Anthony Paul Kerby is no stranger to these pages under his moniker The Circular Ruins (the recent Conjunction was reviewed here recently). He reveals a different side of his musical persona with Lammergeyer--a separate project, named after a Eurasian bird of prey, devoted to ambient/electronic soundscapes (as with TCR) but in a more "classical" vein. There have been two Lammergeyer releases so far this year. Both are related sonically and thematically, so I'll cover them together.

We begin with Birds of Prey, a work separated into ten "Thermals," all with subtitles. Each track on Birds of Prey transitions into the next seamlessly, making an album length movement rather than a collection of discrete tracks. The first impression one gets, if one is familiar with The Circular Ruins, is how sedate and smooth the music is compared to previous TCR work. It's clear a new project name was required to separate the more choppy, active, and busy work of TCR with the sonic symphonics of Lammergeyer. "Thermal One - Flight" sets the tone immediately with clattering sounds reminiscent of some steampunk airship gliding uneasily along the skyline. Different synth tones, some played, some held to drone, are triggered amongst the stereo-panned clattering--this is a graceful flight high over icy landscapes. Later in the track, orchestral synths flourish, bringing a baroque tone to the proceedings. This is no voyage into deep space, as with so many ambient recordings, but an earthed journey through nature's dramatic tableau. In "Thermal Three - Void" we can hear echoes of past TCR work, but it's slower, more Schulzean, as if Kerby is focusing more on creating dramatic soundscapes like his esteemed predecessor rather than the strange, propulsive ambience of TCR. This bleeds into "Thermal Four - Memory" a resonant area of swirling electronics, more understated, and less directly in the listener's "eye." The clattering (similar to the sound from a mechanical toy, though not at all annoying) from the first track is a constant presence on the first half of the disc, as if this portion represents the Lammergeyer's flight above terrain, traveling vast distances. All is viewed from the impossibly high vantage point, making familiar presences somehow exotic from such distance. This sonic distance often leads to soundscapes that lack immediacy; the ambience seems more suited for background sonics than active listening on many of the tracks. This is work that seeps into the consciousness. The cuts that do demand the listeners attention right off the bat, like "Thermal Seven - Despair" are beautiful suites of underlying synth drone accompanied by distinctly soundtrack-styled synth. These tracks are dramatic, but never forced, a tightrope walk performed by Kerby admirably. The strongest tracks are often the shortest on Birds of Prey, as with "Thermal Eight - Languid" which features whispery sounds, bubbling and gurgling synths, as well as a deep electronic cello-like solo. It's beautiful, not attempting to mimic "real" instrumentation, but instead transcending it into a new form of classically-inspired ambience. "Thermal Nine - Release" is a lighter zone that tends to meander, often a flaw of the longer tracks on Birds of Prey. Similarly, "Thermal Ten - Gyre," ends the CD with a radiant finish, deserting the cool sonics of earlier tracks with a nearly ambient-techno track of cascading electronics that morphs into darker zones which gradually decrease in intensity until the lighter zones return in stunning fashion. The track ends with fluttering tones, as if unsure when to stop. The transition is not at all jarring, a logical conclusion to a diverse, if not always completely engaging album. Often, Birds of Prey is a technically practiced work that does not fully gel over its sixty minute length.

The second Lammergeyer work, Blue Oasis is more outwardly satisfying, as if the symphonic concepts approached with Birds of Prey have been more fully digested. "Threshold" phases in and out with resonant electronics as if one is pulled alternately higher and lower upon the thermals of air. Some of the synth reminds me of Namlook's drifting works, always a pleasant response, especially considering Kerby's knack of making excellent all-synth tracks with none of the filler Namlook tends to pepper his longer tracks with. "Gravity" retains some of the twinkle of its predecessor, but has fantastic synth that lances across the listener's eye. "Plateau" returns slightly to the meandering territory of Birds of Prey, though its stylistic changes are pleasing, as the track shifts from deep and dark to buzzing and radiant by turns. More interesting is "Opening"--a Zen-like tone-scape, completely out of character for Kerby, that clinks and cascades with vibraphonic essence. This track would be utterly out of place on a Circular Ruins album, but it fits here beautifully: an unexpected highlight. Next, "Distance" returns to soundtrack territory with a pretty drift that mixes with the previous "Opening" and Kerby's synth mellotron (last heard on Conjunction). Track six, "Pinnacle" could have been culled from Birds of Prey, with familiar understated clattering and pointilist synth touches (reminding me oddly of The Doors' "Riders on the Storm"). "Headland" is more experimental, almost resembling an unholy union of jittery Cluster and Pete Namlook & Dr. Atmo's "Garden of Dreams." Two Teutonic styles mix into a strange glittering soundscape that opens into tone-drift around the three minute mark. A highlight. "Horizon" is a continuation on these themes in a deeper vein as synthetic, subterranean, and translucent sounds cluster around the same jittery tones of the preceding track. I like the attention to long "suites" of unified themes over tracks on Blue Oasis. This was also attempted on Birds of Prey, but whereas Birds seemed to exhaust its ideas before many of the track clusters were over, Blue Oasis shifts and plays with themes in intriguing patterns. Finally, track nine is "Harmonic," ending the CD on a nearly ambient-techno note with a nicely phased groove overlaid by synth harmonics I'm normally used to hearing on Kompakt or Elektolux recordings. This is a direction I'd like to see Lammergeyer (or The Circular Ruins) continue in--sonically fresh, but with the classic ambience we need to separate this from the ceaseless monthly tsunami of IDM recordings. This is a most impressive finish to Blue Oasis, symphonic, dramatic, modern, and classical all at once.

I found Blue Oasis to be the real winner of the Lammergeyer duo, though Birds of Prey is interesting enough on its own merits. It seems to me that the former might have been more effective as an EP, where its themes could be distilled to more potent configurations. Blue Oasis on the other hand, is fascinating from start to finish, with stylistic transitions many ambient artists just cannot pull off. Kerby seems comfortable composing in a wider variety of sonic ambient styles, and it is to his credit that he can cull them all together on such a pleasing album length work. The Lammergeyer works do not seem to rise above side-project status (yet): Circular Ruins releases still feature Kerby's most vibrant and consistently interesting work. However, Lammergeyer features Kerby's work in a tone very unlike TCR, which makes it well worth the attention of aficionados of that project, as well as newer ambient artists like Vir Unis who operate in the grey area between ambient music and more active electronic styles.

Both CDs are released on the Databloem sublabel: DataObscura

since July 15, 2003