Detailed Reviews [Project Moonbeam - 2007 - "Project Moonbeam"]

Prolusion. PROJECT MOONBEAM is the brainchild of Colorado-based musician and composer Chris Fournier, best known for his albums released under the Fonya moniker. This latest project sees Fournier collaborating with a number of fellow musicians, with Philadelphia violinist Cyndee Lee Rule the primary one, and was written and recorded over a period of three years.

Analysis. Musically this is a mixed bag in many ways: style and manner as well as quality. The common denominator for all tunes here is a spacey tinge to the soundscape, and most of the tracks are pieces dominated by electronic rather than rock music per se. The half a dozen or so tunes where violinist Cyndee Lee Rule contributes consist of one particular brand of composition, in which the main feature is the contrast between the electric violin and the other instruments used. Drums, bass, keyboards and guitar all weave a dampened and warm musical landscape in tunes slightly varied in character, mood and style. The violin is used to a greater or lesser extent to provide a different musical texture, its cold and chilling yet highly melodic sound and tinge creating a psychedelic and often alien feel to these pieces, resulting in rather eerie space tinged compositions sounding quite similar in style to some of the compositions on Cyndee Lee Rules’ 2005 release “UFOsmosis”. Most of these tunes are intriguing as well, with the slow and atmospheric track Depths Unknown being my personal favorite here. There are not too many really interesting compositions on the album apart from these, though. The slick space rock tune Speculation is a bit of a treat, and the new age tinged dreamy, slightly ominous Theme One is a brilliant and captivating composition. The rest of the tracks fail to make a lasting impression for me; some of them are nice tunes without remarkable aspects to them and a few ones that for various reasons don't manage to engage at all, basically coming across as fillers.

Conclusion. Many songs on this album share a trait that might be seen as negative by some listeners, this being that the compositions have no defined ending. Some of these tunes don't have a real evolution at all, exploring a certain mood or atmosphere, while others evolve, but both types fail to reach a conclusion. Thus many pieces here will fade out rather than reach a conclusive ending; a trait that might not be to anybody's taste. Still, listeners interested in mostly electronic-dominated space tinged instrumental compositions will find many enjoyable moments on this release, and fans of the genre might rate this one a bit higher than yours truly.

OMB: July 16, 2008
The Rating Room