Haiku albums

GLIMPSES – reviews

Reviewed by Michael Foster, editor Ambient Visions

Glimpses is the second album to be released on the Real Music label from The Haiku Project who is actually Danish musician Henrik Hytteballe. Glimpses is a 12 song 70-minute peaceful journey that offers up a varied sound palette that is both relaxing and still able to hold the listener’s attention as it weaves a most thoughtful sonic space through well written and produced music. On his Real Music bio page Henrik says that he is never satisfied when he writes music with accompanying vocals as he would rather paint his feelings and emotions through his music alone allowing that to convey those things that vocals would never be able to do justice to. Glimpses is Henrik’s way of offering listeners a chance to understand the passions behind the music that he evidently loves composing and sharing with others through these releases. There is not enough time in the world to compose music that would even come close to capturing the complex sensations that are felt during our lifetimes but perhaps through music you might be able to offer “glimpses” into that vast storehouse of impressions that we all store deep down inside.

The 12 songs on this album have a variety of names that seems to speak to the title of this release as the listener journeys with The Haiku Project through a landscape that comes from the heart and soul of the composer. While the keyboard plays an important part of the compositions that make up this album it is also layered with strings and an ambient synth background that gives the paint that is the piano a surface on which to create the images that Henrik evokes so well through his deft touch on the keyboard.  A wonderful example of this would be the song called Dreaming that with its 12-minute length allows Henrik a chance to journey through the landscape of sleep on a leisurely trip that gives the listener ample time to appreciate the soundscape that he creates with his piano and a chance to contemplate for themselves the world that opens up to those who sleep and dream.

Another favorite song from this release that I found myself being drawn back to again and again was the composition Angels Are Watching which comes towards the end of the album but is one that the listener should not overlook. While the music, the synths and the sounds that comprise this composition are all rather haunting and mysterious the listener will be able to feel the waves of emotional energy that pours out of this song. There is a creative strength that you can feel throughout this piece that shows the compositional abilities that Henrik called upon as he wrote and recorded this song. With a title like Angels Are Watching the song delivers a mood of reflection that is worthy of the subject matter.

Other standout tracks include Where is My Horse which closes out the album and a song called Gullfoss which even though it is the shortest track on the album is nonetheless a delightful song that doesn’t feature the piano but rather focuses on the synths to create a wonderfully light and airy song that is simply enchanting. Glimpses is a great way to spend an hour or so allowing the music to take away a little bit of the edge that you come home with after a stressful day at work. It was apparent that Henrik aka The Haiku Project is a talented individual and was able to pour his feelings and emotions into these 12 songs that he has released on this album. The sound quality throughout is impeccable and the production standards are as usual for Real Music releases top notch.

Reviewed by Michael Foster, editor Ambient Visions

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Glimpses By The Haiku Project
Written by Steve Sheppard

I have been familiar with the work of Henrik Hytteballe for some years now, so it’s a pleasure to review his beautiful work as The Haiku Project, entitled Glimpses.

Here dear reader you will find an expansive work of grandeur and smooth tones of absolute delightful proportions, as we start with the simple but charming melody of Small Planets, which leads us with a gentle hand into the wonderland of a track called Gullfoss, a fine example of Hytteballe’s ability to create a vast soundscape of musical bliss, with consummate ease.

From the rumbling oasis of sound in the preceding track, we are smoothly transported to a floating slice of genius called The Sea; this one was one of my personal favourites. Here is a piece I could see being used in a film soundtrack,
it is so extremely pleasing to the mind, heart and ears.

Sacred Places has a sublime moody electronic element to it that will delightfans of this genre and is a track so well composed and thought out, it takes me back to the glory days of the New Age music industry, now listen very carefully to this piece dear listener, you may find a few interesting surprises contained within.

The most important piece on the album is arguably the title track and here Hytteballe rises to the occasion with a deep searching composition that acts almost like a musical beacon in the night, Glimpses.

From the roof of my apartment I can watch the rippling Mediterranean Ocean glimmer in the late winter sun, for a moment I glimpse the movement of a tail, could this be a Mermaid? They’re well known here and this stunningly moving arrangement would be ideal for any encounter, Mermaids is an absolutely mesmerizing track indeed.

We now slide with a graceful intent into the second half of the album and come across a real gem called Follow Me. This is a real downbeat composition that is played at such a slow tempo, that the melody will stick with you forever. Scandinavia is another musical painting that will graphically illustrate the location with a musical brushstroke, while the real opus on the album at just over twelve minutes is Dreaming.

I have played this track several times now and each time I do so it moves me more and more. Dreaming creates space and pace as it manifests into a serenade of great quality and musicianship, it is undeniably smooth, patient and times even haunting.

Glimpses is one of those quality albums that will bring you instant peace and contentment, take this one for example, it’s called Manifold, here is a song that has passion, it has a sense of longing and an emotional yearning that will draw a tear from your eye.

The penultimate track off the album is the mystical Angels are Watching, there is a delightful steady build in this piece that hovers like the mist across an early summer lake, the keys are so delicately played here, they create a sensitive frame of ambience for the listener.

We now end our sojourn with Henrik Hytteballe’s The Haiku Project and the album Glimpses with a piano drive piece called, Where Is My Horse? The title maybe curious, but the music is outstanding, as is the entire album.

Glimpses is a clever title, Henrik Hytteballe is in a class all of his own and has created via The Haiku Project, one of the most stunningly beautiful albums that you will have heard for a long time. He has manifested a release that is deeply meaningful and so musically blissful, that you will never want the experience to end.

 

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por Pablo Rego Yoga sin Fronteras blog:

| El músico danés Henrik Hytteballe lanza al mercado, a través de Real Music, su nuevo álbum denominado Glimpses, que contará con distribución y estará disponible a partir del próximo 22 de Enero.

El nuevo trabajo del compositor, pianista y tecladista danés es la continuidad de su proyecto personal que comenzó en 2006 y con el que lleva publicado cinco álbumes –segundo con Real Music- basado en el concepto del “haiku”, una forma de poesía breve tradicional japonesa que expresa la percepción relativa del Ser siempre en relación con el mundo que lo contiene y con permanente.

The Haiku Project fue evolucionando desde sus comienzos de fusión de música ambiental y rock hacia una forma cada vez más profunda, como la que puede apreciarse en el recorrido de setenta minutos en Glimpses con una brillante utilización de recursos técnicos desde lo musical y lo instrumental. La búsqueda de sonidos para expresar la percepción, la concentración de pequeños elementos concretos o la expansión total de la conceptualización de lo intangible, sutil o infinito crean estados o ambientes internos para que la poesía de la música vaya invadiendo sutilmente al oyente.

Cada pista del disco es un estado inspirado por un elemento que el artista fue recreando en música y que expresa un rango de dimensiones inequívocamente humanas, como lo espiritual, la relación con el mundo y el universo, con lo natural y lo sagrado, con lugares y experiencias próximos y concretos.

Glimpses, que podría traducirse como “atisbos” o “vislumbres”,  es un disco instrumental de música ambiental y meditativa en un estilo “flow” que deja mucho espacio disponible en la mente humana para la expansión de la consciencia.