Patrick O’hearn- Glaciation
(Two Dog Media)
From Aural Innovations #38 (Jan 2008)
As with his previous albums, Glaciation continues O’Hearn’s exploration
of mood and atmosphere through a self-determined minimalist approach to sound
construction. O’Hearn’s sonorous bass lines are, as always, his
primary mode of expression on the thirteen tracks that make up Glaciation. However,
his addition of Hawaiian steel guitar provides a unique focus for many of Glaciation’s
more somber pieces. His restrained use of synth and piano on the elegant, almost
Satie-esque “Our Temperable Host” creates an artful contrast to
the typical O’Hearn soundscape we’ve come to expect from previous
releases. The unresolved sustaining chords evoke a sense of quiet awe well-suited
to the arctic theme of Glaciation. Like other projects with a similar “frozen
landscape” concept (Vangelis’ Antarctica, Richard Pinhas’
Iceland and Danna & Clement’s A Gradual Awakening all come to mind)
Glaciation’s pieces evoke the majesty and austerity of terrain largely
untouched by the footprint of humankind. Though not composed explicitly for
cinematic purposes, many of the tracks on Glaciation achieve a kind of cinematic
grandeur in their slow, solemn pace toward harmonic resolution: the ambient
drift of “The Approaching Ice” and “Beneath the Celestial
Sphere” deftly reminds the listener that music after all is essentially
programmatic in nature. With Glaciation O’Hearn has undeniably captured
a sonic photograph of the soul of the arctic continent: its inscrutable mystery
and its overwhelming wonder is etched painter-like into the tableau these 13
tracks come together to form.
Check out the band web site at: htpp://www.patrickohearn.com
Reviewed by Charles Van de Kree