Inside the Voice Inside is the latest album from Pete Ardron, who brought us the fantastic Birth/Re-birth on Liquid Sound Design in 2008 under the moniker Orchid Star. That album was a delight to the ears with beautiful melodies, visual story telling tracks and a lush atmosphere of serenity. Inside the Voice Inside, though, released only on digital format, is a far cry from that near masterpiece. The music here seems like a cheap rip off of his own style. Very ethnic again but this time instead of going for eastern melodies and mysterious atmospheres Pete Ardron opted for cliché ridden, and in my humble opinion, a little bit tacky ethno-chill.
It's not terrible per se, except I Just Kind Of Do Stuff And See What Happens (T3) which has a horrible jazzy sax running right through it giving it an annoying atmosphere that never lets me fully relax and Scylla Siberica (T4) which sounds like a Disney movie moving on to a day dream sequence at times. The rest is fine but it is all something I'm sure everyone who might be interested in this album has heard before. There is very little in the way of fresh or innovative sounds, just cheesy pop friendly sounds.
This album might sound quite enjoyable to chillout fans new to the genre but anyone who has been around the block knows that there is much better stuff out there. Inside the Voice Inside is lacking in atmosphere, flow, storytelling and not a single track on it creates any visuals in my head which for me is a prerequisite to good chillout.
The best track is The Long Nosed Bandicoot (T8) which might be worth a purchase as a single track. Some nice nature sounds and a nice atmosphere. I also like Hidden Meanings (T6) as it has some moments where the atmosphere tries to show itself, but even that is not worth it really. |
