Chronology
Like mystical music emerging from a deeply satisfying dreamstate, Chronotope Project’s Chronology, both soothes and electrifies the inward senses, enriching the life experience.This 6th release on Spotted Peccary Music by Jeffrey Ericson Allen aka Chronotope Project, illuminates his favorite musical endeavors of the past reforging them compositionally and sonically, foretelling a future that introduces new works and inspiring directions.
As Chronology unfolds, Chronotope Project’s meticulous and narrative approach to song writing becomes even more apparent and vibrant in fresh light.The opening track “Unwinding the Dream” expands way beyond its original context and textures; classical flourishes ebb and flow around an anchoring sequencer ostinato: recollected fragments of lives anchored by time.As it reaches its ascendant climax, mysterious voices pull the listener back to where the piece began.“Ghost in the Machine,” unreleased from the Gnosis sessions, explores the Cartesian duality of mind and matter through the ethereal croon of the Haken Continuum (mind/ghost) and a 7/8 Euclidean rhythm (matter/ machine). Originally recorded as “Awakening,” in 1985,“Arctic Spring” is as spare and majestic as the landscape the title would suggest, where a cello curves like a cool wind through glacial, expansive guitar chords and electronic subtleties. Orchestral closer “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” soars to rapturous heights, strings swept aloft by trumpets and timpani. Originally conceived as a ballet, the track follows a Muse as she dances around amassed humanity, brightening their lives with her effervescent song. A violin sings her part in the drama, pirouetting around strings and woodwinds.
“Every composer hopes that each new work advances beyond the last,” reflects Allen, and Chronology is a shining example of this. Past work from previous albums, entirely re-envisioned, validate this evolution of Chronotope Project’s musical expression, coalescing into an experience both magically exciting and fresh.
Drawn from composer's thirty years of study and practice of Zen, LOTUS RISING focuses on the poignant image of the lotus flower – which ascends from the murky depths of desire and attachment to bloom in the light of realization – as Buddhism’s most recognizable symbol.
OVUM is a concept album that poetically reflects on the nature of beginnings, seeds, and primordial states of being. As an archetypal symbol in art, literature and mythology, the Ovum represents pure potentiality and possibility, the indwelling and self-organizing élan vital that gives rise to life in its manifold forms.
Informed by the language of archetypes and potent literary symbols,PASSAGES extends the composer's evolving style of musical storytelling. Its forms and phrases are not linear, but spiral and labyrinthine maps to unconscious regions. Rich sonorities combine atmospherics, drones, pads and solo synths, tabla and frame drum, bells and throat singing, pulsing synthesizer sequences, breathy textures, lapping water, and the expressive, protagonistic voice of the Haken Continuum Fingerboard, a core element of Chronotope Project's signature sound.
Cinematic in scope and depth, the majestic DAWN TREADER is Chronotope Project’s first full length release on the Spotted Peccary label. Jeffrey Ericson Allen skillfully balances the compositions between mystical, ambient dreamscapes and organic, emotional melodic statements. The soundscapes – drawn from a variety of sources spanning ambient electronic, Western classical, and traditional world music – are textural, compelling, evocative, and meaningful. This release has been aired on Hearts of Space, Echoes, Galactic Travels, Star's End and Night Tides.
SOLAR WINDS is the debut album of Chronotope Project, released in 2012.
Bert Strolenberg, of Sonic Immersion described it as "a richly colored kaleidoscope of immersive textures along atmospheric, soft-breathing tapestries, all journeying gently and smoothly across the great beyond out there..."
CHRYSALIS combines sensuous textures, long melodic lines, subtle pulsating rhythms and rich atmospheric ambiences. The resulting soundcapes are rich in feeling and full of fascinating detail and nuance, worthy of many listenings. Featured on Hearts of Space.
This luscious three-track album continues and extends the style cultivated in previous releases, layering scintillating electronic sequences, lush atmospheric pads, gently percolating percussion and long lyrical melodic lines into an integral whole. The themes of all three tracks marry seminal concepts in physics, cosmology and spirituality. Featured on "Hearts of Space"
Each piece on EVENT HORIZON has a strong sense of gravimetric pull toward a central motif: entering the soundfield, evolving with the structure, and dissolving back into silence. Elements: rich earthy soundbeds, watery melodies, scintillating percussive inflections, and etheric veils that envelop the texture. Featured on Hearts of Space.