Listening to ‘Lunar Phase’ it’s easy to imaginatively encounter the placid industry or tranquil momentum of urban existence in a metropolis like Tokyo: grandparents meditating beside archaic shrines in ornamental gardens, families eating together, parents talking to distant children on videophones, cousins making illicit rendezvous in rented plexiglass love motels, fathers drifting to sleep while shuttling home on commuter trains. Each of the seven sections is alive with a beguiling luxury of curative necessity, morphing and fluctuating an organic collision into refined synthesis. When ambient becomes too ambiguous a term, ‘Lunar Phase’ still defines space as it fills it. The material collated on this third release from Heavenly Music Corporation was composed specifically for St. Giga in Japan, a satellite broadcast radio station transmitting ethereal audio harmony 24 hours a day. What makes this station otherworldly is that it’s programming is motivated by tidal movements; the aquatic ebbs and flows of each day synchronize to the activity and intensity of the music broadcast. The function and physicality of sound has always intrigued producer Kim Cascone. He named his son (Cage) and record company (Silent) in homage to John Cage, the erratic composer who recognized music in every sound. Initially a visual artist, Cascone was drawn to the aural collage of cinema soundtracks. He received formal instruction in structural arrangement and composition of electronic music at the Berklee School of Music until 1973, then went on to study with Dana McCurdy at the New School in Manhattan. After gaining experience as an audio technician, Cascone worked with David Lynch on both the syndicated television pilot ‘Twin Peaks’ and the movie ‘Wild at Heart.’ This definitive scholarship ensures that Cascone knowingly cultivates sounds that become environments within themselves. Seeking to extend the vocabulary of music with abstract noises and processing techniques, the methodology relates more to contextual programming than social content. The initial full length recording from Heavenly Music Corporation, ‘In a Garden of Eden,’ was equipped with “sublingual hypnosis” purposefully designed for the Space Age Lounge, an evasive escape arena of techno mysteries set amongst the beautiful beaches of northern Goa. “It’s about re-experiencing the wonder of life; that’s what we’re about,” offers Kim by way of explanation. There followed ‘Consciousness 3,’ an album inspired by author Charles Reich’s ecological opus ‘The Greening of America,’ with its encouragement to revive a spiritual perspective. Invariably described as ‘dreamy,’ ‘mind-easing’ and ‘serene,’ the sounds of Heavenly Music Corporation address this need to foster greater empathy between beings, to nurture creative networks and establish open communication. “I’m optimistic about the future,” Kim remarks, in the confidence of a young father: “I hope that the new generation will draw upon their experiences of being young and growing up to understand both sides of the political and spiritual miasma, and make changes according to things that they have experienced, and there are so many changes to be faced.”(written and published 1995)

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Small wonder this is considered a classic - rightly so! I finally got my hands on a copy of it recently & it's mind-blowing. Acid lines, samples of naturescapes, dubby basslines, heavily processed & soaring synths; this CD has it all. Every track on this album is fantastic, but the opener, "Energy Portal", is easily my favorite. It's a giant amongst giants, for sure. The track exudes a restrained, shimmering elegance like only the best ambient tracks can. Despite this restraint, and the incredibly intricate, subtle sample work, it manages to evoke a forceful presence that builds, layer upon layer, like a true work of art. Kudos to Kim Cascone for this fantastic album!