"Sanctuary of Dreams by Numina"
Review by Manifold Records
As it's title says, this is like walking into a cathedral filled with phantasmic visions and drifting moods. Somehow pure and natural, the sound spirals out from bottomless chasms, like smoke wreathing the listener. All tracks lean more towards the bright, hopeful ambient sound, heartfelt and mysterious yet not descending into full-on darkness like Lull or even some Steve Roach. Twelve tracks of distinct mood and action, ending with the thirteen-minute closing track, a ghostly forest of light and limbs, spiraling slowly and peacefully around a megalithic tree. Movement becomes glacial at some points, but change seems to come so easily you didnt notice. I could lay back and take a very strange nap with this stuff.
SANCTUARY OF DREAMS (73'14") by Numina (a.k.a. Jesse Sola) comes from the same spark as many other soundworld realizations in the field of Spacemusic. Through the subtle manipulation of deep drones, sub-sonic swells, metallic sonorities and the slow spiraling of contrasting chords, Numina provides the listener with a wondrous sonic sanctuary in which to reflect upon their own inner workings. Throughout his music we find an artist trying to identify his relationship with the scale of his work, and the relationship of this work to the environment. The material on SANCTUARY OF DREAMS guides the form in which Numina is working. The 10 tracks are each a storm of color and sound, less representative of the chaos of the unconscious mind than of the enigmatic and ominous world of dreams . . . visions beyond cognition.
Tune in to STAR'S END this weekend for music from SANCTUARY OF DREAMS, the new album from Numina
~ Chuck Van Zyl, Star's End Radio program, Philly, PA., 2004
Numina - Sanctuary of Dreams
(Hypnos, 2004)
10 tracks, 73.14 mins
After a slow 2003, Hypnos resurfaced in 2004, beginning in May with the release of Jesse Sola.s excellent release Sanctuary of Dreams. Having met Jesse when he came to Portland for a Steve Roach concert, I can honestly say he is as nice as he is talented. Though my opinion of him as a person may make me somewhat biased, I.d challenge anyone not to rate this CD highly if you favor organic ambience the likes of Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Robert Scott Thompson, Alio Die, and other major players in the genre. This is dark, cool floating music, similar in mood to parts of Steve.s epic masterpiece Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces. .Elements of Time. is a good representation of what.s to be had here . slow, swirling ambience that is alive and breathing, dark without being depressing or creepy. Hints of melody are suggested, occasionally coalescing into corporeal form but usually satisfied to roam as a spectre. But then, what would you expect with titles like .Thrown Into Oblivion.? Low rumbling drones in .Fractured Eyes. and .The Waking Breath. give a vague hint of rhythm that is noticeably absent throughout much of the proceedings. Sanctuary of Dreams is all about floating through space. Watch for the sequel coming very soon from Hypnos . I can hardly wait.
Phil Derby, http://www.electroambientspace.com/
Sanctuary of Dreams - This long-awaited new release on Hypnos is finally here. Due in the beginning of 2004, it has been well worth the wait, as it is easily one of the best Hypnos releases ever and the strongest Numina CD since "Evolving Visions". With a title that is most fitting, the artist invites the listener into a surreal space of lucid dreams and floating depths of luminosity. How can music be so distant and mysteriously misty yet so close and personal that is seems to speak of times forgotten from inner wells of perception. Numina plays synthesizers, guitars, processing and adds vocal layers that are texturally ethereal. Tara Vanflower provides vocal samples on "Lucid Ascension," one of the closing tracks. As far as ambient space music that explores common themes of going beneath the surface, awake in deeper realms, elements of time, or the waking breath, this is an uncommonly great CD, and should land extremely high on the year's Best of list. You'll find Numina emplying production that is first rate and playing technique that are up there with the most well known ambient artists This is timeless music that can be enjoyed on many levels, from subconscious to wide awake, as deep as you might like to venture.
Lloyd Barde Backroads Music
Music should always entice me to listen from hearing the first sounds from a new album and the first track exactly does this. "Awaken Within A Deeper Dream" sets the scene so to speak; gentle and serene with a touch of the mysterious, this track with its slowly evolving electronics perfectly introduces the album.
"Lost On Silica Ridge" starts with a quiet ringing tone before faint choir like effects gently enter the mix before a faraway percussive sequence enters the flow of this track.
