September 09/25/23, 2023
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, until 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” embraces 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.
The final track is a whole different style of music. Suddenly we are in the movies, orchestral strings rich and full, sudden cinematic velocity, is that a gigantic cathedral organ, with shimmering bowed strings? "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (7:38) delivers a romantic tone, strings and rich orchestral arrangements. Each of these tracks speak of insight derived from triumph over the heaviest of burdens, and perhaps the notion of a singularity of one event contradicting the possibilities of eternal recurrences. Music that contains an acceptance of the remaining tragedy of wisdom. Each track is full of glorious unique characteristics, as if different spirits wrote parts of each of them. There is only one guy doing all this, yet it sounds like there could be a thousand gifted expert musicians and composers employed there, the sound is very powerful and detailed, each track shows perfection. Just listen.
“Chronotope” refers to the essential unity of space and time, a concept with numerous expressions in literature, physics and the arts. Jeffrey Ericson Allen is an Oregonian composer, cellist and electronic music recording artist with an extensive and eclectic background in classical, new acoustic and theatrical music production. CHRONOLOGY is music that comes from timeless attention and awareness, acknowledging thousands of years of human experience, rendered by electronic synthesizers, sometimes with a Haken Continuum Fingerboard, joined at different times by the cello, the shakuhachi flute, the (low) Irish whistle, the strings of a koto, the rare ethereal delight of wordless vocals, and the infinitely entrancing realms of hand percussion.
“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. Chronology, the sixth release by Chronotope Project on Spotted Peccary Music, is alternately dreamy and mystical, orchestral and complex. Ten generous tracks both soothe and electrify the inner senses, creating an enriching life experience. On this album, 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.
Earlier Chronotope Project releases on Spotted Peccary Music include Gnosis (2021, SPM-2807), Lotus Rising (2018, SPM-2806), Ovum (2017, SPM-2805), Passages (2016, SPM-2804), and Dawn Treader (2015, SPM-2803). His contemplative art music has been featured on distinguished and nationally-syndicated radio programs including Hearts of Space, Echoes, Journeyscapes, Galactic Travels, Star's End, and Ultima Thule. Chronotope Project represents his most recent expression as a creator of contemporary progressive ambient music. "Chronotope" refers to the essential unity of space and time, a concept with numerous expressions in literature, physics and the arts. The music of Chronotope Project explores this time-space confluence and invites the listener on ambient journeys of deep texture infused with gentle pulsing rhythms and soulful melodies.
The final track is a whole different style of music. Suddenly we are in the movies, orchestral strings rich and full, sudden cinematic velocity, is that a gigantic cathedral organ, with shimmering bowed strings? "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (7:38) delivers a romantic tone, strings and rich orchestral arrangements. Each of these tracks speak of insight derived from triumph over the heaviest of burdens, and perhaps the notion of a singularity of one event contradicting the possibilities of eternal recurrences. Music that contains an acceptance of the remaining tragedy of wisdom. Each track is full of glorious unique characteristics, as if different spirits wrote parts of each of them. There is only one guy doing all this, yet it sounds like there could be a thousand gifted expert musicians and composers employed there, the sound is very powerful and detailed, each track shows perfection. Just listen.
“Chronotope” refers to the essential unity of space and time, a concept with numerous expressions in literature, physics and the arts. Jeffrey Ericson Allen is an Oregonian composer, cellist and electronic music recording artist with an extensive and eclectic background in classical, new acoustic and theatrical music production. CHRONOLOGY is music that comes from timeless attention and awareness, acknowledging thousands of years of human experience, rendered by electronic synthesizers, sometimes with a Haken Continuum Fingerboard, joined at different times by the cello, the shakuhachi flute, the (low) Irish whistle, the strings of a koto, the rare ethereal delight of wordless vocals, and the infinitely entrancing realms of hand percussion.
“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. Chronology, the sixth release by Chronotope Project on Spotted Peccary Music, is alternately dreamy and mystical, orchestral and complex. Ten generous tracks both soothe and electrify the inner senses, creating an enriching life experience. On this album, 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.
Earlier Chronotope Project releases on Spotted Peccary Music include Gnosis (2021, SPM-2807), Lotus Rising (2018, SPM-2806), Ovum (2017, SPM-2805), Passages (2016, SPM-2804), and Dawn Treader (2015, SPM-2803). His contemplative art music has been featured on distinguished and nationally-syndicated radio programs including Hearts of Space, Echoes, Journeyscapes, Galactic Travels, Star's End, and Ultima Thule. Chronotope Project represents his most recent expression as a creator of contemporary progressive ambient music. "Chronotope" refers to the essential unity of space and time, a concept with numerous expressions in literature, physics and the arts. The music of Chronotope Project explores this time-space confluence and invites the listener on ambient journeys of deep texture infused with gentle pulsing rhythms and soulful melodies.
