Ontofield
is in fact only one man, John Graham, who had the original idea, and
wrote, played, programmed and recorded all of Ontofield’s output thus
far. Sleeping with Fractals is the stunning debut album by a
superbly talented individual, crafting his individual skills through the
music and producing an instantly unforgettable experience.
Sleeping with Fractals
is a 6 track album with a running time of around 63 minutes. The
shortest track, “Moon Handed” opens the album and clocks in at 5:00
minutes, and is a different mix from the single track I had originally
heard back in January. Three of the six tracks are in excess of 11
minutes, with the title track running on for 18:02 minutes. The long
track times certainly allow John to flex his musical muscles and ideas
and you are very aware of the music evolving as the tracks progress.
I
often have difficulty with picking tracks to highlight and this 6 track
collection is no different, with all the tracks nudging into the superb
category. With no disrespect to the other 3 tracks, I would suggest
that the title track, “Sleeping with Fractals,” track 3,”Holographic
Rain” and track 5, “My Machine” would be ideal entry points into the
music of Ontofield.
“Sleeping
with Fractals” (18:02), the title track, is an epic piece of music that
draws the listener into its complexities and then leads them here and
there on a wondrous journey. Starting with a short explosion, there is
then a buildup of electronic sound with a very plaintive synth motif
above a background of burbling synths which is slowly extended with
bass, drums and a simple stunning lead synth passage entering around the
2 minute mark. At the 2:45ish minute point, there is a piano descending
passage which literally makes the spine tingle, in the buildup to the
vocals. The vocals are very clear and powerful and the lyrics carry a
deep message. There is a more menacing guitar/synth passage then takes
hold and the organ passage behind the vocals, drives the track along.
The organ swoops in and out behind the voice before the guitar gets the
chance to shine a little. The regular change from full sound to a more
stripped back sound is effortless as the track continues to evolve, and
around the 9 minute mark, there is a total drop in sound, with a little
brass motif and then a synth passage allows the listeners imagination to
go where it will. A stunning synthesizer sequence at about 11 minutes
moves the track back up through the gears, allowing John to show his
skill on a variety of instruments. A very reflective passage starts
around 12 minutes with a simple melody and John’s vocals return with a
more relaxed “breathy” feel to them. A buildup of drums/guitar explodes
into action at 14 minutes with that superb organ riding shotgun over the
top, and the voice assumes more of a hard edge. More stunning guitar
work appears around the 15:30 minute point as the track slowly begins to
wind its way to the finale.
The
third track, “Holographic Rain” (7:08) starts off with a strumming
acoustic guitar, joined by organ, bass and drums, and that very clear
crisp vocal from John. There is a gentle flowing feel to this track with
the piano giving a different accentuation from the synths, which then
have a terrific little passage, and then continue to wash in and out of
the background. Some superb guitar appears towards the end of the track
and then the track moves out with that guitar soaring away.
“My
Machine” (11:41) enters with piano and strings and the sound is very
different to the other highlighted tracks. References to the Hadron
Collider, Dead City Scrolls, Hawkins and Dawkins, petri dishes and
microscopes pepper the early lyrics. The tempo is slower at points and
this track moves along very serenely with those interesting lyrics.
Around 4:30 minutes, another of those stunning guitar passages presents
itself and leads into a fuller sound, with the appearance of the organ
and the intensity is maintained at a higher point heralding the return
of the vocals. The guitar then reappears around the 8 minute point and
literally flies and soars above the background taking the track towards
its end point, while swooping in and out to great effect.
This
album has already featured as “Album of the Night” on the radio show
and there is only one track that is yet to be aired. As a debut album, I
find Sleeping with Fractals an amazing piece of work and one
which definitely gets the “One to Buy” sticker on the front cover,
together with “The experience will last forever” sticker in the bottom
corner. Releases recently have been superb and this joins a previously
reviewed album from a couple of weeks ago in my top 3 of 2013, thus far.
The
Ancient Ones advice is to buy a copy of the album, settle down to
listen to it while reading the lyrics, and enjoy 60+minutes of superb
progressive music.
5/5 STARS
Key Tracks: Moon Handed: Sleeping With Fractals: Holographic Rain
Jim “The Ancient One” Lawson-MuzikReviews.com Staff
August 27, 2013
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