Day one of the Churchscapes tour got underway in the county of Gloucestershire. The crew for the tour was old hand, John Sinks and newcomer sound engineer, Trev Wilkins. “It’s lovely laying the leads and cables here without having to worry about what you’re kneeling in old fags, stale beer and worse!” commented Trev on the obvious differences between working German rock clubs with Albert Lee and English churches and cathedrals.
On the clock, this performance lasted a mere 46 minutes yet somehow, as the title suggests, time does indeed stand still. From the radiant coda of Time Stands Still, we are gently ushered to towards a remarkably moving and contemplative place during At The End Of Time where the soloing notes feel like they are bending time and space itself. Audient Ian Stubbs perhaps sums it up simply and directly: “The church setting is perfect for the music which is up lifting and stimulating.”
Day one of the Churchscapes tour got underway in the county of Gloucestershire. The crew for the tour was old hand, John Sinks and newcomer sound engineer, Trev Wilkins. “It’s lovely laying the leads and cables here without having to worry about what you’re kneeling in old fags, stale beer and worse!” commented Trev on the obvious differences betwe...
Not so much a review as an interpretation or imagining:
Wonderful bells provide a metallic shimmer at the gate opening to a place where Time Stands Still. As beautiful as that place is, eventually we are encouraged to move on up along the rising current of echoing chimes in the Coda, where an arising low murmur is quietened by a cascading voice on high. But where are we now? In a Queer Space, gazing upon intertwining traces and trails of guitar, then chimes, all leading us toward an undulati...
Not so much a review as an interpretation or imagining:
Wonderful bells provide a metallic shimmer at the gate opening to a place where Time Stands Still. As beautiful as that place is, eventually we are encouraged to move on up along the rising current of echoing chimes in the Coda, where an arising low murmur is quietened by a cascading voice on high. But where are we now? In a Queer Space, gazing upon intertwining traces and trails of guitar, then chimes, all leading us toward an undulating bed of strings, which convey an atmosphere of unease, perhaps even dread. And as we venture into the second Coda, foreshadowed by a statement of the guitar, a brief caution as the chimes announce the boundary of this nearly timeless space. So now we arrive At The End of Time, which is announced from below and consecrated from on high. Here, time flows freely backwards and forwards; all is patiently resolved. The plaintive solo first simply sings, at first of regret and of hope, of resistance to the inevitable Denouement. At last, these inner voices are let go in face of the enormity of the Peace which surrounds and soothes. Then joining with these celebratory strings, the guitar sings at last its short affirmations, its acceptance of all that came to pass in Time.
The harmonic minor is synonymous with the keeravani raga of the Carnatic system (related to the pilu raga). Not only is it modally interesting, but,as one can hear in this performance, the scale is collaboratively symbiotic with the minor chord pads over which it is played.