Larry Gaab
Fugue States
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

Larry Gaab continues to craft music that can best be described as epic and cinematic. In this present, he takes us into the inner meanderings within the dark recesses of our own subconscious existence. 

"Amnesia Dream" contains the drifting elements one would expect from anything dreamlike. However, with subtle tweaks and twists, this track unwraps layers of sound textures giving sway towards a nightmarish realm. One can almost feel the confusion, fear and frustration of someone waking to find that they have no recollection of their life at all.    

"Synesthesia" is a psychological condition where some are able to feel sound through an alternate sense. Intrinsically, people with this condition are able to see colors, taste 
textures or smells fragrance upon hearing sounds of various types. Gaab embarks to make this phenomenon more comprehensive by starkly taking music to avant garde extremes. The sounds are bent and curved in such a way that one can almost see and feel what it is like to have this condition.

"Apparitions of Apricots" doesn't provide much figurative understanding via the title. The track however contains droning essences that expand and contract at rather interesting angles. Overall, this is the type of music one would hear during a tense moment in a horror film. It isn't overtly scary or dark, but has just enough deep notes to add an element of tension, transition, apprehension and movement.

"Lingering Lapse" takes classical music to new heights. It is as though we have been brought into the nightmare and inner mind of an eminent composer from the 1800's. Instead of delving into traditional classical style, the tones are bent like hot tubes of metal.   

"Dream Cycle" decides against being a sweet lullaby in the least. Instead, it gives rise to the impression of the mini-death we experience nightly as our bodies turn off from the stresses of the day. Once our subconscious is free to roam, we are thrust against surrealist colors and fleeting images. These sounds depict this in such a way to be a soundtrack to one's dream state.

"Bright Light Unseen" has shades of Danny Elfman to it without being an actual rip-off in the least. The track takes dark music and distributes it all around in a somewhat whimsical fashion. There is a central feeling of the normalcy of the macabre at play here that simply works rather well.

"Glint and Glimmer" once again bends sounds to make it feel as though they are colors of a modern artists palette. The colors that we are exposed to are that from our inner mind. The darker tones fulminate and gently cascade these impressions upwards so that the music, the listener and the artist are all on the same synchronized wavelength.

Larry Gaab has a number of incredible instrumental releases available. Instead of falling sway to the "new age" movement or falling into the commercial trappings of "world beat," he plays and dances to his own drummer. 

Stylistically, his instrumental tracks are on a higher level of cerebral involvement. The work doesn't just focus on delivering background sounds, it encourages the listener to participate. Sometimes the listener has no option but to allow the subconscious a free reign, because ultimately that is where this speaks and resides within us. In particular, Fugue is one of his most compelling releases yet. 

While Fugue States clearly maintains a dark focus, it also creates odd hybrids from tones and genres that are diametrically opposed. That in itself is the benchmark of Gaab's originality. Gaab takes psychological and philosophical concepts and creates a sound around the various schools of thought.        

The work flows along in an odd cadence that lures the listener in to another world; one we are able to glimpse via the hearing of this music in the dark. It unleashes the realm of dark avant-garde to another dimension without patronizing the intelligence of the listener in the least. While it is more cerebral than most work currently available, it isn't so far off the bell curve that others wouldn't also appreciate its formation of space and color through sound. 

Tracks
1. Amnesia Dream
2. Synesthesia
3. Apparitions of Apricots
4. Lingering Lapse
5. Dream Cycle
6. Bright Light Unseen
7. Glint and Glimmer

Email: garbanzo@shocking.com

Website: www.shocking.com/~garbanzo 




Larry Gaab
Bliss
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola

Larry Gaab ventured forth with yet another psychological instrumental work entitled Bliss. At first one might assume that it would be full of traditional notions of physical pleasures. Instead, Gaab takes tones to create an environment that draws in the listener into a peaceful reverie. It is as though certain tones were incorporated to decrease bodily stress and sensations. 

"Ecstatic Motion" is a long track that initially lulls us, relaxes us, and then takes us through exotic percussion and oddly shaped and colored sound spectrums. Gaab feels that bliss should not have any boundaries and he expounds upon this by taking sounds and feelings into new hybrids. 

"Auspicious Convergence" can best be described as a Middle Eastern song done via the space/time continuum. The elements of earth and space are profoundly brought to life and then taken from our own solar system into a time and place far ahead into the future of mankind. 

"Free" comes across like another science fiction soundtrack piece. The freedom that is made evident is that of awaking from physical and emotional shackles that have rooted us too long in one place. 

"Parting Trouble" is one of the most bittersweet tracks from this artist yet. Without using cliché, Gaab hints and coaxes feeling from us through the proper counterpoint hybridization that he is the master of. 

"Sensibility" interestingly bubbles like elements and visions from the conscious mind. Metal-like tones are brought to the forefront to give solidity and structure from the abstract. 

"Far & Wide" also veers into a subtle hint of bittersweet element. However, there is also an added tension of space and distance. At once we are provided with the feeling of relief, regret and remorse all rolled into one ball of sound. 

Larry Gaab continues to craft music and master the ability to make avant-garde sound something for the mental cinema. While the tracks may come across disjointed to the uninitiated, he somehow takes all these variegated pieces of sound and has them embark into a corner of our mind. From there, these sounds tweak an essence of feeling and color that is highly astute and unlike what any artist has been able to do before or since. 

Gaab's music is like being brought through a time machine and hearing what is popular centuries ahead of us. The encompassing work is a science fiction tour to give us a respite from the worries and cares of the day. Gaab's work will undoubtedly be hailed as one of the greatest compositions within the field of avant-garde, however it will take the world a bit of time to catch up to his musical genius.  
 

Tracks:
Ecstatic Motion
Auspicious Convergence
Free
Parting Trouble
Sensibility
Far & Wide

Email: garbanzo@shocking.com

Website: www.shocking.com/~garbanzo 
 

07/16/03