The Cross (475k bytes), The Wedding Song (523k bytes)
Artist:
Land of the Blind
Title:
Out of Chaos - Into the Whirlwind
Genre:
World
Musicians:
| Musician | Instruments |
|---|---|
| Cyoakha | vocals |
| Melvin Brannon Jr. | bass, vocals |
| Nancy Cady | flute, vocals, percussion, keyboards |
| Gary Tipton | drum kit, vocals, keyboards |
| Janice Deschene | harmonies, keyboards |
| Steffanie Salazar | harmonies |
| Cristof | didjeridu, vocals |
Format:
CD, Playing time --:-- minutes
Track List:
Publisher No.:
(1997) self-released - number not known
, NW New Music, 3439 NE Sandy Blvd. #266, Portland OR 97232
Comments:
For their second release, Portland's Land of the Blind have struck out on their own and come back with a keeper that strengthens their foothold as our town's premiere purveyors of esoteric world/trance/dance grooves. Like exploring to dangerously enticing corridors of an off-kilter carnival at night while opiumed-up, Out of Chaos is a simultaneously haunting, hypnotic and heady journey ripe with exotic and enticing experiences. Once the beast that introduces the opening "Ice Blue" is caged, a layered, skipping jog unfolds that enters the mind with its infectious beat, swirling sonic braw, lush female vocals and right-to-left-to-right channel effects akin to that trippy Q-Sound process. By stretching the ride out for five and a half minutes and ending with twisted-carnival sounds, Land of the Blind prove theya are out to do things on their own terms, according to their vision. The gentle yodel of "Hungarian Blue" is accented by classical piano while flutes float above the hand percussion that anchors "Wedding Song". "Flubug" conjures light-hearted voodoo spirits forth, the following "Albira Luciani" oozes with sweet mourning and the dozen tracks close via the didjeridoo disorientation of "The Edge of Chaos." It's easy to get lovingly lost in the brew this ensemble concocts and easier still to gulp Out of Chaos down again and again.
Reviewer: Scott D. Lewis
If you're looking for something a wee bit out of the ordinary, as in experimental tribal-acid-trance music, Portland's Land of the Blind may be just the thing. After more than a year of recording, they have independently released their second CD, Out of Chaos, and it's a free-wheeling, high-spirited caravan of world beat rhythms, shivery chants, esoteric instrumentation and atmospheric pop, all giving chase to the soaring, sub-orbital voice of singer Cyoakha. There are no guitars to be found. Instead, the tracks are laced with dynamic keybaord arrangements, elegant flutes, wind synth, congas, and intricate background harmonies and chants. And who can argue with the choice of didjeridu and the dumbek?
The penetrating yet soothing voice of Cyoakha produces a calming effect in "Hungarian Blue," while the eerie sounds of the instrumentation give the sense that something has gone desperately wrong at the carnival, as if Jack the Ripper is running the Ferris wheel. "Swim for the Shore" offers us a brief re-entry into Earth's atmosphere with an almost familiar jolt of terrestrial pop.
Out of Chaos is world beat music. Pick a world, any world. This is as out of the ordinary as you can get without breaking something.
Reviewer: Fran Gray