Gilbert’s Entertaining Electronic Music
Bruce Von Stiers
I have been a fan of electronic music forever. When I was a kid my dad somehow came up with a Moog album. I must have listened to that thing a thousand times. Since that time I have liked all sorts of electronic based music, whether it be synth, organ or some of the newer dance track stuff.
I bring this up because of a very interesting album that I recently listened to. The album was called I Can See From Here. It had fourteen songs and lasted close to an hour.
The artist behind the album is Michael William Gilbert. He has been involved in electronic music since the late ‘70’s. Gilbert has taught electronic music at various New England universities throughout the years along with recording several albums. This latest album was released on Gilbert’s own label, Gibex Recordings.
On the album Gilbert does all of the synthesizers, samplers, loops and percussion. He is helped out on guitar for one song by Peter Kaukonen.
Dark Horizon is the first song. It begins with a mix of ultra cool electronica and Middle Eastern sounds. The song made me think of dance trax meets hot India chick music.
That is followed by a short, dark and intense interlude called Nick’s Waking Dream.
A bit strange and otherworldly is how I would best describe Eyeless In Gaza.
The next interlude is Nick Flies Away. It kind of reminded me of music from Alan Parson’s I Robot album.
Sometimes I See The Sky could well be a soundtrack item from a celestial sci-fi flick.
Coming in at a minute and a half, the third interlude is an almost suspenseful sounding piece titled Origami Riff. The general flow of the album seems to be a couple of solid tunes followed by an intersplicing interlude.
Another soundtrack like song on the album is Dance Myself To Sleep. It has a slick mixture or drums, strings and cool synth. This is my favorite song on the album.
Nick’s Sleeping Dream is yet another interlude. Starting out dark and moody, it ends with an almost angelic, cloud like sound.
Then there is the light rock ballad styled tune Over The Next Rise.
Rat Race Redux is a tough, busy tune with cool drum and synth music.
Rooftop Meditation begins with an almost apocalyptic mood and kind of stays there thought the entire song.
The final interlude is called Short Ride. It is also very moody.
The next to last song on the album is the one featuring Peter Kaukonen. The title of the song is Amerikan Dream. It has some very cool, sedate guitar that reminded me of Joe Satriani. The other music in the song compliments the guitar well. I liked this song a lot too.
The album ends with a short and idyllic Medieval styled song called Adele At Sunrise.
I Can See From Here is definitely an interesting album. Gilbert has taken synth and other electronic music media and melded it into an intriguing and entertaining styling. I don’t think that there is another album quite like it out there.
You can find out more about the album and Gilbert himself at www.mwgilbert.com.
© 2011 Bruce E. Von Stiers