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The Property of Water
by Paul Adams
Lake Front Productions, 1998
http://www.pauladams.org/music.html


        This sweet and very wet album somehow washed into my review
inbox six years after its publication. I'll just treat it as (river)
current. Paul Adams is a Midwestern guitarist and electronic musician,
who has produced a number of albums in different genres. This one is
his foray into ambient, and it fulfills all the things ambient is
supposed to do. It soothes, it quiets, it creates a nice peaceful mood,
and it lasts almost exactly an hour, which means it doesn't overstay its
welcome.

        Adams combines computer electronic sound (originally created by
electronic music pioneer Laurie Spiegel) with his own acoustic guitar
playing and a constant flow of recorded nature sounds. The theme of the
album is water and all the ways it occurs in the natural world, from
flowing streams to ocean waves to the rain of a thunderstorm. The music
sometimes overflows into sentimentality, as in the organlike sounds,
bells, and chimes of cut 3, "Of Passion and Peace," (which qualifies for
what I call "New Age Funeral Music,") but most of the time the pleasant
harmonies and soft textures stay simple and non-demanding. 

        The last track, "The Serene Dance of Thunder," is 27 minutes
long. The electronics here feature reverent chords over a mechanical
sequencer, while the sound of a thunderstorm rages in the background.
After a while, the music fades out and you are left with only the
thunder and rain sounds, which go on for another ten minutes.
Fortunately, this is not as loud as a real thunderstorm, and there is no
danger of being hit by lightning. 


Hannah M. G. Shapero
4/3/04

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