Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: drums

  • Play This Book

    Play This Book

    Following on from “Pet this book”, “Play this book”, has all the same wonderful qualities. It is a really sturdy book, with a strong board cover and board pages. It is most suitable for the smallest hands and will survive being sat on, chewed and slept with.

    The story tells about various musical instruments, and how they can be played together to make a band. The author shows how a guitar can be strummed, and a drum can be tapped, a piano can be played by touching the keys, and maracas can be shaken. Of course the cymbals need to be heard as well.

    The text is in rhyme and enhances the beat of the music. There are some instruments which are less common (such as the saxophone) which are introduced. The noises made by the musical instruments in in a very large font encouraging chanting along and jumping up and down is encouraged.

    Each instrument is looked at individually and given its own sound. Then all of the instruments are combined to produce a song…. Of sorts. The primary colours used in the illustrations attract attention and provide a great back ground for this noisy book. It is not a bedtime book, but one that encourages noise and movement and is a great way to introduce children to music and instruments using imagination, noise and fun.

  • Ethereum

    Ethereum

    Haunting and evocative, this is one album that should immediately be considered one for pure meditation, as with the first track Wavelength, the mediative tones of the composition place you into a space of mellow contemplation. When followed by Ethereum, another piece deliberately created for meditation, you are now in the right place emotionally to enjoy the rest of the album.

    Changing and shifting with the events that influence and define the emotions, Crystal Sunrise begins the journey taking you to a fresh, crisp, dawn of a new day just as the sun is rising and the air is fresh; all around you sparkles in the early morning light. Whereas Flirting with Fireflies brings in that almost magical disbelief that such tiny creatures can bring such pleasure and beauty to the world.

    Shimmer is a delicate combination of tin whistle, low whistle and Celtic harp introducing a touch of the exotic into the meditation mix. Illumination features the Chinese xiao flute, once again adding that touch of the orient which is balanced out with Boundless featuring some lovely percussive effects.

    Entangled is something very different, as it commences with a sound of a drum beat, deep, resonating and continues until what sounds like a breath expelled, allowing the flute to dance along the notes backed by the deep, jazzy tones of the saxophone played by Young, then once again changing back to the more sombre tones of drum, with a slower flute rhythm overlaying the mix.

    With Sapphire Moon as the finale to a wonderful dreamy album, the day has come to an end and the final tribute to be paid is to the moon in her finery as she sheds her light across the night skies. In the words of Young, ‘Sapphire Moon is homage to a rare and special moon of extraordinary beauty.

    Elements such as reincarnation, rub shoulders with past lives, definition of self, letting go of emotion and mental intimacy have all been interwoven with the beauty and eternal majesty that is to be found within nature.

    In this Young’s fourth album, he has woven what can be considered as an ‘earthy mix’ into a modern interpretation of ancient rhythms. As the track titles indicate, much of the music has been created and influenced by nature, with one of the major influences being to create something that shows ‘water and flora may exist in other places the cosmos’.

    A wonderful collection to be able to wind down to and enjoy after a long and busy day.