True to it's title, this long-awaited new CD from New Mexican duo Voice Of Eye wanders across the deserts alluringly, and in different directions. It's been many years since I last heard from Bonnie McNairn and Jim Wilson. Their 90's releases were incredible conjurations of primitive spirits and fleeting ritual ambiances that were simultaneously dark, seductive, and intense. With this release, they immediately go into a completely different realm with the opening track, "Gates Of Mysterious Fire". It's a rhythmic track with McNairn's wispy, ghostly vocals. There are other tracks of earthy, narcotic, and psychedelic song-based composing here, reminding me a little of Charalambides' primitivist work, though VOE layer their tracks much more densely. As with their earlier work, all of the sounds here are organic/acoustic in origin -- no synthesizers were used, which seems incredible when you hear the sonic textures at work here. Indeed, Voice Of Eye are masters of sound manipulation. "Golden Space Funk Transmission" isn't all that funky per se, but it is a solid bit of rolling ambient pop, both drifty and hallucinogenic. "Om Shanti" is a traditional Sanskrit mantra, and is a very enjoyable and meditational sound built on traditional instruments for an exotic, droning journey. The final track, the 18-minute "Transformational Birth", harkens back to the group's earlier works, and is a decidedly darker, ambient improvisation that sounds like a leviathan awakening from slumber -- edgy, majestic, and not least of all, frighteningly sinister. Beautiful work, and a hearty journey, indeed. (Conundrum Unlimited)
Voice Of Eye's site, with mp3 samples
My 1996 Godsend interview with Voice Of Eye
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