ALBUM REVIEWS & COMMENTS

"It is dreamy. It is majestic, inspirational, powerful and it is visionary"

“Talking about music is like dancing about architecture”. John Cage’s infamous statement may have never been more true than it is here as it applies to Stephen Bacchus’ new release. The “Memory Tap” probes deep into the subconscious, evoking feelings both familiar and not yet discovered. Artfully composed and meticulously produced, the music takes the listener on an enchanting journey, seamlessly transitioning between melodic phrases oozing with emotion to ethereal and otherworldly soundscapes. It is dreamy. It is majestic, inspirational, powerful and it is visionary. Bacchus really outdoes himself here, effortlessly layering classic synths with his skillfully crafted innovative original sounds. The "Memory Tap" is a must for all aficionados of electronic music, modern, classic or anywhere in between.

— Tim Clément, composer, June 2021.

"A standout in the field"

Bacchus not only composes, performs, and produces, these pieces, he inhabits them. As most great ambient music, they invite contemplation, introspection, and revelation. Mood and grace are balanced with compositional insight and structure to create a track list that probes not only the notion of musical memory but also the boundaries of musical possibility. A standout in the field.

— Scott Mackay, Science Fiction author

"Spacious music...delivered with ambient shifts of tone and meaning"

There were moments when I’d be swept off in emptiness and then back into the presence of fullness. There were times when I’d drift dreamily and then be startled back by a musical sound that would coincide precisely and meaningfully with a passage that I’d just that instant read in the book. A soundtrack for reflective investigation? Or, an assistive aural composition that might massage one’s ability to probe a bit more deeply? What is it? How does this fit together or need it do so at all? Probably not.

The piece finally surfaced for me as one continuous passage through varying sounds and ghostly melodies. Though there were obviously succinct pieces being presented with individual titles, I didn’t view them as such. I “heard” them all together with seemingly planned/unplanned pauses and spaces in between.

Could comment on the packaging (which was bright, psychedelic and brimming with free form optimism), but I spent most of my time within rather than without. Nevertheless I loved the visual presentation signalling there was a lite ambient adventure inside rather than a dark one.

Spacious music - which is I suppose a kind of space music. Sound delivered with unexpected melodic and ambient shifts of tone and meaning. Much like how our memories usually work. We space out, remember one thing and forget the next. Then perhaps remember it differently later. It’s a risky entry point to allow oneself to hear and see what is inside and then share it with others.

Well done.
You left your tap on when you plumbed this particular recording.

Thank you for your soundings.

— Beck H.

"...warmly ambient, fusion inspired and listenable"

My fav tracks are tr.4, tr.1, tr.2. Very meditative."

— Renee Gelpi - Interplanetary Radio Group

"Music that is precious, carefully conceived and brought fully forth..." 

— Lloyd Barde of Lloyd Barde Productions

"It sounds beautiful, I love every minute of it."

— Renee Gelpi INTERPLANETARY RADIO GROUP

"This album can stand alongside any of the very finest ambient recordings I’ve encountered." 

"It’s taken a few playbacks and attentive/inattentive listening experiences. But one can say with some confidence that this may be your masterpiece. You’ve finally married your nature recordings with your considerable compositional skills. One outstanding outcome is the evocation of an actual walk into some rather deep woods.

It would be ridiculous to pin point any exact part of the journey that “makes this happen”. It’s the whole thing (which, by the way, plays incredibly well on “repeat” - because there is no ending or beginning...just cycling as with nature itself).

Another interesting feeling was the impersonality, the lack of an artistic ego behind the work. It is your least “personal” work and hence, your boldest step into the unknown. You mentioned that you weren’t sure you had “one more in you”, it just slipped out. Did it catch you unawares? Is that the best way to be caught one wonders.

Despite whatever hard hours you may have spent birthing Circadia, it does not sound or seem like a laboured delivery.

This album can stand alongside any of the very finest ambient recordings I’ve encountered. Not that it needs to be graded and compared. It`s far beyond that type of vulgarity.

Several years ago you mentioned that Steve Roach advised you during the Tucson recordings, to “bury the melody” in your compositions. I think I know what he meant - sometimes overexpressed melody can dominate an ambient recording to its detriment.

