Product Description
2. As the night sighs 15:33
3. Imaginative stars 16:45
4. Eternal chronology 08:03
5. Quiet revelation 16:18
For fans of: Alio Die, Popul Vuh, Brian Eno, Stars of the Lid
Genres: Meditative, relaxation, ambient
Italian sound-artist Aglaia joins Projekt Records for an enduring album of contemplative, meditative electronic music extending into space with a warm breath. Gino Fioravanti’s Aglaia has released 66 solo and collaborative releases over the past 20 years; his work with compatriot Alio Die brought him to Projekt’s attention. Perennial source is an engaging collection of introspective stringed-instrument textures and electronic drifts which align with Projekt’s growing selection of releases from Italian ambient composers.
“Music actually becomes meditative,” Gino reflects, “when the ancient codes of inner wisdom are inserted into the work. It doesn’t have to be intrusive, not too emotional, not too dark, not too varied but not excessively monotonous. Not too interesting either! This is a very special album for me because, unlike all my others, I decided to include elements that are very close to the tonalities and tactilities of stringed acoustic instruments. I included some melodic themes for the first time — barely mentioned but constantly present.”
He continues, “That said, meditative music can only really be described by subtraction. I was able to realize an ancient teaching: there are two aspects of Brahman, the corporeal and the incorporeal, the mortal and the immortal. Music composed of two parts — definite and indefinite. I usually use few overdubs when recording, but this time I worked in multitrack to create a multidimensional zone with perspectives. Vanishing points. Focal elements. I played, as the ancient tantric and mantric traditions suggest, listening to the end of each note, the importance of hearing and following what remains at the end of the sound. In playing I gave importance to the moment when it ends. I remained listening within the space between notes. It was from that point forward that I decided when the next sound would emerge. In this way everything flows naturally and necessarily from its original source: silence.”
“The disappearance of the syllable OM is like the reverberation of a gong that fades into silence. Whoever reaches the level of Brahman awareness realizes the sound of OM in transcendental silence.“ – Amritabindu Upanishad
Perennial source is a marvelous album of meditative, relaxing atmospheres. An album with subtlety, mystery, depth, warmth, and a timeless organic consistency.
Artist Bio
Gino says, “When I was a teenager I composed more dramatic and romantic music, but over time I chose an aerial music — that is music reminiscent of the motions of the air. Light without heavy emotions. Nothing that captures. These are vibrations that transport consciousness into a free space. Music of the air. Now in my early 60s, I have been teaching yoga and meditation and body-oriented techniques for 35 years. When creating, I want my music to be warm electronics with a warm breath that extends into space. A music that does not offer scenarios but perspectives.”
Reviews Editor –
From Exposé
Aglaia began around 1998 as the collaborative project of Italian ambient composers Gino Fioravanti and Gianluigi Toso, first coming to this writer’s attention via their 2011 collaboration with Alio Die, Vayu Rouah. Shortly after that album’s release, Toso left the duo, leaving Aglaia as the solo project of Fioravanti. Aglaia now has over 50 albums to its credit, most of which are released on Alio Die’s Hic Sunt Leones label, although the latest Perennial Source was released by Projekt. The five long tracks represent 72 minutes of the finest meditative and immersive cosmic soundworlds that a listener is likely to find anywhere, and much like the works of Alio Die, these cuts are imbued with the warmth, sublety, and mysterious atmospherics that a listener can easily get lost within.
These pieces capture elements of the natural world via heavily processed stringed instruments (harp, zither, etc. I believe), electronics, and percussives (soft cymbals, bells, and more), as well as some found sounds, seemingly bringing the listener into a world of gentle winds and breezes, waves of emotion, soft starlight and deep immersion, shimmering with light, darkness, and color, as far as the imagination can hear. This is one of those cases where it’s of far less important to describe the soundworld in physical terms, and more as a vehicle that alters the listeners consciousness, providing a blend of beauty and imagery that have no bounds. Close your eyes and allow the sound to engulf you as you travel between the poles of perception on an eternal inward journey. -Peter Thelen
Reviews Editor –
From Rockerilla:
After more than forty albums on the Hic Sunt Leones by Stefano Musso, alias Alio Die, Aglaia lands on Projekt with an introspective space-ambient album, Perennial Source. The novelty compared to the past, confirmed by the words of Gino Fioravanti himself, who has been alone in the saddle for ten years to the Aglaia project, is the most marked use of melodic elements, which resonate above, inside and below the orchestrated electronic carpets in the five long tracks of the album (the duration of the CD disc exceeds seventy minutes). Meditative music that wants to short-circuit the infinite space outside and inside us. TO LISTEN TO ALL NIGHT. -Robert Mandolini
Original Italian:
Dopo più di quaranta album sulla Hic Sunt Leones di Stefano Musso, alias Alio Die, Aglaia approda su Projekt con un album di space- ambient introspettivo, Perennial Source. La novità rispetto al passato, confermata dalle parole dello stesso Gino Fioravanti, da dieci anni rimasto da solo in sella al progetto Aglaia, è l’utilizzo più marcato di elementi melodici, che risuonano sopra, dentro e sotto i tappeti elettronici orchestrati nelle cinque lunghe tracce dell’album (la durata del cd disco supera i settanta minuti di durata). Musica meditativa che vuole cortocircuitare lo spazio infinito fuori e dentro di noi. DA ASCOLTARE TUTTA LA NOTTE. -Roberto Mandolini
Reviews Editor –
From Ambient Blog
Aglaia originally started as a duo, but after Gianluigi Toso left in 2003, it continued as a solo project of Gino Fioravanti. Fioravanti has released more than 66 solo and collaborative releases until now. On Perennial Source, he decided ‘to include elements that are very close to the tonalities and tactilities of stringed acoustic instruments. I included some melodic themes for the first time — barely mentioned but constantly present.’
‘I played listening to the end of each note, the importance of hearing and following what remains at the end of the sound. In playing I gave importance to the moment when it ends. I remained listening within the space between notes. It was from that point forward that I decided when the next sound would emerge. In this way everything flows naturally and necessarily from its original source: silence.’
Calm, relaxing, and meditative sounds that the Projekt label generously made available on a name-your-price basis.
reviews editor –
Fan comments from Bandcamp…
Daniel Ruben writes: Beautiful, enchanting music that melts away all stress and anxiety. The perfect prescription. Favorite track: As the night sighs.
The Vast Wilds writes: This music is deeply calm and mesmerising. The gentle stringed instruments refract into coloured layers of electronic sounds, creating shimmers not unlike pools of sound. It’s not ironic then that the first track also happens to be called Fountains and Springs. Wow. It’s serene and dreamlike. I can see why Alio Die and Aglaia work together so beautifully. Favorite track: Fountains and springs.
Dave Aftandilian writes: I love the mix of vast, interstellar open atmospheres with more intimate grounding organic textures on this release. I also am a sucker for gently percussive hammer dulcimer, and many of the string sounds Aglaia incorporates on this release remind me of that instrument. As I listen I feel that I am floating, buoyed by nothingness, yet also deeply conscious of the warm embrace of life enfolding me.