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Jon Durant

and Stephan Thelen - Crossings

Review by Gary Hill

This is quite an intriguing set. While from a "describing each track" point of view, some of this sound pretty similar, it never really feels redundant. This lands on the low-energy side, but is compelling and powerful instrumental prog. I like it quite a bit.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2021  Volume 4. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2021.

Track by Track Review
Vol de Nuit
This enters ambient and gradually builds with a dramatic mellow musical concept and texture. As the guitar creates waves of sound over the sonic tapestry further down the road, it makes me think of early Pink Floyd to some degree.
Sunrise
There is a circulation kind of vibe to this that makes me think of both modern King Crimson and California Guitar Trio. There is a lot of drama and some real mystery to the song. It's an intriguing piece of music.  As it gets louder I can again make out some early Floyd, but Mike Oldfield is a valid reference point, too.
Mise en Abyme
The trippy, slowly growing groove on this song has all the familiar reference points. Well, mostly early Floyd and Mike Oldfield. Some of the guitar work really does feel a lot like David Gilmour.
Crossings

The title track almost feels like a variant or continuation of the previous number in some ways. I love the mellow textures of the piece. It's one of the most mysterious and effective cuts here. It gets more powered up further down the road as it continues.

Fractal 5.7
While this largely unchanged from a lot of the rest in terms of style and texture, it has its own flavors, too. It's another potent piece of ambient prog.
Dream Sequence
There is a suitably dream-like quality to the opening of this cut. The track builds outward gradually from that origin point. There is some killer spacey music in the mix on this number.
Infinity
The opening of this really feels like something from a science fiction soundtrack. There really is a sense of space and the infinite on this piece of music.
  
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