orphicmusic.com Blog » New Age

After Engima lives again

Derek Smootz — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 14:33:02 +0000

Back when I was hosting the Longing for Orpheus site on Geocities, I created a music review site for Enigma-genre music (henceforth, “Nu Ambient”). Though you may not be able to tell from looking at it, its a whole new site, supported by php and xsl transformations. Does that make me sound smart? Oh, nerdy. Anyway, take a look. I’ll try and beautify it with graphics and such over time.

Making my way on music.download.com

Derek Smootz — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:34:21 +0000

I noticed recently that Longing for Orpheus’ downloads were up on the CNET site. In fact, as I write this, Sa Gheimhreadh is #2 on the “Most Popular” chart for its category. Given past experience on CNET, I assumed I had simply had a good day (meaning Lots of Downloads) and made it onto one of the charts. Once you’ve made it onto the charts, its fairly easy to stay there, because the charts are the first thing people see when they select a genre from the main site.
But today, when I clicked on New Age, I noticed that there’s a themed, Top 10-style “Featured” list of songs:

What’s In a Name?

New Age artists are notoriously sappy when it comes to titling their tunes, but we understand their predicament: how do you name a track that’s deeply moving but largely abstract? Still, is that an excuse for calling your song “Evocation of something nearby?” This set gathers some of the genre’s more dubious dubbings.

Begining of the Universe (Sebastian Nanek)
A Moment of Clarity (Longing for Orpheus)
Butterfly Sunrise (Jeff Bjorck)
Dance of the Earth (The Wimshurst’s Machine)
Trancendence (Richard Allen)
Beyond the outer limits of the Solar System (ANAHATA)
Love on Distant Waves (Stephen)
Colapse of the Quantum Wormhole (AmbientSynthMusic Studio)
Evocation of something nearby (Joaquin Taboada)
Silence, I Exist (thomas lorenzo)

This cracks me up. I’m curious how the other artists on the list took it, though…

Michael Cretu doesn’t seem like a very nice guy…

Derek Smootz — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:54:56 +0000

…which is kind of sad, since he’s the man behind Enigma. I am forever indebted to him for the music he has produced, but either he doesn’t interview well (look to the right side of the page for the Enigma interview), or he’s a bit abrasive. Plus, he has no influences.

In case you were unaware, there’s a new Enigma album on the shelves, called A Posteriori. Though Mr. Cretu might be unaware of it himself, I hear a distinct theme throughout this album (like Gregorian chant in the first album, and the Carmina Burana in the fourth) – analog synths. It’s kind of odd to hear Engima share an audio palette with VNV Nation, but that is precisely what many subtle melodies on this album bring to my mind. Cretu’s states that his goal was to make a wholly electronic album that didn’t sound electronic. I personally think he failed to achieve that goal, but successfully deliverd another solid Engima album. It feels most like Enigma 3 to me, in that it lacks the strong singles of The Cross of Changes (Return to Innocence) and The Screen Behind the Mirror (Gravity of Love), but the songs gel and flow together well, so that the album as a whole is great.