Track Listings (10) - Disc #1| All Artists: David Arkenstone Title: Citizen of the World Members Wishing: 1 Total Copies: 0 Label: Windham Hill Records Original Release Date: 6/29/1999 Release Date: 6/29/1999 Genres: Jazz, New Age, Pop, Rock Styles: Meditation, Instrumental, Adult Contemporary, Adult Alternative, Progressive, Electronic Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 019341139829 |
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Search - David Arkenstone :: Citizen of the World
 | David Arkenstone Citizen of the World Genres: Jazz, New Age, Pop, Rock
Citizen of the World is multi-instrumentalist David Arkenstone's one-man world tour. Envisioning a future global community where borders, barriers, and flags have vanished, Arkenstone musically samples a cross section of w... more » |
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Amazon.com Citizen of the World is multi-instrumentalist David Arkenstone's one-man world tour. Envisioning a future global community where borders, barriers, and flags have vanished, Arkenstone musically samples a cross section of world cultures--Arabic, Asian, Native American, Celtic, aboriginal, Spanish, etc.--to convey his notion of a United States of Humanity. Thematically similar to his intriguing Citizen of Time project recorded a decade earlier, Citizen of the World is a more terrestrial affair, usually sidestepping the celestial, chest-swelling grandeur of earlier works. Here the sound is often gentle and restrained, at times better suited for relaxed listening than mind-stretching. Still, it has its highlights, including a pair of slowly unfolding sonic excursions to points unknown, "Safe Passage" and "Into the Dreamtime." --Terry Wood Similarly Requested CDs
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CD ReviewsHmmm... Neal C. Reynolds | 08/22/1999 (3 out of 5 stars) "I bought this CD pretty much on whim. I don't get the impression that Arkenstone's music has never been particularly original or profound, but this music is really quite bland. He seems to go from one culture to another and craft a little tune that suggests the superficial stereotype of it, using synth sounds for ethnic instruments. There isn't one of the ten tracks that you can't figure out on a recorder or piano in about two minutes. It's much like the background music you might hear in a movie or documentary. For example, the first track is "Mayan," but not much else--just the minimum requirement to give it the flavor. The second is "Arabic" in the same way; the third is an almost absurdly simple rearrangement of the pentatonic scale ("Chinese"). The fourth is Spanish or Gypsy, the fifth is superficially African, the sixth even more superficially Native American, and the seventh Indian. Then, of course, the obligatory "Celtic" theme, another bland Riverdance imitation, and something called "The Pharaoh's Tomb," which is pretty much video game music, built on a minor scale with a sharp third (I don't know what culture that is). I don't know what to make of "Into the Dreamtime." Fully two minutes are a long string of synth noises, and the melody is amazingly repetitive and quite unmemorable. It gets three stars because it can be pleasant background music, which I think is what it's trying to be. However, there is enough real folk music out there that this is unnecessary. I have nothing against New Age music in general, and Windham Hill has published some truly good music, but this is a bit too banal for me." Not David's best... Christian Wheeler | St. Louis | 10/21/2001 (2 out of 5 stars) "A cluster of world music cliches'; a disappointing outing from the ususally reliable Arkenstone. The album feaures none of the grand, sweeping orchestrations or pop nuances that marked his best efforts; instead, we are given song after song of bland, meandering sameness, more in keeping with meditiation/contemplation music than anything else. Fans of that kind of music may find this interesting; it would probably be good as ambient background or relaxation help. Only the last track, "Into the dreamtime," features anything resembling what fans have come to expect from David--and the best part of the song comes in the last two minutes! I was very, very disappointed with this album; but David redeemed himself with his next effort, "Caravan of Light."" Not being a musicologist, I enjoyed it! Neal C. Reynolds | Indianapolis, Indiana | 09/07/2001 (4 out of 5 stars) "For me, this is a good listening album, one that a person can sit back in a favorite chair, close his (or her) eyes, and enjoy. "Desert Crossing" was especially evocative, but I didn't find one less than enjoyable. Each one, except for the finale, succeeded in creating images of the locale in my mind. "Dreamtime" though is strictly meditative, reflective. Musicologists undoubtedly are justified in picking at the technicalities. But for true enjoyment, I recommend it."
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