30 March 2019

CRAIG PADILLA & MARVIN ALLEN – Toward The Horizon 2019 (CD/Download Spotted Peccary Music)

Craig Padilla is an internationally celebrated and award-winning electronic music artist (and video producer). After more than two decades of performing live and recording his own music using many vintage analog and newer digital synthesizers, his style reflects the classic electronic musicians of the past, while finding new sound and music styles that are unique to the true ambient electronic music genre (often found in categories from New Age to Trance to Electronica). Since 1990 he has released more than 30 albums (including collaborations)! Craig came to my attention back in 2013 and 2014 where Regal Crabomophone (Fruits de Mer Records) released the “Strange Fish One” split album (between Craig and Sendelica) and Craig’s solo 2LP album “Sonar”. His latest release, “Toward The Horizon”, finds Craig collaborating with guitarist Marvin Allen. The Press Release reads: “Pulsing with life and vibrant energy, TOWARD THE HORIZON is a striking collaboration that combines electronic music veteran Craig Padilla’s analog and digital synth mastery with the electric guitar wizardry of Marvin Allen. Working together for the first time, these two skilled musicians have crafted a masterful free-flowing dreamscape that moves through a myriad of moods, revealing the many colors of an ever-changing sonic skyline. Melodic and rhythmic, surreal and drifting, the resulting music is a timeless adventure through illuminating guitar tonalities and majestic synthesizer vistas. TOWARD THE HORIZON is spacemusic in every sense. Hypnotic, captivating, dreamy, and vivid, the music drifts from electronic soundscapes to atmospheric textures, at times swirling and spinning through dazzling sequences and epic soaring refrains. Craig Padilla’s unmistakable deep-space synthworlds blend effortlessly with Marvin Allen’s textural electric guitar, blurring the line between the sound sources to create the quiet moments that make up the album’s ambient foundation. During the more intense moments, Allen’s powerful guitar phrases are a major force, punctuating Padilla’s refined and structured sequences that ricochet through the album’s sonic stratosphere.”

So, you pretty much have understood what is going on inside “Toward The Horizon”, just 6 tracks and over 1 hour of music (63:59)! The album kicks off with the self-titled “Toward The Horizon” (17:38), a dreamy serene atmosphere with an intense ambient feeling, becoming extremely spacey, it feels like floating nude in Space, the Synth is creating a rather peaceful environment becoming psychedelically trippy while with the electric guitar’s entrance (after the 10^th minute) the musical landscape becomes more Space-Rock oriented and the Sequencer (if I’m not mistaken) is giving to this Journey a Progressive touch! Touching the Infinite Space… “Distant Waves” (4:58) has the same relaxing atmos created by various ambient sounds, also this cool synth-melody reminds me of some of the more peaceful moments of the Master Jean Michel Jarre! “Tidal Disruption” (13:05) indicates an excellent use of the Sequencer making the tune really adventurous, there’s a slight feeling of a new-age Space-rock soundscape but after a while the whole sounding project becomes a Space Rock dynamite with a strong Sonic Beat, this is a really exciting evolution of the tune brings to mind some of Ozric Tentacles memorable cool moments! It seems that Craig is the Maitre of creating wonderful colorful ambient musical landscapes and “Beneath The Surface” (13:23) is another brilliant example, though this tune here is giving you a dark cold and experimental feel, like you are isolated beneath the surface… “Hidden” (11:00) sets the scenery back to the Infinite Space, still Ambient-oriented but with a dark and somehow industrialized sharp guitar sounding! Eventually, the album closes in a serene ambient-like environment with the last one, called “Liquid Heaven” (4:35). “Towards The Horizon” is a nice relaxing and atmospheric journey through Space that will make lots of your Internal Senses overloaded! Electronically Inspiring Album… (TimeLord Michalis)