Album Review: “Infinite Garden”

Hello Music Lover,

Today I have the fortunate experience of giving you a full review of 1149Productions’ first full length album: “Infinite Garden.” I was sent this New Age Instrumental disc a short time ago and after becoming intimately knowledgeable with it’s 10 songs I felt it was time to devote a full post to it and provide you with my take on it. (Cuz you know I love giving my 2 cents).

1149Productions is the creative front of Shaun Poole and Mary Gunderson of Bellingham, WA. They have been songwriting together for a while now and always have a spiritual purpose to the tracks they put out. With “Infinite Garden” they have written, recorded, and self produced a wonderful soundtrack to self reflection. I know when you hear the words “self produced” you worry that it’s some guy’s music that was done in and sounds like it was done in some guy’s basement. Don’t fear, I was overwhelmed with the overall production quality and sound of this disc. For first timers this is an excellently crafted album, rich and lush in its sound yet delicate and crisp when it needs to be. Definitely a job very well done in the production department.

Musically Shaun and Mary have drawn on many influences here and if you are a listener of the “New Age” genre you will certainly recognise some Loreena McKennitt, Karl Jenkins, and Yanni in these songs. Whether intentional or not it provides a measure of familiarity to the album and allows the listener to get right into the songs without having to navigate genre boundaries. The title track and “The Initiation” are quite powerful songs skillfully weaving violins with choral elements and are backed up up by very tight and well accentuated percussion. Big when it needs to be and subtle yet still interesting when the songs pull back a bit.

“At The Gates Of Rosslyn” and “Beauty Of The Rose” flow very well out of the first two tracks and, while a bit more subdued have a nice epic, almost Hollywood film score quality to them. Particularly in “Beauty” are there wonderful choral pads that lend an ethereal feeling to a song that could otherwise have felt a bit empty up the middle. Something was needed to glue the violin and piano together and Shaun and Mary found that glue here.

“Let The Silence Break” is a “pretty” song, I guess there is no other way to put it. This track in particular reminded me a lot Yanni. And for me this is not a bad thing at all. The delicate piano rolls very nicely over the various string parts and is all accented only when needed by low percussive hits.  ”Cradle of Life” is a curious little song, under two minutes in length it is a fairly sparse, Middle Eastern tinged intermission of sorts. Which of course leads us very naturally into the very Middle Eastern influenced “Arabica.” This song is a nice counterpoint to the very melodically driven first half of the album. Think of sand and wind and mystery here. Interesting percussion runs play against the various stringed instruments that each get a quick turn to come out and play.

Beginning the run of three very different songs until the end is “The Unveiling.” If there was ever to be single released from this album this is it. Along the lines of Mythos or Delerium it is ridiculously catchy and is the only true vocal track on the disc. Mary sings here and she has a voice that simply shines. Between the purity of voice and delicate production treatment this is one of those female ethereal songs I always wished I had written. There are no words as such but between the simple vocal lines, that flute, and the big driving drums there is something magic at work here. Mary & Shaun, you have caught a bit of lightning with this one.

“Reborn” is a bit different than the rest of the album, a little harder, a little darker and perhaps a twinge of Gothic? This is a bit too Trans-Siberian Orchestra for me but it keeps the disc from sounding to “samey.” Too much of a good thing is not always a good thing. Last is the epic length “Yahweh Yahweh Ohm.” Clocking in at 12:55(!) I was a bit worried here as I am not a fan of longwinded meandering nomadic type songs that never seem to get anywhere. I believe this track, while it is very long, is a testament to 1149Productions’ songwriting abilities. It is a tough task indeed to fill so much time yet keep the song interested and pointed towards a cohesive finish. Oddly enough it reminds me of a song I wrote once that I was worried about being too long but strangely I have never had that complaint. To finish out then simply sit back and let these last thirteen minutes wash over you with choral sweeps, piano interludes and drums that keep this alternately huge and delicate juggernaut moving to a very satisfying end.

Overall I have to recommend this CD for anyone interested in the instrumental genre as it will sit very nicely next to all of the aforementioned artists in your collection. I am overly impressed with the simplicity of the songs and how there is little “window dressing” covering up the beauty of the melodies and messages in them. To know when to stop and let the purity of a song speak for itself is a deep talent and I only wish more songwriters had it.

Please visit http://www.wiseawakening.com for information on purchasing “Infinite Garden.” Also, you can follow 1149Productions on Twitter: @Maryslyrics and @1149Productions.

Till next time,

David