• Pieter Nooten

    Haven

    “…Soundtracks to heaven…” ?? “…Pieter Nooten’s all instrumental new double album ‘Haven’ is the third in the series of solo-releases entirely composed and mixed on the Mac Book Pro. Forced to disregard the frills of most hi-end ambient/neo-classical productions Nooten nevertheless produced one the most authentic and exemplary sounding CDs of this year. ‘Haven’ has the true mark of the contiguous quality and style we have learned to appreciate from Nooten’s previous releases, all the way back to  his ‘Clan Of Xymox’ song writing days.  

    On ‘Haven’ Nooten sounds more introverted and world weary than we are accustomed to, sketching a deeply introspective musical world of heart-wrenching beauty, incorporating elaborate sound design and experimentation without over-producing the music or compromising his initial goals. As a rule Pieter Nooten sounds like Pieter Nooten: there are minimal influences by  predecessors, external styles or genres. Nooten’s music has nothing of the contemporary obsession with traditionalist epigonism; his gaze is firmly fixed on the future, utilizing minimalist composing techniques as a tool to innovate, not imitate. Nooten is inspired by both his direct as well as indirect environment: the world famous Dutch panorama’s of deep blue shaded cloud formations, the cold and wet Northern European climate where most human emotions are suppressed and melancholy, but also a desperate need for beauty and aesthetics blooms. Nooten never contests his personal mark: a pensive sadness that delicately lies hidden within every single melody, sound and harmony: a profound melancholy that is intense and at some moments quite overwhelming.  (A. Engelman, Amsterdam, 2012) 

     

    Tracklisting

    1. Here Is Light I
    2. Slowed II
    3. Slowed I
    4. The Paik Theme II
    5. Transit
    6. Unbroken II
    7. The Waiting I
    8. The Long Goodbye II
    9. Der Abschied
    10. Here Is Light II
    11. The Paik Theme I
    12. Slowed III
    13. Unbroken I
    14. Unbroken III
    15. Overflight
    16. Different Planet
    17. The Waiting II
    18. The Paik Theme III
    19. The Long Goodbye I
    20. El Encuentro

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