MAX CORBACHO[Max Corbacho has been creating Ambient Atmospheric – Electronic Music for over two decades, combining spiraling, synth-driven drifting harmonies with breathing, timeless soundscapes.][Ambient Atmospheric – Electronic Music - Soundscapes - Space Music]

SOURCE OF PRESENT – review by Synth&Sequences

max — Wed, 27 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Aficionados of quiet and relaxing EM, at your wallets! Max Corbacho’s name was no stranger to me to have seen it on diverse compilations and on Ron Boots’ weekly E-news. If my eyes knew, my ears not! And very often I told myself; one day I got to try it. This day arrived when the Spanish synthesist contacted me to offer me his latest opus, his 17th I believe, «Source of Present». First analysis; a very quiet album! Like a heap of clouds in a sky drained of its energy, the music here moves with this vision that we have of these big cosmic vessels which are trapped in a dense effect of gravity.
An ascent of hummings begins my discovery of «Source of Present». Long of its 24 minutes, «The Beginning of Remembering» establishes an immense wall in height where try to climb some small translucent strands and thin lines of voices. Here, the details are important in this work for music lovers of cosmic atmospheres. A good set of earphones is as much important as a good 3D glasses for a movie, otherwise we miss the nuances in the slow, because the heavy wall moves, evolution of «The Beginning of Remembering», like these translucent effects which shine here and there. We can also talk about these stars which whistle around the 8th minute or still these hollow breezes which sleep around the 14 minutes. Elements among so many others which are grafted at the immovability of this wall to measure well its decoration and which also give a more interesting tint to this immense sound vessel which continues its ascent towards the path of the highest stars. «Soul of the World» is in the same vein but is clearly more intense with effects of loops and reverberations which give a very sibylline aspect to the slow travel of the music. «Echoing Shade» is more relaxing, more ethereal. It’s this kind of music which suits very well a contemplation of the sky the arms behind the head while listening to the breathing of our lover. We even find these resounding effects towards its finale, just to remind us the black and cosmic roots of «Source of Present». This title and «Transparent Phenomena» bring us to another level because the title-track continues our journey in the country of contemplation with an astral ascent which reminds me, especially at the level of the voices’ layers, of the very ethereal universe from Michael Stearns. Wide bands of synth waves are wrapping the blackness just with just what it needs in order to let filter thin incandescent cracks. Moreover, it’s these small bright cracks which decorate this nuance between the cosmic and the esotericism of this fiercely ambient work from Max Corbacho. So rich as dense, heavy and slow, the soundscape in «Source of Present» goes adrift between the universes of Steve Roach and of Michel Huygen. We can hear spiritual jingles hang onto the fall of layers while that from time to times we hear sharpened nails scrape on these impregnable walls of sound. Very rooted in its ambient cocoon, the music proposes a good duel between the cosmic darkness and these weak lights coming from distant stars. «On this Journey» ends this last opus of the Spanish sculptor of ambiences with a music so calm and intense as in «Soul of the World», effects of loops and of and reverberations in less. For music lovers of astral atmospheres who like disconnecting when the masses of sounds are heavy, rich and compact.
Sylvain Lupari (November 30th, 2017)

NOCTURNAL EMANATIONS – review by Morpheus Music

max — Sat, 29 May 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Beatless and rhythmic ambient zones full of shadow and the lush densities of night. Night sounds, night birds, crickets, low sonic breezes – the album opens with a strongly environmental sound. Gradually dense tonal blankets roll in, gurgling effects and low muted impacts, the stillness now stirred up into a slow winding eddy. The serene twilight pools that Corbacho creates here can be silky and smooth, lustrous surfaces reflecting dark tones – but there are obscure depths too, things heaving below in slow, slow swells. The third track ‘The Slow and Wandering Dust’ sees a soft rolling beat gradually creep in – a corporeal rhythm, natural, constant accompanied by waves of heavy saturated tone like the measured breath of deep sleep. Large pots and giant drum thumps provide the basis for another percussive piece on ‘Abandoned Wind’ – slow motion low, lulling, soporific.

This is a rich, liquid smooth world of dark curling colour, oceanic enormity. Tranquil and languid for the most part, yet uneasy shades well up at times, there are desolate spots, lonely and cold, suggestions of ambiguous lifeforms moving somewhere below or off to one side. The organic rhythms lift some tracks into meandering animation, quickening the stillness – but only just.

Purple-black scenery in a crepuscular gloom fills the front cover, the edges of individual rocks and crags picked out with a graphic grey outline creating a weighty solarisation effect. Vague, monochrome geographical imagery creates backdrops for the other panels – a tracklist on the back complete with track times. Inside the two page booklet is an explanation of the project and a verse from Indian poet Sri Aurobindo that was a chance finding during the creation of the music.

Max Corbacho’s Nocturnal Emanations was released in 2003 and appears on the website as the fourth release by this talented ambient composer. This is seventy three minute duration long form work developed through eight distinct tracks. Promotional material describes the album as one of «transparent synthwashes, developing through silent landscapes». The sound zones established are intended to be «almost hostile, sometimes underground, always stony, ancient». The approach taken was one «without any type of synchronism» so that «in this way the layers of synthesizers move freely along the whole piece «rubbing» harmonically some with others. A compelling composition that very effectively leads the emotions and senses in a beguiling night glide over quiet, abandoned terrain.

Nocturnal Emanations is for lovers of sonic scenery, lovers of low light, lovers of ambiguity. This CD will appeal to ambient fans that enjoy an organic sound and powerful atmosphere.

FAR BEYOND THE IMMOBILE POINT / Hector Jordan, Groove Unlimited

max — Mon, 12 Feb 2001 00:00:00 +0000

Hector Jordan, Groove Unlimited

From the darkness of remote intergalactic space to the brigtness of stars, Corbacho’s music has an energy that gives the listener the feeling of belonging into an eternal, endless pulse of an ever-expanding universe, leading our imagination through the immensity of the cosmos in a tireless quest in the realms of wonder. No doubt this CD will appeal to the fans of Max Corbacho’s music as well as the lovers of Ambient and Space Music in general.