Search - Jim Cole & Spectral Voices :: "Sky"

Thrumming vocal ambient exploration

Brad Torgersen | Seattle, WA, USA | 07/18/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first got wind of Jim Cole's unique musical production(s) in 1998 when I was working for KSVR 90.1 FM in Mount Vernon, Washington. The first album "Coalescence" seemed like a pretty different concept, that being raw vocalizations from within an empty steel water tower. As far as ambient meditation music goes, I'd have to say that the Jim Cole & Spectral Voices discs are almost in a class by themselves. Beyond gregorian chant, beyond most everything else, these otherworldly water tower soundscapes are really amazing, especially considering that the production is bare bones with virtually no enhancement! "Sky" is as good as "Coalescence" and in many ways the two might be thought of as chapters in a progressing 'book' of vocal harmonic innovation for the 21st century. A real gem for any serious ambient music collector. ---"