The Land Of Ghosts Volume 1

Audio CD-R (2002) from mp3.com (Jewel case) and Peoplesound (Digipak).

No longer available.

An introduction to early Karda Estra featuring 4 tracks from the first 2 albums, plus 3 rare tracks and 2 archive Lives And Times tracks.

Tracks:

1. ... From A Deep Sleep

2. Transference

3. Dorothea's Nightmusic

4. The Ribbon Of Extremes

5. Avatar

6. Chaos (Opening Titles)

7. Chaos Theme

8. Two Broken Circles

9. Lizard Baby

Tracks 1,2 are from A WINTER IN SUMMERTIME, Tracks 3,4 are from THIRTEEN FROM THE TWENTY FIRST, Track 6 is unavailable elsewhere, Tracks 5,7 have been released subsequently on ALTERNATE HISTORY, Track 8 is from the LIVES AND TIMES (Richard's previous band) album THE PULL OF A TIDE, Track 9 is from the LIVES AND TIMES album THERE AND BACK AGAIN LANE.

This is a superb collection of inspirational, atmospheric mood music. there are shades of other artists but the sum is, in this case, bigger than the parts. There are some wonderfully evocative and ethereal vocals from Ileesha Bailey and the instrumental performances are outstanding. This is a delight and a rare treasure. Not simply songs, portraits in music. A little bit goth, a little bit ambient, a tad No-Man, this is wonderful, wonderful music. ZEITGEIST. http://www.zeitgeist-scot.co.uk

Ileesha Bailey's voice is still here, filling in time while waiting for Bill to come home, but this time it 's used more as an instrument than a purveyor of lyrics. Clever. So what you get here is simply stunning musicianship, as anyone who heard Lives & Times will know. Progressive electronic rock music meets neo-classical, uplifting melancholia, if you get my drift. Reverbed percussion, gothic organs, girlie sighs and chorale, multiplex themes and superbly arranged and produced to boot. Classic Floyd lead guitars, haunting, trippy, multi-layered sounds, those Curved Air processed femme vox, a fairytale for sleepwalkers everywhere. Clannad meets The Cocteau Twins, atmospheric, dark and brooding, powerful and triumphant. A superb composer, musician and visionary. Flash bastard. This collection includes material from the first Karda Estra CD, 'A Winter In Summertime', the new one, 'Thirteen From The Twenty e. First', plus some film soundtrack stuff and a couple of instrumental works from the old Lives & Times CDs, 'The Pull Of A Tide' and 'There And Back Again Lane'. A really great introduction to the work of a real musical genius. Mick Magic, United World Underground/Music & Elsewhere. http://music-elsewhere.hypermart.net

The Land of Ghosts is the first compilation of music drawn from both the Karda Estra and Lives & Times catalogue of albums. The common denominator to both groups is composer and multi-instrumentalist Richard Wileman. I'll make no bones here about being biased, the Karda Estra albums are very special: highly melodic, full of beautiful multi-textured music that is anything but bland. The aurally incompetent will classify it as 'New Age' but it rises far above that appellation for bland inoffensive lift music - this is carefully crafted music that is full of art and soul. One only has to play this new compilation to hear what I mean. Tracks such as From the Deep Sleep, Transference, Dorethea's Nightmusic and The Ribbon of Extremes literally glow with a musical purity - though the latter is much aided by collaborator Ileesha Bailey's ethereal vocals. Make no mistake, this is fusion music [and I know that that is another misused term], but Richard Wileman has taken elements of classical music and merged them with a restrained palette of rock instruments and dynamics. It is an infectious and heady brew, I can tell you, and this compilation is the best place to start exploring the music of Karda Estra. From John Peter's Borderland website.