What you’ve done here, though, is to allow the melody to merge and then subtly emerge, almost imperceptibly. It’s not buried. It’s woven into the marvelous nature soundscapes, simultaneously hidden and present. What a lovely feat."

— Beck H.

"It is very beautiful."

"I have listened to your CD several times and have to let you know how much I have enjoyed it.
It is very beautiful."

— Murray H.

"This has become my favorite album recently..."

"I've been looking for nature sounds set to music, but most of what I found is very saccharine and/or melancholy. This is decent ambient style music that I like, set to nature sounds. Favorite track: The Nature Of Time."

— Bandcamp follower: Mysticwolf75.

"...Hinterland marks a triumphant return.."

— Bill Binkleman ZoneMusicReporter reviewer (01/04/2017) 

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“Hinterland” is probably the most mature and sophisticated recording of Stephen Bacchus..."

"...If you are searching for relaxing, new age-driven soundsculptings, don’t hesitate to explore Stephen Bacchus wanderings though picturesque untamed Canadian wilderness...“Hinterland” is probably the most mature and sophisticated recording of Stephen Bacchus..."

— Richard Gürtler reviewer (Nov 06, 2016, Bratislava, Slovakia)

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"Tomita comes to mind, and Vangelis. Nice arrangements/orchestration. Uplifting indeed."

"I received your beautiful HINTERLAND CD a little while back. I love what you're doing. Brings me back to some of the classic analog electronic works from the 70's, but with a modern twist. Tomita comes to mind, and Vangelis. Nice arrangements/orchestration. Uplifting indeed. "

— Tim Clément, composer

"These meditative and poignant compositions are truly reflective of nature..."

"I listened to Stephen Bacchus’s remarkable new album, HINTERLAND; MUSICAL SOJOURNS INTO THE WILDERNESS, with a great deal of pleasure and interest. These meditative and poignant compositions are truly reflective of nature, creating gentle moods, even as Bacchus’s unique musical voice continues to surprise and delight at every cadence. In these finely-wrought works, we find the logical 21st-century extension of the nature-evoking Symphonic Poems of Sibelius and Smetana. Bacchus, with each of these gems, paints a picture that sonically welcomes us to the hinterland’s doorstep. He then takes us on a mesmerizing journey into its heart."

— Scott M.

"...Hinterland may very well be your masterwork."

"...Among my favourite discs of this or any other year...This Hinterland may very well be your masterwork."

— Beck H.

"...it casts a spell on you - holds onto you but doesn’t over power..."

“...great CD - really enjoyed. Actually it gets inside of you - like you are not hearing it but it casts a spell on you - holds onto you but doesn’t over power...always moving into the next level. Well done!!!”

— Rob S.

...Pristine purity and clarity of the north woods emerges in the melodies and ambience of Hinterland.”

“Listening to Hinterland, I felt a joyful sense of renewal and hope. Stephen Bacchus has been inspired by timeless time, spent in the wild, and the pristine purity and clarity of the north woods emerges in the melodies and ambience of Hinterland.”

— Peter R.

"Very simply, this is one of the finest debuts that has come our way in years..."

With a thoroughly understated eloquence, Stephen Bacchus has seamlessly merged the current trends and expressions in the fields of world and space music, and in ever so ambitious ways as to achieve his stated goals of making music of the Earth’s prehistoric origins. Pangaea recreates ancient settings of beauty,. mystery and enchantment recapturing the lost innocence of a pristine Earth of eons gone by. 250 million years ago, all of the world’s continents were joined together into one supercontinent, Pangaea. The music of Bacchus and his musical friends draws on influences from all around the world including Japanese, Javanese, Middle Eastern, and East Indian traditions and is masterfully blended with relaxing and highly melodic New Age music. Lush synthesizers, environmental and wildlife sounds, and Western acoustic instruments are interwoven with an array of world instruments that include koto, shakuhachi gamelan, santur and scrod.

— Lloyd Barde, Heartbeats Catalog

"PANGAEA is one of the finest world fusion/new age CDs ever recorded..."

The CD brings together exotic string, percussion and wind instruments, eliciting the sounds and feel of East India, the Middle East, and the Far East. The synthesizers are used to color the songs with just enough ambience to make the music accessible to less advneturous listeners. The overall vibe of PANGAEA is relaxed and serene without being the least bit too "new agey." Listening to the CD is like actually visiting the former supercontinent (which is what Pangaea was before the land masses split apart millions of years ago). This image is helped along by the very discrete use of subtle environmental sounds, such as bird song, waves, etc.