Following on is "Elements Of Time" and this features more quiet atmospherics interspersed with tones that sound bell like that may have come from a Buddhist monastery. The music follows in an almost melancholy way slightly sad but with a charming tale to tell the listener. "In Loneliness The Landscape Fades" features similar themes, enticing flowing synth lines that merge with strange exotic sounds unearthed from who knows where. Whilst listening to this album I was made aware that this music with its synthesizers, treated vocals, guitars, etc. was very much the perfect. ambient album. This would be the album I would play to someone who had not heard the term ambient, energizing sounds that intrigued as well as relaxed, production that is first rate and playing technique that is up there with the more well known ambient artists such as Vidna Obmana, and Steve Roach.
With this new album Numina should become better known and gain some new converts to his brand of ambient music. All in all a fine addition to the Hypnos catalog.
Reviewed by Gary Andrews for Ambient Visions
By Rik Maclean of The Ambient Ping and Ping Things 6-19-04
Jesse Sola, who performs under the name Numina has long been one of my favorite ambient artists. I first heard his music back in the glory days of mp3.com, back when they were paying us money instead of the other way around. At the time I very much admired his vision, his sense of environment, his mastery of the ambient genre. Over the years through the releases that he's had, I've grown to appreciate his work in even more subtle ways, on a cerebral level as well as an emotional level. And now as I hold a copy of his debut on Hypnos Recordings, I believe that my appreciation for Jesse's music has grown further still. Put quite simply, "Sanctuary of Dreams" is a masterpiece. This is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.
Opening track "Awaken Within a Deeper Realm" slowly builds and grows with pads drifting around you, caressing you, flowing around you in a liquid manner. It's a sensual feeling, a feeling of intimacy as if you're sharing secrets late at night with your loved ones. It's a very powerful opener, and it sets the tone for the rest of the disc.
"Lost on Silica Ridge" adds irregularly spaced percussion echoes to the drift, creating a sense of movement in the track. Tones stretch and bend around you, drawing you deeper into their grasp.
Skip ahead to track four "In Loneliness, the landscape Fades" where oblique motion plays underneath a slow melody of gently rising and falling tones. A heartfelt lament that touches me on a very primal level, something very basic and pure. Simply stunning.
"Thrown into Oblivion" features vocal-styled tones sweetening the mix over a steady drone playing low in the background. Processed and reverbed to perfection, one can't help but imagine being transported to deep caverns far away in time and space to witness an otherworldly chorus. Marvelous.
Track eight, "Dream Recognition (Silhouette of the Past)" begins from nothing, a slow tone fading in, floating across the soundscape just on the periphery of your senses. Sublime.
"Lucid Ascension" features some lovely work by the very talented Tara Vanflower, vocalist for darkwave favorites Lycia. Very subtly mixed in with the track, her voice blends in with the tones used to create an even more magical, more charming sound. What an inspired collaboration!
Over the years, Numina has honed and perfected his craft and this disc is a culmination of that perfection, setting an even higher standard for his work to follow. "Sanctuary of Dreams" connects with me on a variety of levels and reaffirms my belief that Jesse's work is a treasure, something to be cherished and held close to your heart. Surely this disc stands as one of my favorite releases so far this year.
rik maclean - rik@pingthings.com
Explore the ping things' newly expanded "features" section at: http://www.pingthings.com/PTfeaturesNF.htm
From www.graveconcernsezine.com
Artist: Numina
CD Title: Sanctuary of Dreams
Label: Hypnos Recordings
Reviewer: Joshua Heinrich
Date: 6/13/04
Boasting swirling atmospheres and melodic minimalism, Sanctuary of Dreams, Numina's first release on Hypnos, is a subtle album with a big, full sound. The solo project of established ambient/ethereal songsmith Jesse Sola, Numina's sound on Sanctuary of Dreams is simple yet complex, built around processed synths, guitars, and vocals that all blend into over 70 minutes of ethereal soundscapes spread out across 10 tracks.
Overall, the album seems to work more as a whole rather than a collection of separate pieces. However, there were a number of tracks that stood out. The emotive swelling synths and delay-ridden synthetic percussion of "Lost on Silica Ridge" create an interesting juxtaposition between spatial abstraction and more concrete rhythmic elements. "Elements of Time" is a notably darker offering that is a bit sparser and effectively eerie and unsettling. "Beneath the Silver Surface" makes good use of processed percussive sounds, synthetic brass instrumentation, and bell sounds for an extremely interesting and fairly turbulent sound collage. "Fractured Eyes" is a reverb-drenched drone accented by refreshingly odd processed electronic bleeps, while the lovely "Lucid Ascension" features processed female vocals from Lycia's Tara Vanflower. The moody 13-minute album closer, "The Waking Breath", is also an interesting track that's anchored by spacious processed sound. The tracks I haven't mentioned, while not containing any particularly noteworthy elements that make them stand out on the album, are all excellent ambient/ethereal offerings with a great sense of both space and emotion.
