- Audio CD (1 Oct 1999)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Import
- Label: Voiceprint
- ASIN: B000025AS9
- Other Editions: Audio CD
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 377,401 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Dusk |
| 2. The Lodger |
| 3. The Waiting |
| 4. A Far Cry |
| 5. White Cloud, Blue Sky |
| 6. Desert Song |
| 7. Canyon |
| 8. Bodhidharma |
| 9. No Ordinary Man |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Die-hard supporters of the original philosophy of ambient music as espoused by Sir Brian of Eno will experience a frisson of recognition here, while the post-club culture chillers-out will happily go with the flow as usual. Cipher are Theo Travis (soprano sax, alto flute, piano, keyboards, samples) and Dave Sturt (fretless bass, programming, samples and loops). Travis is mainly known as a jazz musician (with several excellent albums to his credit), except when he is being something else (he is also associated with diverse projects such as Gong and Porcupine Tree), while Sturt also works in Celtic music and as a producer, among other things. Here, though, they present a shifting, pulsing musical collage in which the both the common ground and the contrasts between pure electronica and more conventional instruments, notably Travis's plaintive-yet-full-of-conviction saxophone lines, are explored to the full, with excellent results. File between your old System 7 albums and Jan Garbarek--then wonder why there has never been anything to put there before. --Roger Thomas
From the Artist
Enjoy!
Cipher - No Ordinary Man Cipher consists of Theo Travis on soprano sax, flute and keyboards, and Dave Sturt on fretless bass, programming and loops. Travis's saxophone is not used in a traditional soloistic sense: He generally floats long lines that have a vocal-like quality ('The Lodger', 'The Waiting'), and the most immediate reference point for first-time listeners would be Brian Eno's ambient and film music.
Cipher - No Ordinary Man Cipher consists of Theo Travis on soprano sax, flute and keyboards, and Dave Sturt on fretless bass, programming and loops. Travis's saxophone is not used in a traditional soloistic sense: He generally floats long lines that have a vocal-like quality ('The Lodger', 'The Waiting'), and the most immediate reference point for first-time listeners would be Brian Eno's ambient and film music.
Listen closer and Cipher's approach starts to sound much more original. There's a very interesting sense of construction about this music,in the way blocks of sound are built up, metamorphosed and sometimes taken away at odd-seeming moments, as if God were scoring a dub composition for clouds in the heavens.
The sonic layers of loops appearing, dissipating and receding, of foreground becoming background, seem endless and make for engrossing headphone listening.
The title piece comes closest to a regular pulse, as well as to traditional song form. It's a haunting, lonely dance in space, led by Travis's alto flute, that puts Cipher's narrative abilities in a fairly accessible light. 'Bodhidharma' on the other hand, features shimmering, high chords, a recurring guitar-like sound that subtly changes position in the soundscape on each pass, and light, percussive clicks evoking a flutter of birds' wings.
Sturt's fretless bass weaves around a deep percussive base on 'The Waiting', and 'A Far Cry' layers amorphous clouds of sound over an almost subliminal, Terry Riley-like pattern of soprano overdubs. Other parts recall Peter Gabriel's more otherwordly instrumental endeavours and Steve Roach's 'Quiet Music' period.
Guests on the disc include Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson and Richard Barbieri on two tracks each, and an atmospheric vocal on'Desert Song' by Rabbi Gaddy Zerbib.
This is trance-out music of the highest order."
LARRY NAI Progression (Fall/Winter 2000 - issue 33)
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The ambient -based music of this set draws both on ECM's more ethereal releases and on Brian Eno's work, and while many listeners will dispute its jazz credentials, a spirit of improvisation and creativity infuses every piece. Leader Travis has strong jazz credentials, sounding here like a John Surman devotee, most notably on A Far Cry, while Barbieri will be familiar to many for his work with David Sylvian. Together, they create a music of evocative electronic soundwashes, subtle acoustic jazz explorations, and considerable emotional resonance. For those who distrust electronic and ambient music, you might be surprised by this set.
Simon Adams Jazz Journal (Feb 2000)
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Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, 30 Mar 2000
By Serge - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: No Ordinary Man (Audio CD)
This is a CD you can only listen to without other sonic distractions. Quiet, haunting soundscapes lay the foundation for Theo's emotional minimalist sax and flute. If you are a fan of the Silent Way side of Miles Davis, you should definitely enjoy this album.
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