Fans of Asian music, in particular, will find a lot here to enjoy. Flutes, koto, and other ethnic instruments flavor this CD while the melodic content is lush and romantic enough for mainstream listeners.

— Review by Cue-Records

"Pangaea" is indeed a timely masterwork of global harmonics."

When you look at the cover of Pangaea, you see an image that resembles planet Earth floating in space that in some uncanny way is different from the globe we are familiar with. The computer-generated graphics of Ian Mackay have given us an impression of Mother Earth as she was before the rebirth pains of volcanic eruptions and cataclysmic earthquakes that tore her old form asunder, and the long period of gestation characterized by continental drift that gave us the geography by which we have known her for as long as we can remember.

Indeed, the opening title track calls us to recognize once again the true nature of our home planet, as the mighty chords of celestial harp strings find voice in a stiring high soprano that sounds like the cry of an awakened Goddess. Xena Zwicker has studied long and hard to become a vocalist capable of delivering strong solos in classical works performed by Toronto's Tafelmusik Orchestra and Chamber Choir, among others. And here her voice serves almost like a summation of the Western system of musical thought, for "Pangaea", together with the album's final track, " The New Earth", serves as an introduction to, and reprise of, a core suite of tracks which are in a predominantly different musical scale. Western music has simpler rhythms and melodies and more complex harmonies that move from one tonal center to another through structures of tension and release.

But Eastern modal scales have less notes and are more complex rhythmically and melodically in a way that stays in one tonal centre and is more reflective and meditative in effect. The Western musical phrasing of "Pangaea" and "The New Earth" could almost be called "dramatic" or "romantic" in terms of its effect on us, but "Muslc For The Morning Of The World", the album's second track, speaks to us in an entirely new language that is somehow not overly foreign to our ears. How can this be? The domestic chattering of water birds gives rise to the tentative ringing of Javanese gamelan degung-saron peking and jenglong. Then a bamboo flute conveys our imagination to the threshold of cosmic remembrance as the gamelan sounds build to a polyrhythmic symphony punctuated by Tibetan dingshas.

Pangaea is a term used to describe the vast supercontinent that existed on Earth over 225 million years ago, before breaking up into the continents of the present day. Made up of Gondwanaland in the Southern Hemisphere and Laurasia in the Northern Hemisphere, Pangaea was surrounded by a vast superocean called Panthalassa. "On The Shores Of Panthalassa" describes this great unifying force with the lyric tones of koto and shakuhachi that emerge, then subside into the sound of ocean waves. "Laurasia" is then portrayed in a call and response of melodic lines through which loons, wolves, flutes, oboes, and pianos converse with one another. Shifting scenes of "Gondwanaland" are depicted from a broad chromatic palette highlighted by didgeridoo, shakuhachi, santoor, sarod and tabla, until a low rumbling in the bowels of the soundscape signifies the end of the suite.

"The New Earth" brings us back to a place where we have a chance to see our home planet in a new perspective, as many of the themes developed in the previous suite are reprised to coalesce into lush harmonies, that leave us with an afterglow like the remembrance of some profound, deeply cherished truth.

In many ways, Pangaea is like an invocation to meditation in the form of music. And, certainly, it is music which is a suitable background for the practice of yoga exercises preparatory to meditation. At the same time that it is relaxing, there is a wealth of subtle detail that rewards sensitive listening. Stephen Bacchus, the composer and producer graduated from York University in Toronto with a bachelor's degree in composition. He studied with master Indian drummer Trichy Sankaran and with composer James Tanny (a student of John Cage and Edgard Varese).

Using a variety of state-of-the-art synthesizers, he has written and produced two previous albums of ambient music as a result of his particular interest in Eastern modal scales and their inspirational relationship to his regular practice of yoga and meditation.

For "Pangaea", synthesizers were often used only to compose parts for exotic instruments, which were then played live by various virtuoso performers commissioned especially for the album. If music can serve as a non-verbal means to realize and communicate profound truths in these times of cataclysmic changes, "Pangaea" is indeed a timely masterwork of global harmonics. From the depths of silent meditation, through the slow motion discipline of yoga and Tai Chi exercises inspired by music such as this, comes the fortitude to withstand great shocks of change and the force to rebuild new worlds of hopeful endeavor that ultimately may withstand the final tests of time.

