(2021) Bart Hawkins - Vision of Eden


Review:
Bart Hawkins‘ second album for Spotted Peccary impresses in a lot of ways, but one perhaps bears worth mentioning first: with one exception, he created Vision of Eden entirely using modular synthesizers and not a single keyboard, the only deviation from that approach being the inclusion of prepared guitar on one of the five pieces. As the album title and snake-related imagery on the release package intimate, Vision of Eden is rooted in the the book of Genesis and specifically Adam and Eve’s fall from grace after succumbing to the Serpent’s temptation. Certainly the narrative arc lends itself well to an electronic treatment, replete as the saga is with rising action, climax, and denouement. The range of timbres and effects the Oregon-based producer generates from the modular synthesizer dazzles the ear and provides him with an extensive palette to draw from for these prismatic soundscapes. In place of the non-narrative character of his 2019 debut album 21 Pulse Eclipse, the Eden-based story presents Hawkins with a stimulating challenge. Rather than deal with the already considerable challenge of creating a purely musical setting that’s compelling, he now has to figure out a way to successfully tell a story using purely instrumental means. From where, incidentally, did inspiration for the project originate? Apparently it was Hawkins’ recent move to a sixty-four acre ranch that was the springboard and in particular his seeing trees at the location as associative with the ‘Tree of Life’ and the ‘Tree of Good and Evil.’ However familiar the tale is, it’s imagined anew in this dedicated modular synthesist’s treatment. The idyllic scene is evoked vividly in the opening “Garden of Grace” when a lustrous, multi-layered tapestry of shimmering washes, glistening chimes, and children’s voices flood the ambient space. One feels drawn towards the setting when its promise of warmth, peace, and serenity is so powerful. Even at this early stage of the recording, Hawkins’ ability to coax a plethora of sounds from his gear impresses when in one passage bowed cello-like sounds surface alongside the synthesizer-like textures. Churning looping patterns animate the subsequent “Orbital Eccentricity” with metronomic drive, Hawkins again assembling elements into a dense sonic colossus. Adding guitar to “Sidewinder” was a smart move, not only for the way its sounds allude to the arrival of the serpent into the story but for how dramatically they alter the sonic character of the material thus far presented. Further to that, in playing the instrument unconventionally—forks and spoons placed between the strings—atonal effects are produced that bolster the ominous tone and reference the poisonous influence of the serpent on Adam and Eve. Rumbling pulsations also add tension, as do rattling noises. The queasiness of “Sidewinder” is pushed to a greater extreme in “Descent Into the Forbidden Fruit,” with Hawkins evoking in sound the disease spreading into its victims’ bodies. Pitch-shifting sheets of metallic-tinged drones writhe in seeming anguish in a timely creation that plays like a virus infiltrating the body. Such harrowing turbulence is far removed from the calm of “Garden of Grace,” the difference mirroring the progress of the story. At album’s end, “Dragonfly Speaks” pulls back from the brink with a bucolic meditation that’s more than a little welcome, coming as it does after its unsettling predecessor. While it’s not a reiteration of “Garden of Grace,” its peaceful aura makes it a satisfying structural bookend to the release. As unsettling as some parts of Vision of Eden are, they make the recording better for expanding on its range of moods and styles. Rather than create five similar variations on a theme, Hawkins instead produced settings whose large contrasts are bound together by their connection to the narrative. The strategy proved so effective other ambient-electronic producers might wish to consider following his lead and scanning their own favoured narratives for inspiration.





Track Listing:
1.Garden of Grace 07:40
2.Orbital Eccentricity 09:12
3.Sidewinder 13:31
4.Descent Into The Forbidden Fruit 11:28
5.Dragonfly Speaks 12:17


Media Report:
Genre: ambient
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits