Review on Amazon:
By JLP (Schaumburg, IL USA) - See all my reviewsThis review is from: The Martian Chronicles (Audio CD)
"The Martian Chronicles" by Seren Fford + Oophoi, apparently inspired by Ray Bradbury's story collection of the same name, is a haunting and deeply immersive sonic voyage to multiple alien worlds. While certainly evocative of the Martian setting, TMC is just as easily placed closer to home, say, in the romantic lost cities of ancient Mesoamerica or the Central Asian Silk Road; or even within the microcosm of our own minds, in the uncharted bottomless regions of our unconscious, peopled by numinous forces and archetypes, beings as foreign from our normal selves as the remotest galaxies.
Since I'm unfamiliar with Bradbury's work, I enjoy the music best with a sort of visualization.
For example, as the music starts, let's imagine ourselves transported to a bleak wind-swept land/mind-scape (Track 1 - The Long Years). In the wind's furious howls, we make out voices: murmurs(?) or incantations(?) in an unknown vanished tongue.
When the wind dies down and the dust settles, we see the crumbling fantastic architecture of great cities, the ruins of a civilization long forgotten (Track 2 - Dead Cities). As we touch the decaying walls, we feel like walking in a dream or witnessing some secret shamanic vision (Track 3 - Blue Fire). The voices are growing louder; the buildings are taking on a newer sheen. The silent cities are coming back to life!
Night falls; the shadows stretch and disappear into the darkness (Track 4 - End of a Changeling). The weird vision continues, bringing back long-gone sounds and memories, the unfamiliar ghosts of the vanished people (Track 5 - Canals).
Suddenly, our trance breaks. It was just an illusion after all. This world is long dead. Its only inhabitants now are grotesque bird-like creatures that watch us threateningly from the collapsing roofs (Track 6 - Flamebirds Waiting for the Storm).
Yet why do the faces of these beasts bear mournful, almost human expressions? Are they perhaps reflecting on life's brief span, on the vanity of existence and power, as if too much fallen glory had softened even their brutish hearts? No, the noxious alien atmosphere is just playing tricks on our sensibilities. This world died long ago (Track 7 - Unremembered). If there had been any mourners, they didn't have long to await their turn.
End of visualization. Well, you get the idea now. 'Mars' is not a planet, it's a state of mind. The setting could really be anywhere strange and special to your imagination. Wherever you find yourself, TMC, this ambient masterpiece, will work invariably well.
