Esperanza "Esperanza" Jester Records trick002 1998 (49:01)
edna and friends (3:11)
the farao was a spy
niobad (5:21)
wandina (3:26)
cyber jungle 2 (5:52)
ramayana
the basement (3:19)
area s4
cartoon u.f.o.
khalid&habib meets fsee-ni-lao-lio-bala
journey (15:33)
aglaria pidhol garia ananus qepta (1:30)
ursa minor
chichen itza
a dive from the cloud (7:37)
the longing fly (3:12)
Esperanza is a Norwegian duo and this is their self titled debut. The album was originally released a few years ago in a very limited pressing but is now widely available via the Oslo, Norway Jester Records label. The disc is indexed with 9 tracks but 4 of those are multi-titled with sub-sections. The music is primarily instrumental and electronic with new age style synth washes and melodies, piano, found sound samples, ethnic elements and light, organic percussion (the insert states "no computers or drum machines utilized"). It's seems to fall somewhere between movie soundtrack, late era Pink Floyd ("Wandina" would fit right in on "A Momentary Lapse of Reason"), O Yuki Conjugate, the more ambient/found sound side of Nurse With Wound and the Future Sound of London and the solo work of ex-Neu! guitarist Michael Rother (in fact, maybe not so coincidentally, one of Rother's solo albums is entitled "Esperanza"). The first 5 and final 2 tracks are beat driven but the final minute or so of the fifth, presumably 'the basement' section, begins a 16 minute mostly ambient passage of washes, drones and samples that continue through the whispered words and watery drips of "Aglaria..". There's nothing too terribly startling anywhere on this disc ... it's rather mellow from start to finish and thus works great as background music for bedtime. I especially enjoy the beautiful piano passages found within "Wandina", "Journey" and "A Dive From the Cloud". I find "Esperanza" to be the least engaging of the half dozen Jester Records releases to date (see also: Arcturus, Bogus Blimp, Ulver and When) but it's certainly not bad and worth owning ...
Where did I get this cd? - from Jester Records to review.