 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Bio Born in 1963 in the German city of Osnabrueck, Peter Busboom began his musical career as a guitarist in various rock and funk bands around his country. After experiencing techno music at raves Peter discovered the ability to make and record music through new technologies, as a result his musical tastes shifted towards new age / experimental It was during this time that he had the opportunity to provide music for several festivals and exhibits in Germany, including the background music for the 1996 African traveling art exhibition "Colors", which was opened by Nelson Mandela in Berlin. In the late 90s Peter moved to New York where he continued with his ambient / experimental influenced style. During his five year stay in New York, Peter was busy composing music for the independent war movie "Nam" (2001), in addition to providing musical backgrounds for photo and art exhibits around the city. Before moving to Los Angeles in 2002 Peter released two ambient, electronica, trip hop styled albums, "the Beginning" and "Klangart," the latter featuring the song "Rainmode," which was influenced by the events on September 11th. In 2003 Peter's anti-war song "One Night in Baghdad" received airplay on NPR as a part of their All Songs Considered music show. Peter received national accolades for music he composed for a 2004 television advertisement for the board game Scrabble. Currently Peter is working on a project with prominent classical guitar and jazzy sounds. P. BUSBOOM (PETER) The Beginning Self-released (2004) On his website, Peter Busboom (a.k.a. P. Busboom) describes his music as a blend of ambient, electronica, and trip-hop. That's better than I could come up with! The Beginning is one of those albums that critics like me dread: good music that defies easy classification. Besides the genres the artist himself lists, I also heard ethno-tribal, progressive fusion, and maybe even a little hybrid d 'n' b! Yikes! Now what do I do? Help!!!! Okay, seriously, Busboom plays both a mean electric guitar (unless it's sampled, but I'll bet not) and some super keyboards too, plus he knows how to layer samples, rhythms, melodies, textures, and whatnot in creative and catchy ways. This is immediately apparent on the almost eight-minute opening title track which throws ebbing/flowing synths at you with some great electric guitar leads, those infectious semi-drum and bass beats, snazzy acoustic guitar work, and that's all in the first few minutes. The piece evolves into clanging reverberating tones (is that a sampled mouth harp I hear?) and swirling synths and also features snippets of dialogue from a sexy-voiced women. Hell, there's even whalesong - and it works! Huzzah! Of course, he instantly moves into a different vibe altogether with "Rainmode" opening with deeply echoed clicking glitch beats that morphs into a mellow slice of chill-out meets ambient dub, featuring smooth EM pulses and gentle melodic textures (I think it's processed guitar). The sound of a steadily falling rain drapes the track in a hint of sadness (according to Busboom's site, this track was influenced by the events of 9/11/01). The cut features an eerie wailing siren among the somber tones and slow beats. "Awosting" is yet another left-turn, this time into quasi-tribal soundscapes, beginning with crickets and other nocturnal creatures, gently pealing electric guitar, and a subtle whirring drone in the background. This goes on for awhile before the rapidly beating wings usher in the tribal elements consisting of sultry and sensual hand drums (one sounds like a water drum) and a echoing chime-like tone. Comparisons to artists like o yuki conjugate and Tuu spring to mind at this point. Later (the track is nine minutes long) he introduces pleasant, even serene, keyboard melodic elements and some languid electric guitar leads. Still to come is the percolating and peppy "The Victim of the Crow" which blends bouncy synth tones with solid riffing and tasty loops on the guitar and more of those quasi-drum and bass beats. I'd have to label this closer to progressive fusion than ambient, but it certainly has some ambient-ish qualities. "Hollywood's Loss" is short (not quite three minutes) and closer to more definitive ambient music with synth tones and washes and distant electric guitar that paint a brief soundscape. While I would have left the guitar off the track entirely, Busboom keeps it so far back in the mix that it never intrudes enough to derail the smooth flow of the cut. The album concludes with "Yellow Fin" which criss-crosses from mellow guitar jazz to retro EM and back again and settles into a chugging aggressive rhythmic prog fusion piece Obviously, an album with this assortment of styles will not be everyone's cup of tea, but Busboom handles the variety with skillful technique and plenty of artistry as well. The Beginning is a CD that exemplifies a sustained vision that spans more than a few genres, yet retains the artist's stamp of characteristic individuality (somehow, no matter how disparate any one track is from the other, the album holds together as a cohesive statement). I wouldn't mind seeing Busboom concentrate one of his future efforts in a more straight-ahead ambient direction, but for now, I recommend this recording. Bill Binkelman Wind and Wire Check out the artist's website: http://www.peterbusboom.com Track List: 1. the beginning 2. rainmode 3. awosting 4. the victim of the crow 5. hollywood` loss 6. yellowfin Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
|