This is the second collaborative work by guitarist
Carl Weingarten and synthesist Walter Whitney, the first being Dreaming in Colors. On
Primitive Earth,
Weingarten continues to explore the parameters of electric guitar distortion, particularly through the use of delay, and in this respect he is similar to rock guitarist
Adrian Belew. Also like
Belew he is not so much interested in fast licks and rapid-fire pyrotechnics so much as creating a certain ambience, painting pictures in sound. Sometimes it is hard to tell the guitar from the keyboards, as its sustained notes flow in and out of the synth textures. Four additional synthesists contribute to various tracks on the album, which opens quietly but moves quickly into more upbeat terrain (notably the rock-charged groove of "Medellin"), only to wind down toward the end into spacier introspection. The final cut, "Fin" (French for end) echoes the opening cut, with individual guitar notes plucked harmonically against a backdrop of atmospheric delay.
Primitive Earth has much interesting material to offer those who appreciate progressive electronic music treading the boundaries between rock and new age. ~ Backroads Music/Heartbeats