The Crossing

Cosmological audio nirvana!

     

Explorations of ethereal soundscapes configured to conjure a wholly fascinating journey through the cosmos. Each track pushes us along an aural slipstream that is unique to the artists--if you are as familiar with their collaborations and solo work as I.

Helpling adds to his favorite instruments on this CD, giving us a broader canvas of sounds while Jenkins contributes his own studio magic. While "Treasure", their most recent work together before this one, had many majestic and moving pieces, "The Crossing" flows even more naturally as a full-bodied masterwork. Check out the audio-picture painted in track six, "Above All." It opens up a full-on aural vista of a fast-moving canopy above your head--one filled with nervous, slate-grey clouds whirling across a threatening sky.

Or you can immerse yourself in my favorite piece so far, the title track: "The Crossing." Inside this scintillating work is an absolutely stellar blend of electric guitar and synths that the duo make completely their own. More seriously ambient tracks that follow still manage to swoop with engaging synths and rumble with awesome percussion sounds: like track seven, intriguingly titled,"For The Fallen." Outstanding, fascinating jags of percussion continue to captivate the listener on the longest track, nine, "To The Ends Of The Earth--suggesting favorable comparison to much of Patrick O'Hearn's outstanding earlier work a decade or so ago, too.

After repeated listenings, I think the Helpling & Jenkins recording of "The Crossing" has clearly set a high bar in 2010 for ambient/electronic album of the year. Perhaps the expected new release still forthcoming from Patrick O'Hearn may offer the duo a run for the roses, and of course, the latest work by Carbon Based Lifeforms: "The Interloper," remains a superb, solid contender, too. I recommend this equally great CD as well.