 — Review by Waynne Stephenson, Dimensions Magazine

"...Pangaea is truly a breath-taking experience of great beauty, soothing and inspirational."

An image of a lush earth globe entices the eye, and inside the cover, the ear is treated to an orchestral musical re-creation of the vibrantly living earth of aeons gone by. Richly enhanced synth melodies wander among waterfalls. In endless green woods and jungles, meeting creatures, birds, howling wolf, frogs and mystery movements in the dense growth. Pure shakuhachi breathes its siren song through the landscape. The organic natural sounds of gamelan, santur and sarod blend with nature sounds in a sense of whole well-being. Even the exotic koto is at home in this abundant world.

In Music for the Morning of the World, a thunderstorm comes and goes with a sense of rebirth to follow. Flute tones sing hope across a vibrant, sun painted landscape, and exotic oriental chimes dance in joy.

On the Shores of Panthalassa an immense oceanic pounding of the sea dominates, but merges with the pandemonium of surrounding life.

Gondwanaland seems like some green and earthy “otherworld” slowed to serenity, a chorus of strings sweetly singing with birds, a piano delicately walking through joined by horn, wordless chorus, and oriental silvery chimes.

A cover with vivid descriptions of life hundreds of millions of years ago transports one, along with the music, to an expansive feeling of awe about our origins, our incredible planet and our future possibilities. Altogether, Pangaea is truly a breath-taking experience of great beauty, soothing and inspirational.

— Heartsong Review

"Like a memorable vacation in the tropics, Pangaea leaves the listener relaxed, refreshed & inspired by its vision of shimmering beauty."

— Review By All Music

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"This was a great experience for me..."

I enjoyed the music and by closing my eyes I really felt that I could catch glimpses of the Permian and Triassic periods with some earlier ones as well."

— Reviews On Amazon

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"...Some of the most beautiful music ever created."

"I have been listening to your album Pangaea for the last 20 years, and in my opinion it is some of the finest music ever produced by man.
I am an emergency medicine doctor, and life can become particularly chaotic at times....on those days... I will listen to Pangaea and drift away.
Your work is very much appreciated; it is in fact some of the most beautiful music ever created."

— Adam F.

"Bacchus ranks among the best of New Age composers because he is a composer, not a musically undistinguished soundscape artist."

Forget those scary monster images of the afterlife, Tibetan style. Stephen Bacchus’ musical take on the forbidding realms of the Bardo Thodol (The Tibetan Book of the Dead) is mostly lush, tender, and postcard pretty. Many of these eleven tracks would be sweet enough for the ears of a newreborn baby.

There is much of East meets West here, starting with Bacehus’s impressive world orchestra, wherein English horns blow side by side with shakuhachi flutes, kotos,and sonorous synthesizers. The Canadian composer’s sentimental melodies often seem Oriental one moment, Western the next. It’s a tantalizing multicultural morph.

Bacchus ranks among the best of New Age composers because he is a composer, not a musically undistinguished soundscape artist. Nowhere is this more evident than in “Impermanence/Bardo II: The Wind of Karma.” The main musical stream of this seven-minute composition is a light, even joyous koto-driven march. But tugging alongside it is a more Western, sadness-tinged countertheme, movingly played by a swelling, vibrato string ensemble. Emphasizing the tension, a hollow bass and a boxy synthesizer mark the implacable march of time with cold, staccato jabs. Perhaps it’s this “wind of karma” and the laws of impermanence which dictate that good and bad, happy and sad, should forever dog each other’s steps. Bacchus has captured this bittersweet reality in this exquisite piece of new music.

— Review by Syd Baumel, The Aquarian

"The European and Asian instruments generate mystical serenity and passages of great beauty."

Inspired by the Tibetan Book Of The Dead and other writings on past lives, this disc offers 11 Bacchus-written tracks on which the leader conducts a six~strong wind section and nine strings while also handling keyboards,percussion and electronics.

The European and Asian instruments generate mystical serenity and passages of great beauty.

