Starfarer's Tales, Vol. 1 is my first exposure to the music of both Ixohoxi and Numina. This collection of four lengthy tracks is inspired by the novel Starfarer by science fiction Grandmaster Poul Anderson. I've never read that particular Anderson novel, but these two artists do a fantastic job in conjuring up a tribal, though alien, mood.

The first track, "Terraformers" is an otherworldly melding of shaker and rainstick percussions as well as drifting harmonic synth textures, evoking a journey nearing planetfall. The two elements go well together; this planet is mottled with rocky terrain, and one notices villages dotting the landscape. Something about the percussion sounds machine created, and this supports the mood of the track. In this future, tribal impulses remain--but it is up to the machines to create sounds humans would normally craft by hand. We regain altitude to hover "Orbiting the Holont" which begins in an ominous manner--space is deep after all, and the hushed image of the still planet below never manages to interrupt this inexorable rotation in vacuum. "Shaman of Tahir" mechanically dances in a spirit circle, weaving his metallic spell amid spirited trance percussion. This is a strange clockwork ritual; clearly the natives are restless. I feel that this is my favorite track--the relentless, but never overpowering, percussion has just enough random electronic soundscaping to please these ears. Starfarer's Tales ends gently with the super-ambient "Cloudland," proving that these two can create floaters with the best of the genre. We're resting on the planet's surface, our ship left in orbit, enjoying what peace the native landscape has to offer.

While Starfarer's Tales, Vol. 1 lacks the album-length continuity that would enable it to rise above a collection of disparate tracks, I still feel this is highly professional, stunning work by two newer artists. This is an evocative, techno-tribal space journey--one that I've returned to quite frequently. I'm looking forward to volume two.

Available as a self-produced CDR from both Ixohoxi and Numina.

since July 15, 2003