← more from
Groove Unlimited
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Sacred Ordinary

by Paul Ellis

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €8.50 EUR

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    factory pressed CD

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Sacred Ordinary via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      €10 EUR

     

1.
Icon 09:25
2.
Shining 11:11
3.
The Sacred Ordinary 09:33
4.
Blue Heron 04:47
5.
The Still Center Of A Turning World 07:25
6.
Presence 05:11
7.
Cascade 09:18
8.
After All 03:12
9.
Turning Towards The Sun 06:06
10.
Slowly Beating Wings 06:50

about

Paul Ellis' latest solo work is worth getting (for electronic music fans, at least) just for the opening track, "Icon", alone as it unfolds during its nine-plus minutes as a hauntingly beautiful slowly evolving composition, suffused with a combination of Berlin school sequencing and floating ambient textures, fine-tuned with an almost neo-classical elegance, thanks to the presence of a flute solo to die for! This is one of the best tracks released on any album this year and is probably the finest work Ellis has ever done (and he'll be hard-pressed to top it, as well). The juxtaposition of multiple layers of sequenced pulses and notes pulsating underneath the lilting flute and amidst sparkling sun showers of synth notes is gorgeous.
However, the Portland area keyboard artist is no one trick pony, as other tracks reveal his unique infusion of influences from Larry Fast (Synergy), Jarre, and lesser known EM pioneers like Patrick Gleeson and even new age guru Ray Lynch into his own brand of retro-futurism.
The Sacred Ordinary is a work of both intelligence and passion, mixing accessible and melodic elements, often suffused with emotion and drama, with more cerebral soundscape elements and cyber-futurism. The title song displays Ellis' adeptness at crafting fluid ambient electronic tone poems, undulating with the occasional brief light from a shimmering bell tone or Vangelis-like horn sound.
"Blue Heron" pulses with beats, semi-jazzy vibes, and a myriad of synthesized musical flourishes, some decidedly retro in characteristic and others more a hybrid of the new and the old, gradually building in intensity throughout its five minute length.
"The Still Center of a Turning World" is one of my favorites, as its celebratory synths, echoing both Synergy's zipping and zapping and Ray Lynch's strong sense of classical melodicism, whirl around some celestial dance floor, waltzing and rejoicing in their own post-modernism. There is a true sense of joy within this song (I especially smile at the sounds which remind me of some sound effects I heard in the film Logan's Run, and astute listeners will know just what I referencing when they hear them).
Whether he is embracing the Germanic sequencer-fueled speed and energy of "Presence", melding retro spacy keyboards, overtone chants (courtesy of Rudy Adrian, who also contributed some keyboards here and there on the album) and ambient beats on "Cascade", (sounding a bit like Todd Fletcher on this track), or crafting the somber electronic neo-classical adagios of "Slowly Beating Wings", Ellis balances the intellectual with the aesthetic in a way that showcases both brains and heart.

The Sacred Ordinary earns high marks as a musical venture which pays homage to the past even while gliding into the future. Highly recommended.

credits

released January 1, 2004

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Paul Ellis image

Paul Ellis

contact / help

Contact Paul Ellis

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Paul Ellis, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now