Review: Panabrite “Pavilion”

28 Oct 2014 — Dave Power

A large amount of current ambient/electronic music consists of beautiful slow-moving chord progressions on processed strings like Stars of the Lid or more experimental/noise mediums like Tim Hecker. This is not the case for Panabrite’s newest album Pavillion as it is heavily made up of new age-style synth lines and, according to the man behind the Panabrite, particularly influenced by the minimalism and prog of 70s-era Italy. Panabrite is the solo project of Norm Chambers based out of Seattle. Similarly to M. Sage, Chambers melds together electronic soundscapes of synths and electric keyboards with organic instrumentation like acoustic guitar, xylophone, and bells. Panabrite’s main sound combines that late 70s synth sound with heavily tangible instruments to create a very ambient, new age landscape.

Pavilion blends electronic and living worlds. The opening track “Veil” begins with the sound of steady rain while sparkling synths gradually join the mix, echoing and bouncing off of each other in the background. A slowly moving line is added, reminiscent of Gregorian chants of 10th-century Europe, causing the album’s opening to convey a steadily sacred and solemn atmosphere. Another notable track is “Memory”, which starts with a continuous Rhodes piano line that gives way to vocoder-effected vocals that loop and pan into a tremendously ethereal synth drone.

The whole album invariably floats through space as a slow, methodic drone. At the end of “Balsam” we are momentarily dragged out of this extraterrestrial world and back to our own planet where a distantly running industrial fan is heard underneath echoing wind chime bells. Pavilion moves in waves, rising with the electronic architecture and falling back with earthly transitions. The closing track “Quartz,” ends with an incredibly emotional pad of synth strings, maintaining and solidifying Chambers’ love for new age ambient recordings. It’s a short track that ends in decaying, warbled synth whistles, abruptly ending the 44-minute journey through the cosmos, 1970s-era Italian minimalism, and synthetic new age soundscapes.

Step onto the Pavilion that Panabrite has meticulously constructed, out now on Immune Recordings.