[reviews] afe088mcd
fhievel: preghiera per una stella

"Preghiera per una stella" follows the oceanic, micro tonal ambiences of previous Fhievel's works but reach them into religious proportions. This album delicately focuses on contemplative, introspective gestures and mantra-like droning electronics. This extended drone epic is interesting in the way slow moving ideas are meticulously combined.

"Preghiera per una stella" is a conceptual experience but also a vertiginous and spiritual musical ritual. This is minimalism avant garde music but the composition is apparently monochrome and monotonous. The long moving organic droning chords and never ending timbres hide micro elements and micro variations that transform the slow horizontal movements into a spiritual, cinematic drama. The melancholic tension redoubles in us the feeling of silence and isolation.

"Preghiera per una stella" is a very special listening, we can internalize sounds that seem to be part of the psychic reality. This album is much more harmonious and simple that others Fhievel's works but the emotive content has never been so distinct. Unfortunately it is a limited edition of 100 copies.

A breathtaking effort that oscillates between Eliane Radigue trancey minimalism, Andrew Chalk's shimmering dark ambiences and Tangerine Dream's "Zeit".

[Philippe Blache]