Fountainhead: Cloud Cover: Aucourant Records 9808-1 - First Published 1998
Cloud Cover
by Fountainhead: a.k.a. Robert Scott
Thompson
A superb album by a music visionary!!
Reviewer: Aristodemos Pierides from Cambridge, Massachusetts
In Cloud Clover, Robert Scott Thompson's amazing skill in creating deep, impressionistic
sound environments shines through brilliantly through a series of tracks of
ambient electronic musical imagery.
It's a journey again to other times and other places where worlds merge and blend into each other, then diverge again and drift apart in a kind of interdimensional shift! The music has at times an eerie effect to it, an alien feel as if it were being broadcast from a cosmic, archetypal repository of delicately and exquisitely crafted sound structures. Each track has its own distinctive character with mesmerizing electronics emanating from deep within, blending with tibetan bowls in places and altogether sculpting a sonic landscape where mystery and alchemy mix and give rise to states of mind where the natural shapeshifts into the supernatural and travels a path never explored before!
The music has some slow-evolving, tense moments but then picks up speed and metamorphoses into magnificent sounding passages that give one the impression that something horribly significant and ominous is being worked out, a truth of cosmic proportions is being prepared to be revealed and the listener's mind gyrates in awe and in anticipation of this imminent apocalypse!
Music usually can serve as a mood altering medium but the way R.S.T. uses sound results in a complete transfer of mind to a surreal level where all the limits lift and experience becomes unconstrained and free to expand and move into the "imaginal", a realm between fact and fantasy!
R.S.T is a master artist, a whimsical sorcerer of sound, a designer of dreams made of pure vibration. It would be hard to listen to his work and not immediately recognize the genius behind it. Cloud Cover gets better with each listen as different and subtler elements and nuances of the music become apparent and to fully appreciate the depth and value of this album one has to devote some time to it, feel it, touch it and assimilate it until one becomes so familiar with it, you can almost call it home!!
ROBERT SCOTT THOMPSON / fountainhead
Cloud Cover (Aucourant Records Aurec-9808-1)
Under the guise of Fountainhead, Robert Scott Thompson has delivered a fabulous,
beautiful album of (largely) drone based ambience. Brian Eno and Thomas Koner
are triangulation points for this disc, but Thompson is no-one's acolyte in
this strongly individual release which further brings together his classical
ambient and avant garde computer compositional personae.
We begin this delightful journey with the questioning tones of 'Mist'. Bellguitar
and keyboards, wandering over long drones, are seeking a way through. Simple
chord progressions, hints of atonality, whispering winds are suggestive of being
lost in the fog, ending with distorted singing voices.
The layered, echoed bell-like tones, possibly struck gongs similar to Koner's,
and extended voice notes provide a lush shifting ambience in 'A sea of stars'.
A more complex side emerges in 'Luna' which is reminiscent, in the best possible
way, of Eno's short studies on Music for Films or the instrumentals of Another
Green World. An almost random tom-drum pattern and disembodied choirs form a
bed for searching synth lines, strange but mesmerizing electronic noises that
come and go at will, lost notes who wandering through the mix, all going to
form a hypnotic alien landscape.
Dreamy rumbles and drifting tones carry us through the title track (at 18 minutes
the longest track by far, though all of them could have happily been extended).
Some tinkling like chimes pass through, gongs echo distantly. Like a giant mobile
the elements shift scintillatingly before you. Thompson's computer composing
comes more to the fore in 'Drift', although the use of modified, enhanced and
distorted voices to form many of the drones is a feature of the album. Here
drones and gongs move eponymously and ethereal voices and computerbuzzed whispers
vie in small crescendos to spellbind us (some postclassical vocal works, such
as Ligetti, come to mind).
'Terra' is a simpler drone piece with layers of voices and keyboards providing
a gentle counterpoint, under all of which a deep throbbing rolls. A weird sort
of demented funk is found on 'Dimensions of Paradise': toms
and wavering keyboards form a slow rhythmic bed over which all sorts of
wacky noises have their chance at a solo spot - voices, horn tones, breathy
flutes, wild winds, hammering.
The title of 'Wind on Water' is interesting - it is the same as the first track
on Fripp'n' Eno 'Evening Star'. Other titles are similar
to Eno (Drift/Drift study, Mist) indicating either un hommage or the finite
nature of names in the ambient genre! The Thompson piece is, anyway, unlike
its namesake. Strange metallic noises open it, including modified voice sounds
sweeping between the speakers. A slowdriving drum rhythm enters and gongs and
chimes form quite a driving work, over which synth lines, some reminiscent of
throat singing, play, and a distant mandolin near the end. The rhythmic nature
continues with 'Mythos' where echoing piano and drones join the complex mood.
