Alive Inside the Tank Mysteries of the Night
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley August 19, 2018
Artist – James marienthal and Sarah Gibbons
Facebook:
YouTube:
Instagram:
X formally Twitter:
Leap straight into this amazing, sensual, meditative collection of unique music because if there is a pause at all, an experience to be treasured will no longer be there in that moment in time, as this melodic resonance is completely unique each time it is absorbed.
On Mysteries Of The Night, the sound achieved by James Marienthal on flutes and Sarah Gibbons on percussions, creates a vibration that has been referred to as a ‘compelling, swirling sea of sound’, pure in the moment, unable to be reconstructed again, ephemeral in its beauty.
Created inside a unique chamber known as ‘The Tank’, an old disused water tank left over from the Rio Grande Railroad days, the tank stood idle, rusting away, the haunt of local children who enjoyed the resonance of the sounds they created inside the tank.
Discovered by musician and sound artist Bruce Odland in 1976, he was so impressed by the wonderful sounds he immediately invited other musicians to join with him, one being Mark McCoin.
McCoin studied how the tank, a long cylindrical upright tank made from steel plates, culminating in a pointed top, manipulated the sounds, changing frequencies along with the outside temperatures and weather conditions. His conclusion, ‘It bends sounds to its own parameters’, something that for many musicians seeking a specific, unique energy for their recordings, find irresistible.
In the 14 tracks that make up this seriously beautiful collection, where simplicity in the creation of notes has produced an otherworldly effect, the immense value for healing, energy work, and deep meditation is unlimited. The music is free flowing, moving effortlessly across many genres, experimental in many respects and yet, somehow, strangely right.
The vocals on My Love Is Here and Coconino are eerie, ethereal, whereas the pure notes of the flute on several of the other tracks offer a fuller, richer meditation.
This is music that may not hold instant appeal, but is music that needs and should be listened too in a quiet, peaceful place in order to benefit from the incredible resonance and vibrations created. Take a little time out of your day and do your soul a favour; indulge in music which is healing and wonderfully sublime.
In the words of James Marienthal, ‘The Tank is awe-inspiring and otherworldly, but also warm and comforting, and it imbues those qualities into the music created there’.
I would concur.