Instrumental World Fusion: A blend of Southern Hemisphere, Indian, classical, rock, and avant-garde. Captivating acoustic guitar melodies accompanied by a variety of drums and percussion.

14 MP3 Songs
WORLD: World Fusion, ROCK: Instrumental Rock



Details:
THE SOUNDS OF GONDWANALAND:

Clay Greenâs unorthodox approach to musical genres and structure is on full display in Voyage to Gondwanaland, his latest project. Although several of the tracks on this album evoke familiar origins (âMountain Trailâ comes straight from the Andean region, âÓ Roâ is built on a traditional Irish melody, âDown Riverâ sounds South African), most cannot be categorized so easily. Indeed, a majority of the songs contain a hodgepodge of formats which range from Indian improvisations to Mediterranean guitar pieces; from rock jams to classical passages.

INSTRUMENTATION:

True to form, Green showcases an assortment of acoustic guitars for this album: steel-string, 12-string, nylon classical, and what sounds like guitar-sitar. For auxiliary instrumentation, he utilizes such standbys as virtual World Drums, electric bass, and some authentic-sounding accompaniments. There are some hard rock passages, complete with electric guitar and organâcourtesy of his PM Band. Thereâs even a quasi-symphonic endeavor, âLost at Sea Part I,â which is a definite departure from his first album, Twilightâs Haze.

TECNICA TAGLIO E COLLA:

Some have described Greenâs arrangement techniques as âTaglio e Colla.â And in fact, many of these tracks demonstrate his fondness for concatenating multiple concise sections into one long musical piece. âEpisode Xanadu,â âUjbak UÄhalnÄ,â and âLost at Sea Part IIâ all have combined sequences, including some âTaglio e Collaâ variations on theme. That is, theyâre comprised of several separate sequences with distinct instrumentation, but are connected by a common melodic thread.

With âUjbak UÄhalnÄ,â Green weaves a tapestry of complacency with relaxing melodies and improvisations comprised of guitar-sitar, flute, and World Drums. But halfway through the piece, the mood mutates abruptly into a dissonant whole-note jam (as performed by a pernicious electric guitar, fuzz bass, and highly-compressed drums.)

âLost at Sea Part IIâ is the most âthemedâ piece in the collection and contains several sections, each having different instrumentation. The first is with orchestra and establishes the main melodic theme. The middle section introduces an acoustic guitar duet performing an arpeggio passage, mostly in 7/8 time. The finale features the PM Band combining portions of the main theme with a progressive rock rendition of the middle section.

For more leisurely listening, he provides the simplistic â18 Stringsâ and âLight House.â These songs are comprised of acoustic guitar duets and have no accompanying percussion.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:

âGondwanaland is a nostalgic link to our ancient past. Years ago, the world was more 'together' then it is nowâ¦Many of the challenges we face today can be traced to ancient riftsâ¦and from the world drifting apart from one another. Through my music, I try to keep an ear to the past, but itâs the future that we should all be concerned about.â--Clay Green