A nocturne is a musical composition based on the atmosphere of the night. The Irish composer John Field (1782-1837) was the first who wrote this kind of music and is known as the founder of the style. The Spanish ambient artist Max Corbacho steps in his footsteps. Photographs of the night inspired him for this new album. The fine cover photo, made by Max himself, is made in the Spanish Aragon. In comparison to the album Splendid Labyrinths that had one long composition, on Nocturnes we hear three. The first track Dark Sky Opening is quite long again with 52:50 minutes… As we know from Max and especially on his more recent albums, his music consists of long held, wide, notes (created with synthesizers and samplers) who in my opinion can contribute to a piece of reception in this world. We need this badly! The sounds max produces are wonderful, soft and with lots of details. They come quietly and as the reach a high point, they slow down until a moment that they almost seem to disappear. But then they return again. It reminds me of the sea. This is absolutely great.
Steve Roach, de grandmaster of ambient, greets here but personally, Max’ music appeals to me more. The atmosphere in Stellar Time is somewhat darker. But also here I hear elements which are brighter and that is nicely done. In my opinion in Ghost In The Moon, with 9:03 minutes the shortest piece, the atmosphere of the night is most prominent. You really get the feeling of sitting in an open field at night while looking at the stars. Again, Max has delivered an excellent album that can be regarded as the absolute top in this genre.
Info: www.maxcorbacho.com.
©2017-Paul Rijkens, Dutch progressive rockmagazine iO Pages