— Review by Geoff Chapman, The Toronto Star

"... This music, beautiful as a magical dream..."

peaceful as a surface of a calm sea, taking us far away, to the other worlds, and at the same time carrying to us voices of distant ancestors...

— Review by Serge Kozlovsky

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"...Has a relaxed, sunny mood and is imbued in the spirit of discovery and adventure."

Canadian ambient composer Stephen Bacchus is one of the leading figures of the genre. With a career spanning 4 decades, dozens of releases, both solo and in collaboration, he has gained a faithful following among lovers of ambient music.

The Keep is a retrospective of Stephen's work from 1979 to 2009, featuring unreleased tracks from various epochs. The collection opens with "Arrival", a three-minute piece recorded in 1997. The track is surprisingly rhythmic and melodic, has a relaxed, sunny mood and is imbued in the spirit of discovery and adventure.

— Review by Artemi Pugachov

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"...Ambient Origins...is the remedy one needs to achieve relaxed enlightenment."

When one speaks of sound foraging and pioneerism, the name Stephen Bacchus may come to mind, along with that other guy, you know the one who coined the term ambient, Brian Eno. Ambient Origins is a beautifully orchestrated sound arrangement that is a free-flowing as the quietest river or as gentle as a warm summer breeze. Collected from many early workings, Bacchus takes the listener on an intersteller trek through nebula's, black holes and distant galaxies. Tracks like 'Winter's Way', 'A Separate Moment' and 'The Form of the World' reveal the inner workings of a mind not confined to the physical limits of the cranium.
Without a doubt, this album is an amazing tribute to the direction and framework of the ambient genre. Whether trying to ease the body or the mind, Ambient Origins Collected Works is the remedy one needs to achieve relaxed enlightenment.

— Reviewed by Digital Artifact Magazine

"...As a chill-out soundtrack, it works in all the right places."

Canada's Stephen Bacchus began making ambient music when he was 14, Dubbing found sounds between two reel~to-reel tape machines. In the late 70s, he began composing with a VCS3 and has continued to explore the outer reaches of the genre ever since. "Ambient Origins" is a collection of his early works, between 1983 to 1987, focusing on gently drifting atmospherics and the kind of elegantly chilled tracks which reject beats in favor of evolving textures. Tracks like "Winter's Way" or "A Separate Moment" quietly crafted affairs which are seductive and soothing. Overall, it's an album that isn't about to change the face of music as we know it but, as a chill-out soundtrack, it works in all the right places.

— Review by Senna Redmond Future Music Magazine

"This is somber, serious music; if it is used for the mood-setting purpose that ambient is supposed to fulfill..."

Bacchus' sonorities are consistently austere and restrained.
This is somber, serious music; if it is used for the mood-setting
purpose that ambient is supposed to fulfill, you will find yourself
wondering why your room is so cold and dark.

— Review by EER-Music

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"I think your kind of music/sound is the best thing I've yet hit for encouraging meditation."

I have a Walkman-type CD player with earphones, so that when I played your music, it was right in my head. Deep in my head. It was an astonishing experience. I shut my eyes and let it happen, and it was though I could see the sound. Truly. In fact, when I remember "Mystic Sojourn", I both see and hear it. I think your kind of music/sound is the best thing I've yet hit for encouraging meditation. My brain is always too busy, busy, busy, to make emptying it easy. Easy! It's next to impossible. But plug myself into your music and the sound sort of occupies my mind. Or fills it. There's no space left for the trivial or troubling thoughts that are usually lurching around in my head. Thank you for that. Congratulations on your achievement!

— Review by Budge Wilson (Listener/fan)

"...An amazing accomplishment...Producer Grant Mackay has outdone himself admirably with this recording."

"...What makes this CD so appealing to frog fanciers and naturalists in general, are the calls that are not mentioned on the CD jacket, which only trained ears can pick up. It seems that every time I play this CD, I hear something additional that has emerged vocally to add atmosphere to the CD. So, it isn’t just the stars on stage that give this CD its appeal, but rather, the subtle sounds of the other background actors and extras that mold a complete framework....An amazing accomplishment, to capture all these background sounds of nature while not losing focus on the stars of the show. Producer Grant Mackay has outdone himself admirably with this recording.

— Review by Terry Sprague, www.naturestuff.net

Reviews by Piero Scaruffi

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