STAR'S END Update 09.10.23
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Star'sEndRadio
Sep 8, 2023, 3:51:22 AM9/8/23
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To understand the life and work of Mark Shreeve you must acknowledge the fact that a person can be utterly transformed by listening to the right piece of music. Falling silent in wonder, hearing "Phaerda" (by Tangerine Dream) may have been the first time in any of our lives any of us had beheld true inspiration. Finding himself forever changed after passing through the transmission carrying these unearthly waves, Shreeve channeled an innovative current of thought to convey the storm of feelings from his mind to ours in an epic sonic adventure which transpired over a lifetime of creative integrity.
Shreeve's realizations are sometimes described nebulously as "spacey" or "cosmic", but for those that understand the specific language in which innovators speak the message is completely clear. Providing uncanny voyages across a decades-long career he embraced the roles of performer, composer, thinker and showman through projects meant to celebrate the human spirit in a defiant message of hope. From the headlong momentum of Redshift (his evolving project with brother Julian) to the fine spun intensity of Arc (the duo with Ian Boddy) and his earlier solo endeavors Shreeve utilized the power plant of the mind to conjure a world, not of the future, but rather of the Now, our Now - the Now known only to the lovers, makers and dreamers of Spacemusic.
BERLIN - A TRIBUTE FOR MARK SHREEVE (157'25") presents 16 tracks, three featuring Shreeve himself, with the remaining works by friends respecting and commemorating the life and work of this beloved talent. The project was given the title Berlin to recognize the "Berlin-School" - that sub-category of the "Krautrock" movement of which Shreeve was so passionate. "Quenzer" by Redshift and the solo piece "The Battle Files" will seem familiar to the initiated for their heavy sequencer agility and coordination, while "Fractured" by Arc plays right from the stage of The Gatherings Concert Series in the transient magic of live performance. While "To the Bitter End" by ['ramp], "You Trailblazer" by Oscillator_three, "Memory Lane" by Ian Boddy and "In Transience" by Jason Martz may come from different corners of EM, each individual has made a special connection with Shreeve through collaboration. Ashok Prema had the good sense to release the early Redshift albums, and his "Sailing" flows easily along the quiet backroads of contemporary EM. On this same byway, but in a much faster lane are also "Elemmire" by David Wright, "A Call to Arms" by Wavestar II, "Where Are They Now?" by Ron Boots, with AirSculpture splitting the difference through "On Writing", their dual zone delivery of motorik mechanics into sequencer intensity - which then aligns well with the darker tones and cerebral mysteries of "Bombshell" by The 5th Manikin, "Anenome" (remix) by Radio Massacre International, "Inerinnerung" by Ode and "Nightshift" by Chuck van Zyl (the full-blooded Redshift homage by the author of this review).
Arcing from his initial impulses, Mark Shreeve has left us with a wealth of music to which we will return over and over - for its impact, but also for its craft. Remote and forbidding, then shining brilliantly from above, no matter how far out we travel, along whatever unique contour, he always piloted us towards a resolution - and a soft and certain landing. As breathtaking passages of monumental proportions beckon us to enter, Shreeve delivers an overall sound that is spectacularly mobile across all registers of his instruments. Those close to musicians taken by this most innovative of music will know that their homeland is somewhere else. Known only in visions of a higher, remarkable realm just out of reach, it calls to us - to imagine the possibilities of what our world could be.
