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Kent Sparling 'Under New Manna' CD

1 Pulling On A Line
2 Kelvin Balance
3 White Cloud Radio
4 Weren't Long
4 In A Mumbling Sky
5 Spiral
6 Edge Band

Kent Sparling 'Route Canal Diary' CD

1 Fellahin Snapshot
2 High Atlas
3 During Shooting Star
4 Passed
5 Called Out Of Time
6 Good Posture

Kent Sparling writes subtle ambient music infused with soundscape recordings. Kent is on the staff of Skywalker Sound (George Lucas' studios), and has mixed "The Virgin Suicides" and many of the foreign language versions of Star Wars (What does a Chinese Wookie sound like...? He knows!). He also is a talented composer and songwriter - we recommend both his albums for some seriously subtle ambience with an edge!

Kent Sparling: Under New Manna
(Purling/Jicama Salad Co. - 2000 re-released on FARFIELD Records / Emusic.com)

Kent Sparling obviously loves to hear subtle organic nuances in his sonic creations; Under New Manna is alive with unobtrusive auras and exotic-yet-familiar ambiance. Fairly normal instruments are processed into gorgeously unrecognizable mirages which lure their audience further into the dreamlike surroundings of Sparling's "picophonics".

The most most straightforward "music" comes right away... Pulling On A Line (2:40) reveals a short strand of tribally pattering drumbeats, determinedly pounding over a growing synth cloud which rises to the top, obsuring all and overflowing into Kelvin Balance. Rippling with light energy, that hovering haze thrums onward, only giving hints as to what its source is. During the 11-minute White Cloud Ratio, soft, resonant tones simply flutter and shift in formless, multilayered wisps.

From under a thin, drifting sheet of string sounds, a primitive, rhythm clangs, softly machinelike; Weren't Long until everything builds into an amorphous, slowly evolving, revolving vortex of translucent sound. Watery and windy impressions faintly flow In A Mumbling Sky, along with seemingly random metallic clatter and "mumbling" warbles. Faraway musicality traces unseen contours in this expansive blend of isolation and beauty.

The roundabout vastness of Spiral (30:19) is confined by impenetrable murk, forcing the listener to traverse at a slower pace. A continually surging soundstream caresses, but obscures audio cues, only sometimes allowing ghostly tonal remnants to seep through. Eventually warm, pulsating chords emerge as do spacey little blips and lush (though distant) reverberations. The mild (though enduring) squall dominates again, as only bassy notes, cyclic chirps and a few assorted glimmers penetrate this truly immersive atmosphere. The shifty tones of Edge Band slip between each other, as other musical vestiges surface and submerge in a diffused percolation. Very nice!

The mysterious (yet not disconcertingly so) soundscapes of Under New Manna bring to mind natural scenes of beautiful yet indifferent environments. Perfect for introspection or just for floating, an 9.2 for these new sonic vistas.
Recommended listening from a relatively "new" voice...

We recently overviewed Kent Sparling's previous release, Route Canal Diary, another piece worthy of exploration.

Above review by Ambientrance Magazine - Top 10 ambient CD pick

Kent Sparling: Route Canal Diary (Jicama Salad Co) Re-released on FARFIELD Records / Emusic.com
Nearly one hour of decidedly experimental musicscapes, Kent Sparling's Route Canal Diary meanders through exotically decorated otherworlds via six pieces of non-traditionally-played instruments and other altered noise. With a hypnotic chorus of ethnobeats, guitar and accordian-like keyboarding, Fellahin Snapshot (4:08) captures a strangely lit scene. Clattering oil-drum-and-bucket percussion is entwined with distorted slide-guitar strands in High Atlas. The almost-13-minute-long During Shooting Star juxtaposes spacious piano notes with the sitting-around-the-campfire ambiance of crackling kindling and chirping crickets. More abstrast treatments turn the source sounds of Called Out of Time into rippling zig zags of sound with a watery rhythm. At 28.5 minutes, Good Posture emits a continual series of sky-swallowing sonic rays, droning away in regularly thrumming cycles. Enjoyably simple arrangements and a suitable lo-fi recording make for transportive listening down some dusty backroads to wonderland in Kent Sparling's psyche.

Review by Ambientrance Magazine.


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