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REVIEW : THEN IT BECAME CLEAR CD
"Sublime.
It seems a genre impossibility to create instrumental new age music
that is relaxing and musically innovative. We're mostly littered
with damper-pedal sustained Steinways and breathy acoustic guitars
along with electronic arpeggiated reverb keys. . but not here. Far
from it - in fact all the way to the Netherlands for Anne
Vanschothorst's latest CD, "Then it Became Clear". Harpist,
Vanschothorst, has partnered with percussionist, Arthur Bont, on
most of the tracks and the musical marriage is near perfection. The
listener receives the timbre of the percussive harp complemented by
assorted matched brushes, deep skinned toms, and exotic percussive
choices to create a tapestry of beauty - truly. The CD opens with
"Moos", a kiss to Elizabethan minstrel dirges but with sparse tribal
hits that darken the melody. Track 4, "Life's Good", is counterpoint
from what sounds like an homage to John Lennon's 'Working Class
Hero' melodically. The percussion choices here are subtle, which, in
our experience is a technically difficult place to hover for a
percussionist - lightly keep rhythm at a slower tempo but still
groove. Bont does this beautifully. More than anything, the maturity
of the music is palpable. Even the two chord vamp, "Yes I Do",
transports into a cinema aural space with a complexity that
certainly would not be transcribed in paper. The performance is
inspired. The title track, "Then it Became Clear", uses minor 2nd
and dissonant intervals to introduce an almost violent arpeggiation
that reveals a story within the composition of unsettled calm and
sudden increased kinetic revelation. Vanschothorst plays with such
range of dynamics from ferocious energy to tender as she mesmerizes
the listener under the spell of what turns into a versatile
instrument under her care. Towards the end of the CD, track 15,
"Motion", and 17, "Triumph", are fine examples of Vanschothorst's
technical ability in what sounds as one of the more challenging on
the record. Bont swells cymbals underneath the harp's finger-fast
arpeggios in "Motion", while still maintaining some semblance of
serenity in the composition. "Triumph", similarly flies, but with a
memorable focus on melody. So nice. Vanschothorst has a home in our
carousel, and certainly could have a home as a composer for movie
soundtracks - but that goal sounds short of the actual mark
Vanschothorst has the ability to make here - a place in the musical
era that combines both the unique beauty of the harp and exotic
choices of percussion - all supported by touching emotional pieces
with melodies that transport the listener to a better place."
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