2.5

Release data:

Sylvain Carel – Time and Tide
CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2014

With his second album “Time and Time”, Sylvain Carel again integrates a whole range of exotic/ethnic flavors in his synthesized, lush orchestrated music.

This time though, his instrumental musings didn’t touch me as much as his debut. I think the use of violin and some flutes doesn’t enhance nor enrich the 12 tracks that much. In addition, the feel of cheesy New Age and sweetness now runs like a strong current underneath the whole work, which makes it all worse. This doesn’t change when Mr Carel puts his music in dancy/groovy motion (such as on “Tuareg”) or adds assorted vocal samples (“Karma Land”).

To my ears, the outcome seems to drag on in a rather inconsistent manner most of the time, with just a slight improvement briefly heard on “Impact of the Wind”. It’s actually the true heart and soul in the music I miss the most on this recording.

PS. Two additional tracks, which didn’t fit onto the cd, are available for free from the AD Music website.