Throughout
the body of his work, George Wallace has frequently celebrated the natural
world. But more than another observation of nature, Frontiers
is an experience of travel, of motion through place and time. The series
of instrumental soundscapes is similar to Communion
but with some updated recording technologies thrown in. The resulting
1-hour experience is a fresh, atmospheric mixture of electronic and
acoustic instrumentation, with sparkling, inspired musical motifs and
natural ambiences blended so artfully that we are not always sure whether
we’re hearing pure music…or the music of pure nature.
We
become aware from the very opening that we are in for a real ride. Entitled
The Traveller (after George’s own adopted alter-ego),
the opening cut of this amazing trip is our invitation to strap ourselves
in and hold on…
As
the last strains of The Traveller fade to silence, we touch
down a moment later on the floor of a lush, primordial forest. It is
here that we recognize how truly alive and joyful the forest is, all
by itself. It is also here inside the mantle of this great solitary
sanctuary that we may slowly come to understand our own energies.
Then from this earthbound frontier valley we are delivered upwards into
the mysterious heights of the Himalaya; now we are on the pinnacle between
Earth and Space. It is a lovely Indian moon that smiles down tonight.
She shines her sultry light on the dancing figure of a young woman high
up on a lonely cliff. Finally it seems that Frontiers
has left Earth altogether. As our humble ‘Space Airplane’
hurtles past the small-talk of local, interplanetary traffic towards
the outer reaches (and other such scary unknowns) of our experience,
a comforting thought occurs: that no matter how ‘far out’
the journey may take him, the Traveller can always count on there being
a last ship home. We all have our particular Shenandoahs to return to;
we need only keep possibilities open to find our way back.
Throughout
Frontiers there are the
sounds of electric violin, bagpipes, tamboura, gentle percussions, and
some not-so-gentle. We can hear at various times the influences of Jan
Hammer, Wendy Carlos, Weather Report, and Bill Nelson, as well as renowned
space musicians Jonn Serrie, Michael Stearns, and Steve Roach. Whether
it be through the sounds of shimmering, interstellar spacecraft, an
orchestral passage in full-rejoice, or a simple piano melody played
against a wall of stunningly beautiful harmonics, the soaring, visionary
music of Frontiers promises
to intrigue and enrich us.