The album as a whole has an ethereal majesty, and Thompson demonstrates a masterful placement of elements within tracks and the sequencing of the whole disk. The broad sources for his sounds adds an extra dimension to what is fascinating ambience. Whether this is a 98 or 99 release, it will deservedly make it onto many 'best of …' lists, and underscores his growing reputation in the world of ambience. And, oh yes, I like it alot!
for more information: http://www.aucourantrecords.com/rst/aurec/
by Jeremy Keens
Fountainhead- Cloud Cover (Aucourant Aurec 9810-1-AMB)
Fountainhead is the pseudonym of ambient composer Robert Scott Thompson who has been involved in some of the more interesting releases as of late, primarily The Silent Shore, Frontier and The Ambient Eclipse (on Oasis/Mirage). With RST you get a return to classic ambient music, long stretches of drawn out soundscapes which allow the listener time to internalize their own thought processes. It's not something that can be said lightly but in Robert Scott Thompson you have the equivalent of a Steve Roach or even Brian Eno to a degree, statements I have made in the past and I still agree with. The quality of his work is consistently high. Fountainhead sees a bit of a darker edge to RST's music but still deeply satisfying. Clocking in at about 70 minutes, there are nine tracks of which the longest is the title track at about 18 minutes in length. This covers similar sonic terrains. At the end of the day it's space music, long slow journeys into the vastness of the cosmos, into the mind's eye if you care to go down that track. I'm particularly impressed with how Fountainhead uses the reverberations from metal bowls to invoke a deep state in the listener, something Chatanya Hari Deuter did equally successfully on some of his earlier meditational cassettes / lp's years back when he was composing music for the Rajneesh folks. The ever radiating circle of sound. In fact resonance seems to be a key factor throughout this release. I often wonder where people like RST get their inspiration from. There is a darkness to this music that I haven't normally heard on previous releases, almost at times lonely atmospheres. Terra is reminiscent of the works of Suspended Memories; what you get are tribal beats and primordial atmospheres. Roach would call it dreamtime music. I've raved about RST enough in the past, and I feel like I 'm repeating myself. Check out his works on Oasis or Aucourant, you won't be disappointed. I think his best is yet to come but rest assured based on his past outputs I am not one to complain. This is about as good as it gets with ambient music, a form of music I'm very partial to. Chances are that you probably won't find his works in the shops, especially if you live in Australia but check out the web sites for more info and order direct from the man himself. Highly recommended.
http://www.aucourantrecords.com/rst/aurec/
http://www.users.bigpond.com/nadabrahma/reviews/ambient%20stuff/fhead.html
Fountainhead: Cloud Cover
Fountainhead: Cloud Cover (Aucourant Records - 1998)
Robert Scott Thompson is at it again, with a name change, recording on his own Aucourant label as Fountainhead. But that's not the only thing different; unlike some of his recent otherwordly works (Frontier, for instance), Cloud Cover is a journey through a much darker place. These clouds seem to bear ill winds and evil deeds within their shapeshifting gray masses, obscuring the light and bringing darkness to the land.
Long, sustained piano notes and other processed sounds blur into a spooky Mist where we also sometimes hear unidentifiable, animalistic warbles which echo and fade. The air here is dense and filled with convoluted soundwaves, and a faraway chorus. We're not in Kansas anymore... Instead, we're on A Sea of Stars, a region known for endless bells echoing in a haze, not to mention hazy echoes of bells, and bellishly hazy echoes. Add a liberal sprinkling of tinkling and an underlying drone, and you'll get the idea. Into the next zone, the more menacing Luna, where tribal beats override the other effects which include long piano notes, primitive horns, electronic haze and tinkling bells. Claustrophobia induces paranoia and the quiet (except for the neverending drumming) passages are scarier than the swirling noisier segments...
For more than 18 minutes, we're immersed in Cloud Cover (18:05), an almost impenetrable fogbank with billowing drones, amorphous shimmers and occasional bell-like accents. The power of the droning rises and falls, and the consistency of the murk varies... beautiful in its own way, but oppressive nonetheless. Waves of what seems to be processed feedback, bell tones, violins, voice and other miscellaneous sounds thickly, and sometimes loudly, float in Drift; that term is often applied to free-form ambience, but usually implying a serene sort of drifting... there is a distinct edginess to this chaotic atmosphere. I wouldn't float here too long without some sort of life preserver. Terra rumbles and lumbers through an alien landscape, to emerge upon some familiar, though altered sounds. A singing female voice is human enough, but her warbling is of no guidance, and the piano notes we hear are distorted, much like our sense of place.
