Search - Deborah Martin :: Deep Roots Hidden Water

Deborah Martin plays a sweeter brand of ambient music than most, with asound that tends toward the orchestral rather than the electronic. But ultimately, sampled instruments undermine her music. Martin's strings don't sound symphonic, they just sound stiff. Her oboes are pale imitations and her horns lack nuance. Martin is captivated by her keyboard palette and they dominate her second album, obscuring what might have been some deep ambient excursions. Her music works best when real instruments or pure electronics dominate. For instance, guest Coyote Oldman's processed flutes turn "Voices on the Rim" into a viscous walk on a virtual canyon floor, even with a hokey overlay of sampled choirs. King Crimson bassist Tony Levin plays his electric upright bass on "The Strength of Stones," over-dubbing arco and pizzicato lines in a dark rumination. Martin seems to aspire to that minor-key poignancy that marks Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings," but her sonic library won't take her there. --John Diliberto