- 2012 Grammy Nomination for Best New Age Album
The New Age albums we've experience in the past have either been very, very good, or just interesting. I've never had a bad experience though, so let's see what Peter Kater has to offer.
Note the subtitles: "Aloha au ia'oe Music for Healing, Deepening, Sanctity and Love." Well… all right then.
This is literally a four-track album, with fifteen minute songs representing each word of the main title. I'm already wondering if each has its own individual sound or if they flow as one album. Let's see!
"Sea" starts things off. I guess we're not necessarily going in order of the title. It's all good, no biggie. Seagull/Sonic voices to start - almost maybe whales (anyone else miss my rambling?). There's a piano for the music aspect of things, but it's largely ambient sounds for the time being. While a Violin/Cello comes in later, it still maintains this underwater sound, a la "Free Willy" if nothing else I can think of. It's sweet, but there's some sadness at times and the notes drone on just a bit. Mode-wise, it's not necessarily how I would start an album, but it does leave room to move in some kind of new direction afterwords. It's worth noting, already, that these tracks average out at about 15 minutes long a piece - a little too long to even serve as movie backing tracks, but appropriate for their genre, I suppose.
The next track feels very much the same - slow and ominous, only this time lacking the whale noises. "Flame" maybe sounds just a bit more dangerous if you can wrap your mind around it, or just want it to be different so desperately like I do. Oh wait, there it is - there's more layer here, and a saxophone has mad its way into the mix. That immediately creates a more sultry, seductive notion to the song (at least in my head).
It's the next morning, and now I'm on to "Rock." Much of the same. For this track's individual instrument (because it seems like each has one featured), there's what I believe to be a flute or clarinet playing at first, but maybe the Sax is on an upper register. It's hard to tell from here. This one has much less sadness - almost like a glimmer of light through the rest of the tracks so far. I'm not sure how any of these names seem to fit with their sound, but if we're stretching on this one, I guess I could call it more solid-sounding that the others. It's a bit sweeter, for sure. Oooh, there's chimes in there, just slightly, like sunlight glistening off the… rocks. Hey, I'm trying here people.
"Wind" brings us to the final segment of this world journey. The same whale-like sounds from the first song are in this one, but this time I have to call them birds instead. Or, at least, that's what we'll go ahead and equate them with . There's still some under-lying darkness to the song, as there was at the start, but the piano seems to have a slightly different, positive sound. There's for sure a natural, sweet sound on this one, unlike all those before. Personally, it's a song of hope for me. There's even this choir of voices in the back, almost like the choir you hear in "Home Alone" when he finally sees people in the church toward the end. Ah the wonderful feel of nostalgia.
Added to My Playlist:
- "Wind"
I mean, not the easiest thing to get back into these with, but this was nice. I can see why it didn't win the Grammy, but I can hear why it was at least nominated, which, yes, is indeed a big honor unto itself. Regardless, the music is lovely, and provides a nice relaxing sound to the background of life. Actually, to be honest, it's quite nice to read to.