Fulton, Dave

Artist: Dave Fulton + Giles Reaves
P: 2007
Dave Fulton and Giles Reaves met at the "Different Skies" festival. The two of them hit it off musically and, after nearly four years of collaboration, their CD The Range was produced. Why did it take four years? The answer is as complex as the inspiration behind the music. Many of the songs were written during heightened emotional periods as intricate life matters intertwined with the creative process. More practical concerns, such as proximity to one another, provided interesting fodder for collaboration as well.
Songs began as single cells, then flew back and forth over the Internet until they had grown into complex organisms. The ability to let go of a pre-conceived outcome allowed the true spirit of collaboration to fertilize the ideas. A decision from the start allowed for any instrument, tool or feeling to propel each song.
The duo's ability to deal with the technical aspects of a long distance collaboration helped immensely but soon it became necessary to meet and finish the recordings side-by-side. The summer of 2006 allowed the basic overdubs to be completed in Salt Lake City. Afterwhich, long distance mix down began. The result is a diverse but cohesive collection of songs that range from Ambient to Progressive Rock, and incorporate influences from Tribal to Electronica to New Age.

Artist: Dave Fulton
P: 2014
Incorporating a blend of rich analog and modular electronics along with digital synthesizers, plus piano and guitar, Of Those Things Left Unsaid evolved over the course of thirteen years' creation. Composed and recorded by Dave Fulton, with contributions from Jamie Haggerty and Giles Reaves, a completely organic approach to recording was taken, using a variety of vintage electronic synthesizers and early 8 & 12 bit samplers. While much modern electronic music is primarily sequence-driven and quantized to a degree that renders the music more robotic than human, Fulton tried to use computers only as recording the performances, not driving them.Perhaps Fulton's most emotive and personal work, Of Those Things Left Unsaid should not only appeal to existing fans of Fulton's earlier solo and collaborative works, but also those listeners seeking a blend of retro and modern electronic sounds with a smooth musicality.
 

Artist: Mike Griffin & Dave Fulton
P: 2002
IMPRINT updates the sound and concept of the duo's previous recording, while still exploring the concept of balancing the artists's divergent backgrounds and influences. Griffin leans more toward the ambient & abstract end of things while Fulton's influence runs toward Berlin school, sequencer music and prog rock, but what may seem at first a mismatch in fact brings about a blending of two complementary styles.
IMPRINT is a bit more dynamic and brighter-sounding, whereas THE MOST DISTANT POINT KNOWN was more slow-moving and nocturnal. The duo hope ambient fans may be surprised how much they enjoy the sequencer & analog synth elements, while those who approach the project from the "old school" point of view will like the many-layered complexity and atmospheric quality.

Artist: Mike Griffin & Dave Fulton
P: 2000
"Mike Griffin is known for his ambient and somewhat experimental work, both as a solo artist, and as part of Viridian Sun and other collaborations. Dave Fulton, part of Dweller at the Threshold, is a self-professed lover of progressive rock who tends toward a more active style of electronic music. Their contrasting styles actually turn out to be quite complimentary. The result is more ambient than Dave Fulton, but more accessible than Mike Griffin, and something that neither would have come by on their own.
It's by no means a sequencer album, although 'Lithospheric Flux.' includes a slow pulsing rhythm which girds the atmospheres around it. The synth sounds are very smooth and flowing, always on the verge of forming some structure or melody, but never quite giving in. This gives the music a sense of tension, of continually cresting to where you expect a Dweller lead line to assert itself. The fact that it never emerges does not disappoint, because the electronic sounds used are so cool. 'Source Of All Gravity' is the e-music equivalent of a ping pong ball, with lots of reverb. You can tell Fulton and Griffin had fun putting the sounds together. A sci-fi feel predominates. 'Opposite Horizon' is one of my favourites, a dramatic, deliciously evil-sounding piece for when the bad aliens show up. 'Dark Observer' serves up a deep pulse, similar to 'Lithospheric Flux.' This is the most structured number on the disc, with a great vintage synth lead line, clearly a Fulton touch. The centerpiece of the disc, rightly so, is 'Quadrature,' which is divided into three discrete phases. Together, they total over 25 minutes of the coolest distant space sounds and effects, warbling and gurgling and chugging along. 'Phase 1' goes through a few phases of its own, before settling into bright shimmering metallic sounds, slightly reminiscent of Michael Stearns' spacier works. 'Phase 2' starts dark and formless, but again develops churning sounds and at least the illusion of rhythm midway through. As the pulsing fades away, 'Phase 3' returns to shimmering sounds similar yet distinct from 'Phase 1.' At this point in our space journey, it does indeed sound like we've reached the most distant point known, the edge of some faraway galaxy. I can't say enough about how strongly this disc ends. 'Phase 3' is the epic conclusion, and the brief echoes of 'Curved Beyond Zero' make a deliberate sounding epilogue. I just love how these two pieces go together to wrap things up. A perfect ending to a really fun CD."
--Phil Derby / SMD

Artist: V/A
P: 1999
Here's another excellent ambient anthology for those into the darker end of the genre. Featuring nine artists, the sampler takes from both new and veteran musicians, to deliver up a diverse yet flowing 74 minute CD. Kevin Keller opens the disc with samples of voices whispering. From it he creates a slow 12 minute warm drift similar to musicians like Robert Scott Thompson. Illinois synthesist James Johnson's Closure is at least half as long as Keller's track, yet the style is very similar, with muted and shifting chords gently floating on the air, melodic and peace-inducing. Dean DeBenedictis takes a much different approach, far more abstract and surreal, although there is a similar underlying melodic pattern underneath the Schnitzler like rattling and scuttling. As the tracks progresses along its eight minute length, it grows more fascinating with treated water sounds and voices. It is over far too soon. Ma Ja Le return the focus to melody, and the nine minutes Images Remain is full of crystal, ethereal chords floating up, a far different sound than their CD with Vir Unis. A piece one can lose themself in, with longing and melancholy, this would have fit perfectly on The Ambient Expanse. Rod Modell's Ipperwash Twilight leaps out of the speakers with incredible sonic clarity, and you immediately know you're in the presence of a creative force. Strange, but slightly melodic synths with a wide array of tones and field recordings spread sheets of sound over percolating sequencers, and the strange scaling and effects, successfully create an incredibly alien landscape. This is visionary music, alone worth the price of this disc. Dave Fulton's piece is also odd, with steely sequencer and loads of metallic industrial sounds that starts at a low volume that increases over most the track's length. It's dissonant melody provides sort of a lull in the overall CD flow, and sets up veteran Loren Nerell's Liquid Metal Stasis, an intense drone with microtonal bell sounds, volcanic bubbling, and other rich and colorful tonal shading. We definitely can never hear enough from Nerell. Scott Fraser's Straight Lines is another drone where the subtlety hinges on the changes of tones of the synthesizers. At eight minutes, it progresses through number of colorings, remaining surprisingly dynamic. As he often does, Steve Roach closes the set, his contribution the 7 1/2 minute Bottomless, and here we see the least urban track on the anthology evoking the wide expanses and chthonic depths of consciousness. A more chilly track than Roach usually produces, but no less evocative for it. A strong anthology, and one of the more impressive of the type in recent memory."
1999  Mike McLatchey / Expose Magazine