Please tune in to the 09.10.23 broadcast of STAR'S END Ambient Radio for music from the anthology BERLIN - A TRIBUTE FOR MARK SHREEVE
For more on BERLIN - A TRIBUTE FOR MARK SHREEVE, please access: http://markshreeve-tributealbum.bandcamp.com
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STAR'S END broadcasts every Saturday Night/Sunday Morning from 1:00AM til 6:00AM (EDST) on:
88.5fm WXPN Philadelphia, PA
88.1fm WXPH Harrisburg, PA
90.5fm WKHS Worton/Baltimore, MD
91.9fm WXPJ Hackettstown, NJ
104.9fm Allentown, PA
and live on the world wide web at: http://www.xpn.org
-
Chuck van Zyl
Host of STAR'S END Ambient Radio
http://www.starsend.org
Shreeve's realizations are sometimes described nebulously as "spacey" or "cosmic", but for those that understand the specific language in which innovators speak the message is completely clear. Providing uncanny voyages across a decades-long career he embraced the roles of performer, composer, thinker and showman through projects meant to celebrate the human spirit in a defiant message of hope. From the headlong momentum of Redshift (his evolving project with brother Julian) to the fine spun intensity of Arc (the duo with Ian Boddy) and his earlier solo endeavors Shreeve utilized the power plant of the mind to conjure a world, not of the future, but rather of the Now, our Now - the Now known only to the lovers, makers and dreamers of Spacemusic.
BERLIN - A TRIBUTE FOR MARK SHREEVE (157'25") presents 16 tracks, three featuring Shreeve himself, with the remaining works by friends respecting and commemorating the life and work of this beloved talent. The project was given the title Berlin to recognize the "Berlin-School" - that sub-category of the "Krautrock" movement of which Shreeve was so passionate. "Quenzer" by Redshift and the solo piece "The Battle Files" will seem familiar to the initiated for their heavy sequencer agility and coordination, while "Fractured" by Arc plays right from the stage of The Gatherings Concert Series in the transient magic of live performance. While "To the Bitter End" by ['ramp], "You Trailblazer" by Oscillator_three, "Memory Lane" by Ian Boddy and "In Transience" by Jason Martz may come from different corners of EM, each individual has made a special connection with Shreeve through collaboration. Ashok Prema had the good sense to release the early Redshift albums, and his "Sailing" flows easily along the quiet backroads of contemporary EM. On this same byway, but in a much faster lane are also "Elemmire" by David Wright, "A Call to Arms" by Wavestar II, "Where Are They Now?" by Ron Boots, with AirSculpture splitting the difference through "On Writing", their dual zone delivery of motorik mechanics into sequencer intensity - which then aligns well with the darker tones and cerebral mysteries of "Bombshell" by The 5th Manikin, "Anenome" (remix) by Radio Massacre International, "Inerinnerung" by Ode and "Nightshift" by Chuck van Zyl (the full-blooded Redshift homage by the author of this review).
Arcing from his initial impulses, Mark Shreeve has left us with a wealth of music to which we will return over and over - for its impact, but also for its craft. Remote and forbidding, then shining brilliantly from above, no matter how far out we travel, along whatever unique contour, he always piloted us towards a resolution - and a soft and certain landing. As breathtaking passages of monumental proportions beckon us to enter, Shreeve delivers an overall sound that is spectacularly mobile across all registers of his instruments. Those close to musicians taken by this most innovative of music will know that their homeland is somewhere else. Known only in visions of a higher, remarkable realm just out of reach, it calls to us - to imagine the possibilities of what our world could be.
Please tune in to the 09.10.23 broadcast of STAR'S END Ambient Radio for music from the anthology BERLIN - A TRIBUTE FOR MARK SHREEVE
For more on BERLIN - A TRIBUTE FOR MARK SHREEVE, please access: http://markshreeve-tributealbum.bandcamp.com
-
STAR'S END broadcasts every Saturday Night/Sunday Morning from 1:00AM til 6:00AM (EDST) on:
88.5fm WXPN Philadelphia, PA
88.1fm WXPH Harrisburg, PA
90.5fm WKHS Worton/Baltimore, MD
91.9fm WXPJ Hackettstown, NJ
104.9fm Allentown, PA
and live on the world wide web at: http://www.xpn.org
-
Chuck van Zyl
Host of STAR'S END Ambient Radio
http://www.starsend.org
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