New Age Voice - Review by Jeff Johansen

'A Survey of Remembered Things'
Richard Bone & John Orsi

     A Survey of Remembered Things came in to existence after the two musicians and friends, Richard Bone and John Orsi, shared a few edits they were working on and realized the pieces went well together. The CD has two suites, the first by Bone, the second by Orsi, with a hidden track at the end by Richard. Although composed in isolation, the pieces meshed so tightly that I had to examine the tracks to see when one left off and the other began. Bone has produced a variety of excellent work, and in this newest effort continues to develop his sound, a distinctive synthesizer ambient music built on the rhythm line. Orsi, a drummer in the group Knitting by Twilight, uses piano, synths, drums, and samples to create a sound that is at times reminiscent of Philip Perkins "Hall of Flowers" and at times reminiscent of Bone himself. Although a cohesive album, there is actually quite a variety of approaches and moods on the album. "Chango" and "Paradigm Pool" have the slightly dark rhythm-based sound characteristic in Bone's earlier releases. "Mercurial Wave" is calming and Eno-like. "Komarov's Fire" conveys nobility and courage. "In a Toy Room" is the up-beat, Perkins-like edit, while "Broken Ballet" is sweetly melancholic. Richard Bone has not disappointed me yet, and hopefully this release will bring him the radio exposure and commercial success he deserves.

Instrumentation: synthesizers, piano, drums, samples.

Jeff Johansen