Release data:

Ma Ja Le – Dreams in the Orchards of Saturn
CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A.J. & Grey Sound, 1995

The ambient project Ma Ja Le was conceived in the ’90s by Christopher Short and Paul Vnuk with the aim for spontaneous improvisation, an exploration of sonic texture and atmosphere.

If I understand the info correctly, this album is from 1995, so before the release of the (more interesting) Mirage-cd “Imaginarum” that the duo made with Vir Unis. This “Dreams in the Orchards of Saturn” at least sounds very mysterious, searching, and (in keeping with the cover) almost shamanic. The music is characterized by Nick Parkin-like flute playing and Michael Brook-like guitar playing, in addition to many continuous experimental passages, of which I am definitely not a fan. To my ears, the third ambient piece “Vaniorum Domnus” is the most successful on this hour-long disc, the rest gets stuck in hazy atmospheres and formlessness.

In 2014, the two sound explorers put out a digital download of the release with a new cover, a remaster “simply adding a bit of that polish, mainly equalization and compression to bring this music forward into the now”.

Website: majale.bandcamp.com