot cup of tea and a good book, and settle in to the soothing sounds of Sargasso Manuscript.

January 26th 2006  Pete Pardo
/ Sea of Tranquility