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Combine the words “cosmic” and “music” and you tend to have an image problem. Think hippie indulgence, new age psychobabble, chemical excess. But sometimes cosmic is a quality that is perfectly valid. German musician Pete Namlook has it. The music of Pink Floyd has it. Tangerine Dream had it and then lost it. And from the 1970's through to the 1990's American musician Michael Stearns unquestionably had it. But that's not all. If humanity is the ingredient that was often lacking in the work of the 70's electronic pioneers, Stearns’ recorded legacy could be seen as one of the next logical steps in electronic music’s evolution. That's despite the fact that he's been largely ignored in Europe, where many assume anything that comes from California must be new age earwash. Stearns best music is a perfect marriage of emotion and technology. And while his melange of sophisticated electronics, acoustic sounds and original instruments can possess of a dynamic range as wide as any classical music, the key to a full appreciation of Stearns' sonic theatre is subtlety. A good hi-fi system is pretty well essential and this is music which demands to be heard in a noiseless environment. Give it the space that it asks and it can be quietly, exhilaratingly powerful. The two compilation albums Thematic Works and Ambient & Textural Works collect music from the often patchy cassette-only releases that preceded Stearns move in the late 1980’s to the Hearts Of Space label. In excising most of the dross, they both serve as fantastic summaries of his first ten years. Thematic Works brings together the shorter and more melodic pieces. Tracks like “Spanish Twilight”, “Floating Whispers” and the absolutely stunning juxtaposition of feathery synth chords and thunderous bass eruptions on “Her Way” serve notice that Stearns is a talent to be reckoned with. At times shadowy and haunting, at others like one big warm cosmic hug, words can barely describe this music’s exquisite sensuality and emotional undercurrent. A couple of more pop-inflected pieces (notably the superb Vangelis pastiche "Dark Passage") sit quite comfortably alongside the quieter tracks and show Stearns considerable versatility with electronics. The huge soundstage and distinctive tonal quality present in much of this music comes from the Serge synthesiser, an analogue wonder he has used extensively since the early 80’s. The Serge’s huge, expansive tones unavoidably suggest words like cosmic and spacey, even on tracks where his themes (“The Reflecting Heart”) are decidedly more earthbound. The music of Ambient & Textural Works is less obvious. Longer, more abstract tracks such as “Elysian E” and “Ancient Leaves” suggest the influence of Tangerine Dream and avant-garde composers like Gyorgy Ligetti. “Morning” and “Jewel” are minimal, trance-inducing excursions in drone music, coloured with wordless vocals and environmental sound effects. His career-long interest in unusual and self-invented instruments is also apparent in these early pieces. "Jewel" features the Eikosany vibes, a set of metal tubes with which he produces sustained ethereal tones by editing out the sounds of the tubes being struck, leaving only the reverberations. And the ominous rumbles and shimmering bell-like tones of "Subterranean Ambience" and "Rivers Of Rhythm" come from a unique instrument created by sculptor George Landry, consisting of 156 wires stretched from floor to ceiling in a resonant indoor space. Of his original albums, a sequence of classic CD releases begins with Chronos, the soundtrack to a startling Imax film and up to that point his most mature, cohesive statement to date. The mighty Serge synthesiser once again makes its unmistakable mark, from exquisitely delicate tonal shifts to powerful crescendos over the course of eight movements. Also effective is Stearns use of The Beam, a twelve-foot high acoustic instrument made with airplane struts and piano wires. Harmonically rich and texturally seductive, this is an ambitious, powerful contemporary symphony with a depth and subtlety that rewards repeated listening. In 1988 Stearns signed to Stephen Hill’s Californian label Hearts of Space and released what is arguably his masterpiece. Encounter is spacemusic in the most literal sense, expressing the composer’s deep fascination with the links between humanity and the cosmos in the form of ten electronic vignettes. The dynamic range is extraordinary: from deep, droning chords and feathery, floating chorales to thunderous, speaker-shaking crashes. Again, subtlety is the key, with the music suggesting but never making too explicit the notion of extra-terrestrial contact. The result? Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey gave us the visuals, here Stearns has created the ultimate imaginary soundtrack. Turn up the volume, turn out the lights, and allow yourself to fall into this beautiful, strange, scary, wondrous three-dimensional world. This is sonic theatre of matchless assurance and exceptional transportive power. It was to be five years till his next solo album, in between which he worked on a number of other projects including cinematographer Ron Fricke's wordless film Baraka. Sacred Site at first seemed a stopgap collection of mainly soundtrack music from the previous ten years. But closer investigation reveals it not only to be a perfectly valid statement but one of his finest releases, a rich and varied collection of mostly unreleased material in his trademark celestial style. Outstanding is “Paha Sapa”, a deeply affecting meditation in which Stearns wraps gorgeous, billowing synth chords around a chant sung by native American Lessert Moore, while the slowly unfolding strains of “Twin Flame” captures the composer at his most achingly, sense-smoochingly beautiful. Although his more recent albums favour rather less compelling native American and dark ambient sounds, Stearns was one of America’s most consistently interesting synthesists of the 80's and 90's. His body of recorded work stands worthy on more than just its own terms. It is also one of the most compelling products of electronic music’s evolution from chilly, avant-garde experiments to something more soulful and altogether more accessible. It challenges without alienating, uplifts without trivialising, a shining example of technology appropriate in the hands of a gifted musician. Indeed, Stearns music is capable of all the emotion, sensuality and intensity of music created through any other medium. The electronic taboo ends here. |
