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Reviews 5-12-2019 |
Music Reviews |
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Reviews 5-12-2019 |
Music Reviews |
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Notte by Milana Zilnik Visit Milana at:
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One of the great joys of being areviewer of new music is that I am constantly exposed to a wide variety of
great compositions from artists all around the world. Oftentimes it's the
artists themselves who contact me and allow me the opportunity to listen to
their music which I might not have heard otherwise because of the large amount
of music that's released each week. Other times it's the serendipitous
discovery of music that leaps out at me as I wander through my social media
feeds trying to keep up with what's happening in a multitude of musical
communities that populate the online landscape. Such was the case with Notte by
Milana Zilnik which I found in my AV Twitter newsfeed as a YouTube video (8pm. Shadows) previewing
her upcoming album due to be released in June of 2019. After listening to the
preview song, I was impressed enough to share it on my Twitter feed with a
positive comment about the song and the hopes that the album would be just as
good. This led to a conversation with
the artist about her music and ultimately ended up with her giving me an
advance copy of the album that will shortly be available for everyone. It was
inevitable that with an album this good that I would decide that it was worth
reviewing here in the pages of Ambient Visions.
The album’s title is Notte which is
Italian for Night includes 12 compositions that are named for those hours when
shadows start to form on the walls from the setting sun until the first rays of
a new day dawns in the morning. If you’ve ever spent time up late at night or
into those solitary moments after midnight when the whole world seems to be
asleep you will know that it is a different world than it is during the day and even little noises become amplified by the silence
that surrounds you. There is a palpable feel to the darkness outside the window
and the feeling of being alone with yourself and your thoughts. Milana has captured
these feelings with her music on Notte which breathes out this serene, solitary
feeling through each note that she chooses to play on these pieces. Each note
of these compositions speaks volumes to the listener through the fact that they
are chosen specifically and deliberately by Milana to carry these delicate
emotions through the medium of her music and to communicate them to those who
have opened their emotions to this path through the darkness of the night with her music as the guide. If you thought that the hours of
night are a time of loneliness or feeling like a solitary person against the
world you would be wrong. Milana’s music is both reassuring and comforting to
those taking this journey through the quiet hours of each night and it leads us
through the darkness by walking beside us and letting us know that these hours
are a time of reflection, a time for dreaming, a time to relax away from the
world’s turmoil and a chance to revitalize ourselves so we can face the dawn of
a new day that’s always waiting for us in the morning. Milana has created with Notte a
musical portrait of those mysterious hours of the night when as the Moody Blues
might say it “removes the colors from our sight, red is gray and yellow
white” where our normal perceptions of the world are changed as we look
within ourselves and we dream about what could be instead of what is. Milana’s
compositions provide a relaxing atmosphere that caresses listeners with a
gentle touch that allows them to use her musical notes as signposts for moving through
a landscape that looks quite different than it does during the day. Her
minimalism is as smooth as silk and is a delight to listen to over and over
again. Milana’s music has an intimate touch
to it and allows the listener to feel the emotions that she has imbued in each
of her compositions and the album shows how Milana has achieved a mastery of
communicating deeper meanings through her keyboard which by itself is no small
feat. From the first notes of 8pm – Shadows to the last song on the album called
7am -Dawn Milana weaves a musical tapestry that evokes those emotions
associated with the silence that one finds in the “wee small hours of the morning”
while the world sleeps. The sound quality of this album is impeccable
throughout and captures perfectly Milana’s compositions. Her gentle touch on
the keyboard and her understanding of what it is she wants to communicate to
her listeners allows her music to create a simplicity that touches each
listener in a different way. Exactly how it should be. After hearing this album, I can only
hope that Milana will consider doing more of this kind of project in the future.
The nuance and the delicacy that she has shown in composing and recording these
songs demonstrates conclusively that she has more of a feel for this type of
composing than perhaps she knew she had. I would not be able to pick any of the
compositions from this album and point to it as my favorite track because all
of them were exquisite little journeys through the hours of the night and the
morning. After a few listens this album will wend its way into your soul, and
you will find that its musical landscape will be one that you will want to
return to time and time again. If this was her first time composing in this
style of music, I can’t wait to see what she might do when she has some
experience under your belt. Well done. Recommended by Ambient Visions. Reviewed by Michael Foster, editor Ambient Visions |