With a title like Dimensions of Paradise (3:50), we might expect a breath of relief... but this, too, is a dimension of strangeness. A tropical zone of primitive beats and deep drones which waver like a heat haze. Odd accents include screechingly shrill horns, a disorienting swell and the mechanical patter which ends the track. Breezes blow in with Wind on Water, but a momentary lull only erupts in a rising tribal fury. Mesmerizing like a cobra, and possibly as dangerous, rhythmic poundings and droning accompaniment fascinate and fill with dread. The beats are lighter in Mythos though still jungle-ish. The piano notes and horns are more contemporary, safe, and bright even (despite their tendency to blur shrilly). The clouds are giving way to rays of sun and we genuinely appreciate the blue skies and daylight.
I'm not sure that Cloud Cover was meant to be so dark, but for me, Fountainhead's guided tour has been through some murky and downright evil places. I had a great time and look forward to going back again! Despite my goings on about darkness and danger, the disk is very well put together, a most artful exercise in alienation. I rate it at 7.9
This review posted January 27, 1999
Fountainhead
Robert Scott Thompson
Cloud Cover
Aucourant AUREC9810 (USA), 1998
Cloud Cover is the newest release from composer, acoustic researcher and music professor Robert Scott Thompson, who has taken the title of Fountainhead for his ambient projects. Released on his own Aucourant Records, Cloud Cover is a floating sea of intriguing sound.
"Mist" opens the disc with a bed of ambience dominated by an aimless synthetic piano-like melody that lends the track a clunky feel. Luckily, this character only reappears rarely throughout the rest of the album. Most of the pieces feature a mix of airy and metallic drones and distant bells. "Luna," "Wind on Water" and "Mythos" stand out for their use of subtle, ritualistic percussion. "Dimensions of Paradise" is by far the strangest piece, with plenty of weird, unidentifiable sounds working their way into the mix. The title track, clocking in at 18 minutes, is an enveloping soundscape that provides some of the best moments on the album.
Cloud Cover is a bit less experimental and more ethereal than Thompson's recent work under his own name, but in much the same vein. Fans of the quiter moments on The Silent Shore will definitely find a home here, as will anyone with a taste for layered, floating ambient atmospheres.
Eric Prindle
http://www.susqu.edu/students/p/prindle/ambient/review/fountainhead.html
FOUNTAINHEAD
"CLOUD COVER"
Aucourant Records
The nine electronic pieces that integrate this CD have a decidedly mysterious, enigmatic character. Fountainhead (a.k.a. Robert Scott Thompson) achieves in them a very cosmic atmosphere. The music is mostly static, even though there also are passages with a slow percussive rhythm. This is an imaginative ambient album, mainly because of the amount of innovative concepts that he includes in his sonic and musical palette. In the work the listener can hear wrapping sounds that penetrate the mind leaving a strong impression of loneliness and remoteness.
E. KOGLER - Amazing Sounds Magazine
Fountainhead-Cloud Cover
Cloud Cover features the creative works of Robert Scott Thompson and weighs in with more than 70 minutes of high-quality ambient music. The album is slightly more spacey than some of his other releases and includes some very subtle, but effective percussion elements thrown into the mix. The music generally floats through elegant phases of mellow sounds and draws the listener into his web of beautiful space music. Highly recommended for all connoisseurs of space music. -SME, CD Spectrum
Fountainhead
Cloud Cover
Dreamy synthetic atmospheres fused with differential minimalist drone, sub-melody and multi-percussion are some of the elements used by Robert Scott Thompson in this classical ambient release, "Cloud Cover"; it is an excellent addtition and 'must have' to the ambient music enthusiasts collection or those who enjoy minimalist drone with exotic eastern-edge rhythms.
The CD begins with a spacey, twisted, dark and compelling movement of piano and floating timbres of haunting drone, appropriately titled "Mist." Higher in pitch with a background of ethereal synth sets the sonic stage for "A Sea Of Stars." "Luna" is percussion oriented with gently rolling exotic Middle Eastern drums, bells, and a sensual ambient backdrop. "Dimensions Of Paradise" also has an acoustic exotic feel to it with flutes, soft drums and and eastern rhythmic flavour. The longest track on the release (18:00), "Cloud Cover" is a beautiful and moving work of deep constructive sub-harmonic layering and textures of dronal noise and tinkling of bells; "Drift" is also along the lines of the previous track and reminds me in part of the soundtrack to "2001 A Space Oddessy".
Serenity is exemplified on "Terra" with female chanting as archaic as the Earth itself, set against single key piano and synthetic groans whereas "Wind On Water" brings to mind the imagery of amazonian tribes exploring the maze of the river. The final track "Mythos" blends piano and waxing synth that seems to portray an aural tale much like that of Erato in Erebus.
Last Sigh Magazine 1999