Sylken "Dreamlife"
A collection of shimmering beauty from the Toronto-based ambient improvisational ensemble.

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Night Wings

"Dreamlife" is the fourth release by Sylken, a stunning collection of emotional spaces and beautiful new vistas. Featuring the talents of Sylken founder Eric Hopper and frequent collaborator Steven Sauve, along with guest appearances by Cheryl o, Gregory Kyryluk and Wally Jericho, "Dreamlife" is a perfect travelogue for those lands we visit between waking moments.

"Night Wings", a collaboration with Gregory Kyryluk of Alpha Wave Movement, begins the disc with notes and melody drifting out of the ether, taking flight, rising above the land and soaring over beautiful new vistas. Simplicity is slowly replaced by a greater complexity as tones shift and metamorphosise. An inspired opening.

"First Light Falling" has an almost orchestral feeling to it, an organic element that brings to mind a forest setting, a lush wooded area slowly being revealed to the listener. Sounds grow and swell, melodies flow like water. Beautiful

Track three "The Ocean of Dreams" features processed trumpet from Wally Jericho, and is easily my favorite piece on the album. Wally's trumpet work is always a magical thing and this track is no exception. Matched with glistening traces and sparse piano work "The Ocean of Dreams" is a stunning example of the best that the ambient genre has to offer. An absolute gem.

"In Astral Flight" is full of stars, a journey through the heavens on gossamer wings. And as with all things beautiful it's all too short, a memory before you've had the chance to really appreciate it's wonder. I like this one alot...

"The In Between" is a marvel of backwards development, moving at odds with the progression of time. Metallic tones skirt about the track, bells twinkle intermitantly, nations fall and rise in the course of it's length and when it's over we're left alone once more.

Cheryl o adds cello to "Sings the Heart", a piece that masterfully blends the sound of the organic and the electronic. Mournful cello leads into percolating synth lines and a looping progression that beguiles the listener. Wonderful.

"Adrift in a Sea of Light" is an oblique marvel, a piece that parfectly captures the sense of the tides, the drift of the sea. A marvelous example of aural landscaping, locational sonics.

The disc closes with "Vistas", a suggestion that the beauty of dreams can sometimes be found in day to day life just as easily as within our sleep. A crystalline beauty of a song and a fitting way to end the disc.

With the release of "Dreamlife" Sylken has once again proven their mastery of the ambient and space music disciplines. A truly wonderful release by some truly wonderful talents, it's a disc that is destined for classic status in the genre.

rik - ping things