Leaving the Planet
Ed Herbers has a long history of creating soundscapes that not only sooth and create new happy places, but also for some deeper story telling. With Upper Atmosphere, Ed Herbers has reached a pinnacle in the tale weaving skill set.
This album is so deeply ambient, even listening to it now renders me just about incoherent. It is that good. From the mind deluding drone and the subtle nuances of notes, which I suspect belie the utter brutality of space, this album is the complete ambient experience.
By tapping into the primal wonder humans have for the heavens above, with all their mysterious and dangerous beauty, Herbers drives a musical wedge into the mind. That is to say, he prises our vision from the earthy and nudges our eyes gently to the sky.
Upper Atmosphere is also a homage to the pioneers who have gone out there for no other reason than the curiosity and drive for discovery that had motivated so many to leave the comforts of their own homes.
Within the album's concept lies a vast contradiction that just works. The music in the album is purely ambient. A thirty second preview will confirm that. Upper Atmosphere does everything it can to avoid riling you up. It is soft, gentle and nourishing to the soul. Just about everything that space exploration, with is raucous rockets, huge egos, and vast consumption of the Earth's resources, is not.
This is one killer ambient piece and one that should be in any ambient music fan's collection. Herbers continues his long reign as a premier ambient musician with some really big ideas.