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| Barry Cleveland Reissues Critically Acclaimed 1986 "Mythos" Album Originally released on Larry "Synergy" Fast's legendary Audion Recording Company label in 1986, Mythos combined Barry Cleveland's processed, layered, and looped guitars with Michael Masley's otherworldly bowhammer cymbalom, and Bob Stohl and Kat Epple's woodwinds, synths, and light percussion. "Mythos was, and remains, a great album." —Larry Fast The 2012 reissue of Mythos makes the entire album available for the first time since its original release. It was digitally remastered using state-of-the-art tools to restore and enhance the clarity and richness of the original analog recordings. "I was particularly happy with the remastered version of the 19-minute-long title track, " says Cleveland. "I played my guitar with a violin bow, an Ebow, and a Masley Bowhammer in addition to the conventional methods, and the core recording was done via Fripp & Eno-style looping using two Revox tape recorders. We were able to bring out the many subtle details, while at the same time nearly eliminating the tape hiss. After all of these years, I still feel that 'Mythos' is one of the best pieces I've ever recorded." A sampling of reviews from 1986: Chosen as one of The 25 Best New Age Compact Discs (Alongside such other "new age" albums as Dark Side of the Moon, Autobahn, and Wednesday Afternoon) —Stereo Review 1987 Compact Disc Buyer's Guide "Unlike many electronic/space music recordings, the focal instruments here are guitars, not synthesizers. Cleveland gets a remarkable variety of sounds out of them, too. He avoids the extremes of ambient innocuousness as well as anarchic harshness, and leaves one looking forward to his next work." —Option "Cleveland himself does everything but play the guitar straight; he uses Ebow, violin bows, Thumbo, and the cymbalom's Bowhammer to elicit long droning chords from his instrument. Side two is a 19-minute Frippertronics loop, with flutes, bells, and cymbalom floating in and out. Very empyrean." —Electronic Musician "The five hypnotic songs on Mythos engender a dreamy tranquility, yet remain interesting enough to hold your attention. Obscure ethnic instruments ground the guitar/synthesizer songs with an ancient earthiness." Performance: 8 | Sound: 10 —CD Review "Mythos features free-floating contexts that are strong without being overbearing and beautiful without being cloying. The drones, spiraling arabesques, and eerie, electronic colorings in Mythos leave plenty of room for listeners to transcend themselves." —Jazziz write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Jazz News :: home page |