Beautifully executed and aptly named, Sanctuary of Dreams is a very solid release from start to finish. From swirling dreamlike atmospheres to sparse and moody sonic abstractions, Sola's trip through the realm of dreams is certainly a worthwhile journey. Instrumental ambient/ethereal fans definitely shouldn't miss this one.
The delays around Sanctuary of Dreams are well documented at the Hypnos forum. Jesse Sola, a.k.a. Numina, has had the grace, charm, style, panache and decorum to take it all in stride and to participate in the humor. That is all fun but this disc is serious space music at a level that very few achieve. WOW! From the opening notes to the last sounds, this disc says something special! Jesse does it with no fanfare surrounding his deep atmospheres and sedate drones. Despite all the teasing, this CD is exactly on time! E-music is entering a Golden Age and it is entirely appropriate nay, necessary - to have Jesse and this CD right there with the other standard bearers of the community! The music is, as the title implies, dreamy. Deep and focused listeners will enter the sanctuary of their innermost souls. It is a safe haven from the ills and troubles of the new millennium, albeit only a brief rest stop on the highway of life. As each listener has his/her own meditation rituals and practices, the responses are the individuals responses. This awesome CD stamps Jesses entry into the perpendicular universe and validates his parking! It is essential and has been worth the wait! - Jim Brenholts
Numina is the creation of Jesse Sola, a remarkably consistent artist who has released several excellent albums. This album,his first on the distinguised Hypnos label,continues his elegant sound and takes it even further. Contained within an intriguing cover there are ten tracks of darker,flowing, deep ambient music. Jesse uses synthesizer,guitars,vocals and processing to create his potent and mystical soundscapes.
Here some highlights: Track 1,"Awaken Within A Deeper Dream" is a floating,swirling piece that sets the tone for the journey. Next is "Lost On Silica Ridge",with an epic, almost orchestral sound and some stately percussion. "Elements Of Time" follows, with smooth liquid flows and jewel like tones. After that is "In Loneliness The Landscape Fades", where a contemplative mood takes over in a slowly tumbling dreamscape. Track 5,"Beneath The Silver Surface" continues the dreamlike state with layers of synth and a watery background. "Thrown Into Oblivion" comes next, with magnificent synths and a divine interplay of treated voice and sustained drones. Track 7 is "Fractured Eyes",with droning swirling sounds and buried vocals. "Dream Recognition [Silhouette Of The Past] is next with a delicate far-off flute like melody over a long,sustained background. Tara Vanflower contributes lovely vocal samples on the ninth track "Lucid Ascension",an ethereal ocean of sleep ebbing and flowing. Distant bell-like sounds slowly fade into the last track,"The Waking Breath". As drones descend and increase in intensity,memories of the dreamworld linger and rustle as the adventure ends.
This release marks the arrival of Numina on an even higher level. It's an
essential work with superb timing and flow. Sound quality and production
are outstanding, with mastering by Hypnos label owner Mike Griffin.This is
a seamless masterpiece where spiritual feelings abound. Step out into the
night with your headphones on, look into the sky and contemplate your
place in the universe. Sound samples at Numina site:
http://users.frii.com/numina/ Hypnos label site: www.hypnos.com
Review written by Dodds Wiley of Ambient.us
Sanctuary of Dreams by Numina
Jesse Sola prolifically plumbs the depths of dark, opaque ambience recording under the Numina moniker. This Denver, Colorado artist is coming to greater prominence with each release as his skill and talent are honed more deeply. Numina's latest, and first for Hypnos, Sanctuary of Dreams, is perhaps his most mature and fully-realized ambient work so far. Touching only lightly upon the dark and claustrophobic terrains of past work, Sola chooses instead to refine his latest music with a more dynamic range of sounds, all reverent and melancholy in tone--like a sad dream. The world of Sanctuary of Dreams is a darkened one; the Sanctuary itself offering the only solace within a largely ambivalent and chaotic environ. The music here is infused with sorrow and regret, as if one finds an uneasy catharsis through dreaming and escape. Fans of VidnaObmana's breathing synth work on Ending Mirage will find a familiar terrain in Sanctuary's first track "Awaken Within a Deeper Realm." There's a gothic mood here, as if one is within a dreamed sunken cathedral as softly pulsing synth textures and lightly symphonic tones create interlocking lines of sound in the mind's eye. "Lost on Silica Ridge" combines some of the nicely rendered