: foundry indices : foundryshop : reviews : sounds : : : news : pictures : words : : : the foundry REVIEWS from Ping Things written by Rik MacLean Jonathan Hughes + guests "Fluidities" With the release of "Fluidities", Jonathan Hughes has created a fascinating experiment in ambience. Featuring two CDs of eleven tracks each, all of them six minutes in length and written in similar keys, the discs of "Fluidities" are meant to be listened to simultaneously in any combination. Tracks are supposed to blend and entwine with each other in order to create new pieces through synthesis. Think about this for a minute... While most double disc collections would feature a couple of hours of music, "Fluidities" offers a potential for over twelve hours given that there are 121 possible combinations of tracks! Of course that's only considering the math of the matter. There's the whole issue of spatial dynamics to think about too. Let me give you an example. My stereo is in my bedroom. My DVD player is in the living room. So to play the two discs at the same time I have to set them running in different parts of the apartment. And since I have to sit somewhere to listen, there's a bias towards one or the other in terms of volume, acoustics, the reverb of the room. You can see where this is headed. And I think when you start considering the possibilities, it becomes clear that we're talking about the ambient ideal here, music that can be listened to with whatever level of involvement the listener is willing to give it. You have to be willing to make an effort to fully explore this disc. But if you don't want to, that's okay too, the music exists by itself just as well, just as easily. Speaking of the music, I just realized that I've gotten so wrapped up in the conceptual nature of the disc that I haven't taken the time to comment on the music. Quite simply it's a brilliant collection of pieces, some by Jonathan Hughes himself, some tracks collaborations between Hughes and other artists, and still more pieces by a variety of talents in the ambient genre. Saul Stokes, Michael Bentley, Dean Santomieri, Interstitial, dreamSTATE and more all contribute to the disc, all adding ingrediants to the menu. I could go into detail about all the tracks, even comment on the aspects of various combinations, but to be honest any comments I make would only scratch the surface. Better to listen for yourself and experience it on your own. You have my word that there's some beautiful work here, ranging from flowing ambient elegance, to mirror worlds of dark matter and abstract patterns. A little something for everyone. So pick up a copy and find yourself a twelve hour chunk of time. You won't be disappointed with the results. rik maclean - ping things