Search - Scott Johnson :: Americans

Excellent

Curious Skeptic | New York CIty | 07/11/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a very accomplished audio soundscape. There are a number of composers out there who use speech fragments. Sometimes it works, often it sounds contrite, too obvious. This disc is a rare exception (the other exceptions that come to mind are Noah Creshevsky and JacobTv). Johnson simply doesn't repeat the speech; the sounds vary over time across several dimensions. Most impressively, somehow, the sounds (and not just the words) tell the story. To me this is the 21st century equivalent of opera. In my humble (and un-music-educated) opinion, one should be able to listen to and enjoy an opera without knowing the text. The story line helps of course, but the music should convey the narrative on its own. This disc meets that same criteria. The speech, orchestration, rhythm and guitar all work together nicely--most of the time anyway--to produce a "latent" but engaging story. A very rewarding set of pieces. I have been listening to the files repeatedly since downloading and still finding new rewards."