Myths of the Rock
Even within the MG Music stable, Clifford White has firmly made his mark with his album Myths of the Rock.
The music hits like a sculptors chisel carving our emotions to his rhythmic and passionate vision. Despite the bold and heavy feel of the album, Clifford has left no rough edges and the music glides over the senses like ice on obsidian.
If you're a lover of deep and emotive percussion then this will satisfy, if you like your drums rhythmic and upbeat, this will satisfy, if you want something to stir the passions and desires within you, this album provides the ultimate overdose.
The theme behind the CD is as spectacular as the music itself: Myths of the Rock takes us through the legends of The Dreamtime, and does so in true symphonic style. Even sat here writing this review, my busy fingers are typing to the rhythm that the tracks lay down: the CD is infectious, the music addictive...don't start playing this if you have to be somewhere in less than 30 minutes!
The CD cover compares Clifford to Enigma. I would personally say that Clifford is the natural evolution of Enigma. This release pushes the boundaries and is not afraid to demonstrate the feeling behind each track. Whereas Enigma stayed on an even keel, maintaining sobriety and somber moods, Clifford tips the boat over and lets the full weight and gravity of his music smack you between the eyes (or ears in this case).
What we are talking about here is 9 tracks of chest vibrating euphoria. Spin up that volume dial and release your senses!
U.K. new age composer Clifford White shifts his musical palette to the beat for this album inspired by the mystical Ayers Rock in Australia. Compelling trance-dance beats are established throughout, and listeners will find definite similarities to Enigma's MCMXC A.D. in "The Primal Instinct" (woman's chant, heavy erotic breathing and sighs) and to Deep Forest with its pygmy singing in "The Tribal Way." I would think an album about aboriginal dreamtime would include more didgeridoo, but White escapes, through dreamtime, the confines of that culture and the desert environment of Ayers Rock (whale songs in the sultry "In the Womb of the Rainbow Serpent") to include a number of rhythms and music styles. The muted trumpets on "The Dreaming" offer a cool blues/jazz feeling. Whatever the rationale of the album concept, Myths of the Rock is exotic and offers the kind of combination that just may take you to the Dreamtime.
Customer comments
"Clifford reinvents himself for the 'nth time in this tribal world music extravaganza. A powerful sonic travelogue which ranges from exotic Bali to the Australian outback and round again. Astounding!"
"Unlike many artists, White sticks to his theme. You can pretty much hear his genuine respect for the cultural influences of MOTR. Clifford keeps the first 5 tracks pretty much at fever pitch - the power of the music is intense! Then from track 6 onwards, Clifford takes a diversion into the strange, trance like world of the Dreaming..."
"Fantastic production and a propulsive sound - Clifford outdoes himself again!"
"Sexy and seductive..."
Production notes
The story of Myths of the Rock focuses around Ayers Rock and the strange, often bizarre mythology that surrounds it.
Known of in the indigenous language as Uluru, it is reportedly the world's largest monolith, consisting inexplicably of a large quantity of iron oxide. It stands alone, on a vast plain, in the geographical centre of Australia, in a place known of to the native Aborigines as the land of 'The Dreaming'.
There was a time, millennia ago, that the Aborigines describe as 'The Dreaming'. In this time, gods roamed the earth - sky heroes, - who brought their teachings to early man. There were spirits of 'The Dreaming' too, who through their adventures across an undefined plane of existence, shaped the landscape into the earth as we know it today.
Countless myths surround and permeated the rock. There are tales of great battles and of the 'Lightning Snake' or 'Rainbow Serpent', the spirit being who moved through water and lit the sky with lightning. God, spirit or human, the characters that exist within 'The Dreaming' inhabit all these forms, constantly transmuting themselves during the unfolding of their particular Dreamtime myth. Many stories also speak of humanity as the descendants of those 'Dreaming' characters, the offspring of the ancient 'Creative Ancestors'.
Animal men who merged with the stars, wise teachers that rose from the earth with their families, and spirit beings who inhabited the natural elements are all 'Myths of the Rock'. Humanity may have forgotten all the momentous epochs that have passed into history, myth and fable, but there are many natives indigenous to Australia who believe that no matter how many forget, the rock remembers...
