A Journey through the music of #16 among 20 Icons of Echoes.
While so many electronic musicians have headed off into the drone zone of sonic abstraction, Mark Dwane is an artist who still believes in the power of melody, the grandeur of a big crescendo and the stories held within a dramatic turn. His epic compositons have been part of Echoes from the very beginning and he’s had two CD of the Month picks. Tonight on Echoes we’ll be featuring a profile of Mark Dwane., Here’s his five best CDs.
1- 2012
“Skywatchers” is quintessential Mark Dwane, with a surging, filtered electronic rhythm sequence demarcated by strumming acoustic guitar and topped by swelling string-like synthesizers and some of Mark’s own patented sounds like an echoing glissando trumpet choir. Dwane makes effective use of environmental ambiences on songs like “The Sacred Tree” as very electronic sounding birds create stereo glissandos across his flute melody, blending into the echoes and rustles like a neon-lit jungle. The sound of rain mimics an electronic rainstick on one track and accompanies electronic droplets on another.
2-Other Worlds
This is Mark Dwane’s most recent album and it showed him moving in new directions with his guitar synthesizer, including actually sounding like a guitar on tracks such as “Other Worlds” and ‘Modal Logic.” but he still pins out those kinetic grooves, many of them generated, like much of his music from his guitar synthesizer. The Hawaiian slide guitar on “Haven” is an unexpected and refreshing touch
3- Paradigm Shift
Mark Dwane lush landscapes and warp-drive melodic ricochets on his fourth album. On the title track and “The Pleiadian Paradigm” he orchestrates a cathedral of electronic sound. Rhythms alternately charge and lope as Dwane masses electronic choirs and crystalline bells.
4 Angels, Aliens & Archetpes:
On his second album, Dwane conducts a super-orchestra that careens through his energized compositions. Dwane’s music is multi-layered and interwoven like a Persian kaleidoscope, with already intricate patterns transmuted and shaded as they drive through powerful rhythms and heroic melodies. His influences were still evident, with electronic echoes from the sequencer school of music from Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Michael Hoenig. But rather than imitate, he took the next step on pieces like “Saucers Over Nazca” which begins with a free-fall through a liquid prism before hurtling off into a percussive tribal dance. The title track is a monument of form and structure with churning, interlocked sequencers dancing in a mechanical ballet of counterpoint and polyrhythms. They, in turn, charge a heroic theme that reaches for the skies.
5 Nefillim
Don’t let the concept of an alien race that seeded the earth get in the way of this sweeping, kinetically charged album that has marks patented screaming synth-guitar crescendos and those percolating trawling through the spaceways rhythms.
Mark Dwane will be featured tonight as #16 among 20 Icons of Echoes.
John Diliberto ((( echoes )))
Mark Dwane is a tremendous talent, well deserving of his top 20 ranking in Icons of Echoes. All of these albums have been wonderfully produced, and I’d also rank “The Sirius Link” up there as one of his best. Another one that is available from his website that is quite enjoyable is his “Variants” album, in which he alters some of his album cuts by adding other effects, altering rhythms and generally changing the song – but not enough so that you wouldn’t recognize it. One particular cut from this album is a reworking of “Giza,” from his Paradigm Shift album. The Variant version of the song is just beautiful; it’s as if you could see the orchestra and violins playing, or could see Indiana Jones coming over the sand dune. Mark makes beautiful, creative music and I’m always glad to see him get recognized for his efforts.
I second Robb’s mention of “The Sirius Link.” Oddly, at least for me, the first and last songs are the weakest on the album. Everything in between is wonderful. My personal favorite is “Legend of the Dogon.” This album is my favorite of his. He really plays his guitar on most of the songs on this album. And like many of his other albums, the cover art is really cool.