electronic percussives of Numina's recent collaboration with Ixohoxi alongside church organ and Obmana synth clouds. "Elements of Time" darkens the mood with processed shakers and claustrophobic, manipulated belltones. "In Loneliness, the Landscape Fades" is also deeply reminiscent of VidnaObmana, bordering on pastiche. Synth tones glide lightly like a fogged valley--Sola's synthwork is never static, making an ever-shifting tonescape that seems self-satisfied with its own melancholy mien. "Beneath the Silver Surface" is far more interesting--a subtle and mysterious elixir of strange wooden noises, resonant, lancing synth effects and piano textures. Eventually, a wonderful gonging bell brings us back to gothic zones; a fantastic, dramatic effect. There is indeed a lot going on here underneath the surface--Sola seems stronger on tracks that operate in darker territories. To illustrate this point, the next track, "Thrown Into Oblivion," treads darkly with chorals and stratospheric synth drones spiraling together ever-downward. A lovely moment. Also impressive is "Fractured Eyes" which artfully manages to digest the VidnaObmana influence by combining it with strange, echoed, synth-waveforms. "Dream Recognition (Silhouette of the Past)" is perhaps the highlight of the disc--a soft Bill Nelson-esque dronescape that vibrates and cascades prettily, punctuated by echoed synth-piano notes chiming distantly. Memorable work, well suited to the repeat button. Next is "Lucid Ascension" featuring the vocalizations of Tara VanFlower (from goth-pop group Lycia). It's another pretty track, the vocals adding to the charm immensely--for those who tend to dream about ethereal undersea beauties: you've just found your soundtrack. Finally, "The Waking Breath" clearly ends the dream with a dismissal of the opalescent soundscaping of earlier tracks. Perhaps I'm "reading" too much into this, but a drone track like this after such a romantic and wistful album can only signal a return to the daily grind of activity most mundane. That said, this is a fine, lengthy track--one in a style I'd like to hear more of from Numina--understated, droning, environmental.
Sanctuary of Dreams marks an intriguing high-point in Numina's development as an ambient practitioner. Certainly, we find no artistic vanguard here, as Sola traverses oft-visited sonic landscapes. In fact, Sola's influences tend to take the driver's seat on the first half of the album. The second half, however, is uniquely Sola's own. What we find in total is a satisfying album of well-rendered sonic dream impressions that often achieves more than the sum of its parts. It's almost as though, during the course of the tracks, the Numina-style made itself evident to the artist--this is an imagined impression, since the tracks are not arranged chronologically. I'm duly impressed with Numina's Hypnos debut--it signals that Sola's best work is ahead of him. Sanctuary of Dreams seems likely to be regarded as an artistic turning point for Numina's brand of memorably melancholy ambience.
On Hypnos Recordings.
By Brian Bienowski of The Ambient review
While you will never hear a dark-ambient artist on top-forty radio, it is a genre that is growing. Jesse Sola (AKA) Numina is certainly not a new face, though. It's obvious in one intent listen. His arrangements, though seemingly simple and soothing, are actually subtle and complex, filled with a sense of both wonder and sadness.
Among the synth pads and strings that are part of the genre are washes of monks voices, the occasional shaker and incidental percussion, and even the voice of Lycia's Tara Vanflower "Lucid Ascension". "Beneath the Silver Surface" brings to mind the early work of Vangelis with analog synth treatments.
This is a beautiful CD. While not as subtle or dark as Raison d'Etre or as structured as Steve Roach, it finds its niche somewhere between.
Don Hill, Cornerstone and Automata magazines
Numina, nee Jesse Sola, released two of the best CDs of 2001, "Evolving Visions" and "Sanctum Sanctorum". He has his next CD almost ready. It is titled "Sanctuary of Dreams" and it smokes! The two discs from 2001 are very atmospheric and minimalist. This CD has those qualities and a little more. Jesse layers his walls of sound so that the soundscape is evolving and fading continuously. The effect is reminiscent of a Frippertronics loop. The possibilities become endless. Those layers have a sequenced timbre to them, though they are not sequences. That timbre gives the CD some extra oomph! So the disc kicks in and takes focused listeners to their private sanctuaries. Within those havens, deep listeners find the healing power of self-help and support. That, too, is an endless journey and a constant loop so the metaphor continues. Jesse has very quickly established himself as a candidate for ambient greatness! This disc locks it!
By Jim Brenholts of Tracks Across the Universe