Label: Made To Measure
Catalog#: MTM 26 CD
Format: CD, Album
Country: Belgium
Released: 1990
DISCOGS
1 Arrows 9:44
2 Sticks And Spices 3:49
3 Shogun 8:06
4 Rainy Forest 5:26
5 Afrocubana 5:22
6 Istanblue 6:02
7 Unknown Lights 6:32
8 Blue Nile 3:25
世界中を旅しながら出会ったという500以上の楽器を操るマルチ奏者/作曲家Steve Shehan（スティーブ・シェハン）。ベルギーのレーベルCrammed Discsの環境/付随音楽シリーズMade To Measureの26番として、1990年に発表された「Arrows」は、民族的スピリットが宿る数々のインストゥルメントを取り合わせ、アンビエント・エッジな妖術を施した8つの幻影風景を収録。蜃気楼に浮かび上がる遠くの国々の風景を次々と渡り歩く全方位観光（オムニ・サイト）的センスと、第四世界音楽の探索は、近い時期にイタリアで表出したPaolo ModugnoやRoberto Musciの作品とも共振。熱帯雨林からアフロ・キューバ、そしてイスタンブールを遊覧する#4-6への流れに特に惹かれます。
...
A large problem inherent to so-called "creative music" is the lack of understanding of the power of sound. Creativity is more a brightright than an acquisition, and the power of sound is wisdom and understanding applied to the power of vibration. Steve Shehan has produced an this recording an honnest communication as a true citizen of the world, a world where ancient musics only existed because of the power of vibration and the sensible, mystical effect it had on the human condition. Once a musician has set foot in this world it becomes hard to accept the clever technical promise that makes up so much so much of today's "creative music". The guidelines for someone born in America and raised in Europe become even wider when one considers the fact that Steve admittedly never felt he belonged anywhere until he discovered Indonesia. Such individual adventures are rarely translated into music within a group performance so, in a small home studio, Steve developped a unique method of performing and recording the majority of his own music. Arrows is music that is layered in percussion; mirror images are slightly altered to add depth of view to the plains of sound.
Arrows is also a landscape that evolutes into dreamscape of surrealistic images; the smell of the village, the heat of the desert, the vista from a wide angle lens. Steve Shehan combines a world of elements that most musicians seldom hear of (or dream of) and it is with unusual fervor that so vast a merging of this world's music is woven into such an elegant tapestry of sound. - Booklet inner notes via discogs
