The grand emotions evoked by these large, spatial sound structures resonate in the mind with a power that seems conscious of the immensity of time itself. I'm sure if Bach is still listening he's pleased and possibly a little jealous... Sacred Site marks the return of Michael Stearns as a solo artist after five busy years creating spectacular soundtrack music. Stearns saw the dawn of the 90's while traveling to Indonesia, Thailand, Egypt, Costa Rica, Brazil and the Galapagos Islands to record indigenous music and sound effects for film assignments. Arriving with an open mind and a finely tuned ear for ambience, he left stimulated -- not only by the exotic soundscapes and unfamiliar instruments he heard, but also by the powerful, elemental music of these ancient worlds. As a result, SACRED SITE shows a deeper integration of brilliant soundscape recordings and multi-cultural elements into Stearns's epic cinematic spacemusic style.

The monumental synthesized chord clusters in his theme for Sacred Site - first heard in his music for Lyra (Return) and Chronos - have evolved to advance the art of the fanfare to the borders of the cosmic. The grand emotions evoked by these large, spatial sound structures resonate in the mind with a power that seems conscious of the immensity of time itself. I'm sure if Bach is still listening he's pleased and possibly a little jealous.

More subtly dramatic are his majestic theme for "Baraka," with its dignified Indonesian gamelan cadences, the immensely mournful American Indian chanting of LESSERT MOORE on "Paha Sapa," the musical voices of the forest dwellers mingling with his suberb location recordings on pieces like "Tropical Rain Forest" and "Twin Flame." These musical soundscapes create an ineffable experience with the quality of dream, documentary, and poetic reverie all at once.

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