Meredith Bates - The Observer Effect: Books I & II [Phonometrograph]

Put out on the circuit via the Canadian Phonometrograph label on March 13th, 2k26 is "The Observer Effect: Books I & II", the latest extended - a.k.a. 2CD double pack - album affair conceived by violin x viola player and composer Meredith Bates which rolls out her musical vision over the course of roughly 140 minutes, in two parts - "The Observer Effect Book I - Casting" and "The Observer Effect Part II - Evocation" - which are indiviually split in movements or, as mentioned in the tracklist, incantations. Conceptually infused and inspired by a key principle in quantum mechanics, and: philosophy, Bates and her fellow contributing artists Scott Morgan, Chris Gestrin and Curtis Andrews are pairing fanfare-adjacent slow Ambient movements of a rather dramatic tonal nature with tweeting birds and other Field Recordings in the opening piece of the first CD, or: book, named "1st Incantation (Protection)" which is followed by the 34-minutes spanning "2nd Incantation (Disillusionment)" which pairs slow, organic low end pulses with rather score'esque and widescreen panoramic arrangements exploring a field located in between Deep Listening Music, naturalist story telling, echoes of Dark Ambient as well as faint memories of memories of Jean Michel Jarre's "Zoolook" album and classic, yet rather dark'ish and eerie Berlin School and New Age approaches without ever coming close to anything related to Kraut-whatever before dissolving into a peaceful, slowly meandering stream of sound as majestic and impressive as a winding river of epic width and proportions. Furthermore the "3rd Incantation (Infatuation)" brings forth tender and caressing string repetitions backed by soft pads backed by more Field Recordings of nature and comforting, all embracing low end rumbles building up towards a wind- or probably storm- swept crescendo whereas the "4th Incantation (Memory)" enters a realm of ancient longing and desire built up and layered over the course of centuries or millenia even, an intrinsically emotional, yet at the same time highly vulnerable space filled with wafting ethereal mists transcending our standard perception of space and consciousness. The second half, or: 'Book II', caters rather classical Ambient structures evolving from harmonic pads in combination with plucked strings embbeded deep within the mix to rather majestic and most beautiful Glacial Ambient movements in its super extended - a.k.a. 45 minutes long - opener "1st Incantation (Infatuation)" followed by the "2nd Incantation (Silencing)" which serves scraping Minimal Ambient structures in a rather interludic manner before "3rd Incantation (Binding)" fully indulges in elegic and emotional Contemporary Classical composition deeply infused with innate melancholia, backed with surprisingly lively and playful NeoTribal rhythm signatures, providing a well fascinating and unexpected ride for a closing which probably makes it one of our favorite cuts on this album. Recommended!

Album artwork on Instagram!