Search - Wim Mertens :: Epic That Never Was

Lionself does himself

05/20/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"to some people it may seem nerving, personality difference. wim mertens delivers minimalism in its most beautiful form. music is never boring, rather you choose the way you want it, it is what mertens is offering. this concert piece is finest work of his that i heard. there are two compositions never to be published on the studio albums, and these two may be two of his best. wim keeps his lionself inside and all of the melodic sounds he makes are recycled shrieks, they travel through your central ear and make you wish for more."

Somewhat less metaphysical, but just as enthusiastic

J. C Clark | Overland Park, KS United States | 01/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Oh, the Mertens confusion. CDs all over, with duplicate tracks, different arrangments, obscure titles, and those prices! Solo? Ensemble? Which to choose?



Well, this is a stunner. I have had it for over 7 years, and enjoy it more now than I did when it first arrived. This is in many ways my favorite of the solo CDs. I cannot grow tired of it. Wim is an astonishingly talented musician who creates the most lovely and moving tunes out of the smallest pieces, tiny tunes, endlessly varied, repeated, twisted and turned upside down, played with a superbly confident pianism and that otherworldy voice that startles, then challenges, then finally comforts. And as the other reviewer says, the tracks available only here are absolutely grand.



There are many pretenders to the throne of "The Best" in this field, which I guess would be minimalist/ethereal/ambient music, but there is nothing ambient about this CD. This will engage and grip and not let go, just as it did when performed to that lucky audience in Lisbon in 1993."