Arctic Winds
Arctic Winds
Oakland, CA
| Payne: Arctic WindsiTunes Artist's PageiTunes Album Page | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Song Title | Time | Price | |
| 1. | Fluid Dynamics | 11:47 | |
| 2. | Distant Thunder | 10:48 | |
| 3. | Apparent Horizon | 11:51 | |
| 4. | Arctic Winds | 09:51 | $0.99 |
| 5. | System Test (Fire and Ice) | 11:20 | |
| 6. | Glassy Metals | 10:00 | |
| 7. | Fizz | 10:18 | |
Maggi Payne’s soundworlds invite the listeners to enter the sound and be carried with it, experiencing it from the inside out in intimate detail. The sounds are almost tactile and visible.
The music is based on location recordings, with each sound carefully selected for its potential—its slow unfolding revealing delicate intricacies—and its inherent spatialization architecting and sculpting the aural space where multiple perspectives and trajectories coexist. You need good speakers, some space in your schedule, and a mind-body continuum willing to resonate with Payne’s electroacoustic journey, but then it will take you to places that other music can’t reach.
From the sounds of dry ice, space transmissions, BART trains, and poor plumbing she immerses the listener in a world strangely unfamiliar. Maggi Payne is a composer, video artist, recording engineer, photographer, and flutist and is Co-Director of the Center for Contemporary Music and a faculty member at Mills College, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Magical
- Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times
...all share in the sheer sensual possibilities of sound.
- Alan Ulrich, San Francisco Chronicle
Payne seems interested in the surreal, the inward, the micro and the accumulation of physical and psychological tension. The compositions and sounds have incredible depth, a profound logic and, though not ‘pretty,’ an irresistable beauty.
- Tom Grove, Option
Her work is open in spirit, meditative in tone, deeply involved with exploring the qualities of pure sound over abstract structure.
- Robert Carl, Fanfare
"Payne likes small whistling and clinking sounds, which she stretches, blurs and opacifies to paint fuzzy sonic landscapes that can be rich or stark, depending on the piece. Interesting."
- François Couture, Monsieur Delire
NEW MUSIC BOX
"The works on this CD tend to fade in as thick bands of sound out of which rise more pared down waves of buzzing and crunching that reveal the inner details of those “smooth” broad washes. The aural sensation is as if one could see the individual atoms that make up a porcelain cup or a wooden table … Her sounds scamper, clap, and swish around the sound field as if they are alive. [G]et your best pair of headphones and/or speakers ready, open your ears wide, and immerse yourself in these sonic depths." [FULL ARTICLE]
—Alexandra Gardner
CHAIN D.L.K.
"For those who have always been fascinated in the infinite possibilities and varieties of sound manipulation, 'Arctic Winds' should prove a revelatory experience … For fans of minimal ambient and isolationist soundscapes, this is almost as good as it gets, and that's quite good." [FULL ARTICLE]
—Steve Mecca
ARCANE CANDY
"Wake up, Maggi, I think I’ve got something to say to you. Your new Innova CD is so good, it really makes me drool. I know it keeps me amused. I’ve worn it out, now it’s used. But, Maggi, I couldn’t help listening once more. You led me away from home, through Arctic Winds, where I’m alone. You stole my ears, and that’s what feels so good." [FULL ARTICLE]
