Nick Magnus - 'Inhaling Green'

Reviewed by Ian Oakley.

1) Velociraptor 2) Free The Spirit 3) The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 4) Cantus 5) Conquistador 6) Dixon Hill 7) Veil Of Sighs 8) Theme One 9) Inhaling Green: Part One - Anatomy of the Mind Part Two - Stripping of the Flesh Part Three - Weighing of the Souls

Centaur Disks CENCD017
Contact CDS (Compact Disk Services) for mail order details:
40/42 Brantwood Avenue, Dundee, DD3 6EW (U.K.)
Tel (+44) 01382 776595 Fax (+44) 01382 736702
Email: CDser@aol.com_or visit the CDS website
Also available from the Camino Records online shop

Nick's home page :- http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/nick.magnus/

Nick Magnus, maybe a name unknown to you?

Well Nick has a fine pedigree as a professional keyboardist who has been very successfully plying his trade for the past 25 years. First with The Enid, his own band Autumn and then over a decade of collaboration with Steve Hackett. Perhaps Nick is most famous as the man (or should I say "culprit") behind the highly successful series of Project D: The Synthesiser Albums and Free The Spirit: Pan Pipe CDs. So often used as background music in restaurants / airports and wedding services.

If you know B.O.A's usual tastes in music then you may think this an unusual album to see reviewed on this page. However, Nick has been a friend, or at least a friend of a friend of BOA's for a while. So when the album came out - Of course BOA were interested in listening to it.

. . . . .

Velociraptor

Starting with an industrial cacophony of sound, then building around a repetitive rhythm with soaring Synths and guitar samples, this first track is perhaps what you would expect if you know only a small sample of Nick's earlier work. But, it may just be my personal hatred of sampled percussion on rock tracks, I don't feel that this very synthetic sounding track is the ideal introduction to the later organic delights. Perhaps that was the idea, a Yin and Yang mix?

Free The Spirit
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Nick has this wonderful way of painting with sound using the keyboards various setups and textures as his pallet and - if you lay back and shut your eyes - your mind as his canvas. Free The Spirit, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and the later Conquistador are perfect examples of these audio-visual landscape paintings. Perfect film score music, perfect to lay back and just "chill out". The addition of John Hackett's flute on some tracks just adds to the album's general ethereal spirit.

Cantus

Featuring the vocal talents of Clare Brigstocke, this track deserves to be a hit a huge hit. The vocal part is actually taken from a 11th century hymn called "Columbus Aspexit" by the Abbess Hildegarde of Bingen: "Tu es fortis et suavis in ceremoniis et chorus" Loose translation: "You are strong and wise In ceremony and song" - And so is this track!

If you liked Enigma's 'Sadeness' a few years back then you will just love this. With the same blend of sampled choirs and up-tempo dance beat, given half a chance this would be on constant re-play across European dance floors. If his record company has any sense Cantus will be released as a single post-haste.

Conquistador

Or maybe "Theme for an imaginary spaghetti western"…. You can see those open plains, feel the sun and wind in your face. It's Nick with his paintbrush again. A very Vangelis like piece that would possibly put the old master to shame.

Dixon Hill

On a more up-tempo jazz feel. Technically an impressive performance but like Velociraptor I personally find it lacking the emotion and quality Nick shows in all other tracks.

Veil Of Sighs

Reminding me very strongly of The Enid's 'Once She Was'. A dream like piece, this almost "new-age", work features John Hackett's fine flute work against Nick's light symphonic keyboard performance.

Theme One

A remake of the George Martin instrumental made famous by Van Der Graaf Generator in the early 70s. Now, if the Village People were a Progressive Rock band this is how they would have covered this classic. Performed firmly tongue in cheek, with mid section 'We will rock you' drum samples Nick's highly "camp" version of Theme One brings a great big smile to my face every time I hear it. If Cantus is a singles A side then this must be the B or the follow up. If I were Nick I would be extremely tempted to do an extended club mix and send it out… If he waits till next summer it could be Ibiza's club anthem of the year.

Inhaling Green:
Part One - Anatomy of the Mind
Part Two - Stripping of the Flesh
Part Three - Weighing of the Souls

All the previous tracks showcase the various talents of "Nick Magnus keyboard wizard". Most of the tracks can be compared to the work of past keyboard great's such as Jaare (Free The Spirit), Robert John Godfrey (Veil Of Sighs) and the previously mentioned Vangelis. But, it is with the next piece that I feel we really find Nick Magnus the composer. The Magnus-Opus Inhaling green is, as Nick states himself, best described as "Techno-Prog". A genre of music earlier touched upon by The Orb, more recently Fish ('Raingods with Zippos') and the American band The Disco Biscuits. However Nick brings a more symphonic element to the genre than has been attempted before.

Part One - Anatomy of the Mind

Four and a half minutes of wondrous audio beauty best described as the Adagio from Mahler 5 meets the sound track to the Titanic (with those wordless sampled vocals). Lay back... You can hear the earth breathing and see the waves crashing on a deserted shoreline.

Part Two - Stripping of the Flesh

Built around electronic dance beats (now this where I do appreciate sampled percussion) the piece continues with a reading of the poem Inhaling green. Not a straight narration by Nick you understand but voiced as electronic sample (i.e. Stephen Hawking). At the moment I cannot say that I completely understand the poem other than it seems to be about the inter-connectiveness of things in nature … Inhaling the life force around us…. Inhaling Green. As the poem is recited, Nicks keyboards and voice samples act as a sweeping trance inducing background. Towards the end of the section the very fine lead guitar playing from guest Geoff Whitehorn is introduced.

(You can read the poem on Nick's homepage)

Part Three - Weighing of the Souls

Building to a climatic conclusion, with the trademark heavy pounding Magnus keyboard sound combined with Whitehorn in full Hackett flight, this is prog perfection.

However Nick has not let go of us quite yet. As the heavy guitar and keyboards fade, we return as if on the crest of a wave, to Part 1 - that deserted shore and "Exhale green".

. . . . .

So what do we have? – Two possible hit singles / some audio-visual landscapes and a new area of music crossover "Techno-Prog". With Inhaling Green Nick Magnus has managed to produce a CD for many tastes.

Inhaling Green should appeal to the progressive rock audience (at least fans of Jarre/Vangelis) and the "chill out" techno dance or “new age” musical audience. Nick has obviously learnt a great deal from his ‘Pan Pipe’ and ‘Synthesiser’ albums thus making this album with enough commercial appeal to make a dent in both the general singles and album charts. Although I cannot recommend Inhaling Green to a “Hardcore” Prog fan ,a finer example of a true commercial crossover album would be very hard to find.

Ian Oakley for B.O.A Ink 1999.