Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

Max Corbacho’s music is getting increasingly ambient with each new release. If he gets any more relaxed than Ars Lucis, by the time his next album comes out I will only make it through the first two minutes before I drift off into blissful slumber. Corbacho truly is “in the zone” lately, the pure float zone. This is formless, non-melodic music that nonetheless has depth and warmth in abundance. Variances between tracks are subtle yet distinct. For example, “Narthex” has a particularly bright, shimmering tone to it, whereas “Light-Matrix Portal” has a richer, more expansive sound. Still, the basic principle is the same throughout – take a few delicate layers of sound, blend them subtly and smoothly together, and maintain the mood for several minutes with gradual changes. Corbacho does an excellent job of blending lighter and darker elements together, such that the end result should please both dark ambient and new age listeners, although it may not be “pretty” enough for the latter. For true ambient fans, this is as good as it gets.

© 2010 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

I really like the direction Max Corbacho has taken with his most recent releases, The Talisman and now BreathStream. He seems to be delving deeper and deeper into pure floating music – no rhythm or melody at all, just serene calm tones that thoroughly soothe and placate. BreathStream is a particularly focused work on the art of diffuse sound, as contrary as that may seem. Track titles are very appropriate; “Act of Light” has a shimmer and sheen to it; “The Great Breath” seems to echo into infinity. Perhaps the most delicate and subtle of the lot is “No Day nor Night.” The beauty is in the way Corbacho makes something special out of next-to-nothingness. The challenge is for me as a reviewer describing this minimal musical excellence. Suffice to say if you enjoy ambient music as a means of escape or relaxation, look no further than BreathStream.

© 2008 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

Gorgeous and breathtaking, The Talisman is pure floating space music of the highest caliber. Delicate drifting soundscapes pass effortlessly by. From the opening passages of “Amnios,” there is a metallic shimmer to much of the sonic textures. Layers upon layers of soft sounds are gently weaved together, one sliding smoothly over the top of another. Soft brushes of percussion occasionally appear, maybe an electronic twitter here and there, but such moments are few and far between. “Reborn To Expansion” is softer still, and a shade brighter, although the disc retains a certain enjoyable darkness throughout. “Connected Spirits” Things mellow out even further, if that’s possible, on “Connected Spirits” and “Three Circles.” Low resonant drones rumble along in “Garden of Revealed Flame,” and I imagine a descent into a deep, dark cavern. Thunder-like undercurrents continue on “Ruby for the Sun,” churning restlessly though still quite soothing in their own way. The title track majestically enters, dramatic without being showy, powerful yet understated. “The Endless Knot” coolly mixes dark ambient with deep space; imagine if Steve Roach’s The Magnificent Void collided with “Moogetique” from Klaus Schulze, and it might sound something like this. Shimmering higher glassy timbres tinge “Wind’s Gallery.” Throughout The Talisman, melody and rhythm are virtually nonexistent, leaving only vestiges of music behind. The end result is velvety smooth and very good.

© 2006 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

I only became aware of Bruno Sanfilippo this year, as he sent me a couple of his solo works, richly complex music that defies easy categorization as ambient, new age, or something else. On this release, he teams up with a familiar favorite, Max Corbacho. We get started right away with the centerpiece, the 20-minute “Indalo.” Bright feather-light metallic shimmers surround a strange swirling siren song. Melancholy strings meld into the mix, as does lightly shuffling percussion that gradually grows until it is front and center. Allowed to dominate briefly, the beat then fades entirely from view, leaving the smoothly spiraling drones in its wake. Birds add a nice touch at the end. Gently lapping waves mark the seamless transition to track two, a subtly shifting slice of ambience. In the running for my favorite ambient song title is “Lava Atmospheres,” an expansive piece with deep echoes and just the right degree of graininess and grit. Even more reverberant is “Cabo de Gata,” firmly in the realms of Steve Roach’s The Magnificent Void. I always gravitate toward Roach as a reference point when discussing Max’s work, and this collaboration with Bruno is no exception. But I never mean it as anything but a compliment. There is plenty of room for Roach and Corbacho in the genre, and Sanfilippo is certainly welcome too, given the fine results here.

© 2004 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

Although he has explored darker ambient before, as on the excellent Resonant Memory Of Earth, this time Spaniard Max Corbacho truly delves right into the source of things that go bump in the night – or in this case, drones that echo resonantly into caverns of infinity.

“A Spark of Deity” has crickets, low rumbles, restless churning, and all sorts of wondrous textures that reach out into the darkness. There is an undercurrent like slowly moving water, hints of noise that vaguely resemble percussion, otherwordly stuff. After this auspicious start comes the title track, bringing more remnants of dark memories, strands of dreams, images of caverns and precipices. This one floats a bit more, though dripping water or a shifting pebble occasionally become audible.

“The Slow and Wandering Dust” glides into sounds similar to Steve Roach’s fractal grooves – and a great groove it is. Bright shimmering synths float over the top, reminiscent of older Roach like Dreamtime Return perhaps. It rides the groove out for several minutes before settling down just a bit, though some semblance of rhythm continues to the end. The delicate floater “Abandoned Wind” is a beautiful counterpoint to those rhythms.

The deeply tribal “Along the Moonlit Rift” is another high point. “Deep, Ancient” says as it does, a sparse abstract selection that is yet another winner.
Dark ambient fans rejoice.

© 2004 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space