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| TRACKLIST |
| 1. Avenging Ilfaited Visions . . . . . . . . . .8:40 2. What The Wind May Not Tell You. . . . . . . .8:46 3. As The Ocean Emptied. . . . . . . . . . . . .4:17 4. Bilagaana Weaps, In Quiet Memory. . . . . . .7:32 5. Imminent Core . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6:19 6. A Sense Of Home The Sky Remembers . . . . . .7:36 7. Embraced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5:58 8. Soil Of Our Consonence Just Within Reach. . .6:31 9. Alter Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8:10 10. Places I Will Never See. . . . . . . . . . .14:50 |
This music is an atmospheric collage of multi ethnic influences, based primarily on Native American culture and spirit. "A Lone Reply" was an official turn, yet not unfamiliar territory for Dean De Benedictis, known in the electronic music world as Surface 10.
After accumulating an expansive sense of place from his travels, and connecting with the land and native people of the West, Dean was moved to pay homage to these earthly values. On this CD Dean draws on deep, elongated, atmospheric melodies sometimes accompanied by driving tribal drum rhythms.
Such instruments as American Indian flutes (Mayan style), ocarina, Balinese flutes, piano, synth, hand drums, slit drums, and Dean's voice can be heard throughout "A Lone Reply", ninety percent of which was played by hand. Some of these instruments were accumulated during Dean's travels through the American west. Field recordings and various samples were also utilized to create slowly evolving layers of sound, merging into a blissful, chasm-like setting.
"A Lone Reply" portrays a spirituality and sensitive closeness to the earth, while at the same time seeks to extract some darkness and sorrow from the mystery of existence in this time of overwhelming technological advancement. Dean states, "This is simply a lone, singular reply to it all. One with deep serenity."
Every once in a while, a CD comes seemingly out of nowhere and just blows me away. De Benedictis has done solid music before, generally in modern ambient and experimental electronic styles. But nothing prepared me for my reaction to A Lone Reply. The musicianship on this very tribal work is simply stunning. He rightly credits Steve Roach and Robert Rich for inspiration, and thanks Loren Nerell for his assistance, so that should give an idea of the musical direction. This is one of the most consistent, captivating 80-minute sets of music I've heard in some time. It is haunting and dramatic throughout, full of grace and power. Synthesizers meld with a vast array of primitive instruments from around the globe. Dedicated to the American Indian, it actually calls up images of several ethnic backgrounds, though the Indian roots remain throughout. Sometimes, the music is haunting and slightly dissonant, as on "What The Wind May Not Tell You." At other moments, like "Embraced," the mood is brighter and prettier. Though the music generally leans toward the dark side, it is all beautiful, all brilliant. If you like ambient with a healthy dose of tribal beats and flutes, this is among the very best. A Lone Reply is a masterwork that deserves a wide audience. ~ by Phil Derby, Exposé Magazine
Dedicated to the spirit of Native Americans and mastered by Robert Rich, these ten terrific tunes are captivating ambient tone poems that harken back to the heyday of spacemusic maestros like Steve Roach, Jonn Serrie, Kevin Braheny and Rich himself. Haunting, mesmerizing, unsettling at times but also poignant, optimistic and beautiful, De Benedictis makes music for the subconscious, music that awakens cross-cultural cellular memories in an orgy of rebirthed engrams. The bone-on-stone patter that underlies the catchy rhythms of "Avenging Illfated Visions" is followed in delicious and deliberate counterpoint by the crystalline emptiness of "What the Wind May Not Tell You;" together they represent the earth-ether duality of De Benedictis' inspiration. But the masterwork here must be "As the Ocean Emptied," an epic aural adventure that grabs the imagination from first note to last. It's a tale of naked new land claimed, of ego and achievement, and of gods deprived. And we all know that old saying, "whom the gods want to punish, they first grant a heart's desire..." Hence, the intimate, almost suffocating closeness of "Bilagaana Weaps, In Quiet Memory," a tune that inverses the grand proportions of typical soundscapes yet still manages to create a vast interior space in which deep emotion rises. This is not easy music to hear, but it is profound. ~ by PJB, New Age Voice Magazine
After way too long a period of time, we finally have the next great ethno-tribal-ambient recording. A Lone Reply earns its place alongside such essential works as Undercurrents in Dark Water (O Yuki Conjugate), All Our Ancestors (Tuu), Soma (Robert Rich and Steve Roach) and Lillin Dewa (Loren Nerell). Dean De Benedictis has recorded a true masterpiece of the genre. Deeply spiritual, sensual in an earthy vein, incredibly evocative, and sonically transportative, A Lone Reply is so good that it may be beyond my abilities as a reviewer to accurately describe. The masterful blending of ancient instruments (assorted> percussion and flutes) with the modern (synths, piano, bass) yields a primal recording almost dripping with raw emotion; even my most effusive hyperbole may not do it justice.
You NEED to listen to this with headphones. The mix on the first cut ("Avenging Illfated Visions") alone will realign your consciousness and send your mind reeling. Those hand drums, those drones, those flutes and ocarinas - yikes! And, the good news is that it just gets better and better. I didn't think I'd ever hear an album that would re-awaken my love affair with ethno-tribal music - but this one is it. Listening to this on headphones or in a quiet room is positively revelatory -it's a total immersion into the wonders of recorded music.
Mixing deep ambient drifting pieces with snaky-sensuous tribal textures, erotic and primal rhythmic beats, and spiritually fluid musical excursions (courtesy of the flutes, percussion, and gamelan touches), De Benedictis' awesome talent to paint cave-wall images of subtle power and mournful beauty is superbly evident and totally on display. Track titles are appropriately indicative of what lies in the virtual grooves: "What The Wind May Not Tell You," "A Sense Of Home The Sky Remembers," "Places I Will Never See," et all. The album itself, per liner notes, is "dedicated wholeheartedly to the American Indian". And the haunting, mystical, and somber music (even when the rhythms are frenetic and uptempo) hammer home the sorrow and pain implicit in the plight of the oppressed native peoples of North America.
Detailing the ten cuts on this CD is superfluous. You have a good reference point with albums like those mentioned above, as well as other well-regarded works like Rich's Rainforest, Roach's/Obmana's Cavern Of Sirens, Parson's Dorje Ling, and Stearn's soundtrack to Baraka. A Lone Reply incorporates elements of all those fine albums, while also adding unique musical textures that De Benedictis on his own brings to the event. And that's what this album is - an event.
Whether you prefer the more tribal sounds of O Yuki Conjugate or the more cerebral sides of works like Soma (with its mixture of synths and flutes), A Lone Reply will astound you with how completely immersive an experience it is. Turn out the lights (all of them), put on your headphones, and settle back. This is Altered States territory, folks! Give this album your undivided attention and you may find the journey takes you for a walk along ancient pathways that are both frightening and illuminating. This is a VERY special recording and earns (with remarkable ease) my highest recommendation. A Lone Reply is the epitome of a landmark release. Buy the damn thing already, okay? Trust me, you won't regret it. ~ by Bill Binkelman, WIND and WIRE
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