Parsons, David

Artist: David Parsons
P: 2010
New Zealand-based electronic artist David Parsons continues his etheric and expansive sound journey that remains connected to his recent releases JYOTI and EARTHLIGHT. This release further presents his artful skill at creating mystical soundscapes that always seem to convey the visitation to sacred sites high up in a mist-filled landscape. The feeling of the music being created right in front of you is present, and the inclusion of delicate sequenced patterns provides a sense of ascending even higher into the clouds.

Artist: David Parsons
P: 2022
More varied and musically more interesting than his last two discs Stupa and Puja.
This release is a surprising one as the composer hadn’t received any notification from the label they had released it finally after it had been shelved for so many years. “Atmanaut” (which can be translated as soul journey) actually comprises two unreleased albums from New Zealand-based ambient artist David Parsons: “Atmanaut” (finished in 2007) and “Atma Yatra” (presumably finished a few years later) which David refers to as the darker cousin of the album “Ngaio Gamelan”.

The first seven tracks are taken from “Atma Yatra” while the remaining six made up “Atmanaut”. The realm of aural experiences encountered here is one of Tibetan-inspired floating, meditative sound worlds hanging tight to Mr Parsons signature sound. It shifts between groovy world ambient (“Perhatian”, “Apparition”) to expansive cinematic outings of a textural/drony nature (“Cosmic Sea”, “Dhamek”, “Rakshasloka”).

Artist: David Parsons
P: 2020
Mysterious sounds from the far with slowly developing rhythms and slight sequencing coming in. The music gets richer and fuller of instruments and ambience.

Artist: David Parsons
P: 1992
On Dorje Ling, Parsons mixes samples of traditional Tibetan music into his gently evolving electronic compositions. Many of these recordings were taken from material released on Sacred Ceremonies 2, yet the resulting fusion of ancient and modern sensibilities is not meant to be a representation of Tibetan Buddhist practices. Rather, Dorje Ling, is a poetic exploration of the visions this rich culture has inspired in Parsons, culminating in a sonic pilgrimage through the treacherous splendor of the surrounding Himalayas.

Artist: David Parsons
P: 2008
A seriously underrated talent that has embraced the same respect and awe for immense landscape and mystic realms as comrade-in-arms Steve Roach, composer/synthesist Parsons has for well over two decades realized a singular body of work that has embraced both an ambient ethos and the intricate, meditative harmonics of North Indian classical music. Parsons likens his work to the alap, the elongated introduction to Indian ragas, and in many ways such a description perfectly encapsulates the methodology of ambient music in the most literal sense, removed from yet reflecting Eno's dictum of "music that can be simultaneously listened to and ignored." Definitions often need upgrading, however: Parsons' music is about as ignorable as the mountain vistas he often titles his epic pieces after. Abundant with prodigious chords, tones stretched thinner and thinner at such altitudes they beg for oxygen, and inveighed by the magnetic tensions brought on by otherworldly forces at play, EARTHLIGHT is evocative in the most fantastical sense. The record's glacial pace mimics the breathless pulse of tectonic plates shirking millennia, but mono dimensional drone this isn't.
A pronounced mystic quality informs all of Parsons' music, and the strange regions he traverses on this superb excursion are no different -- space music of a spherical nature, austere yet finely-wrought and patterned, buoyed by a surfeit of mysterious textures and alien cadences, the album is wonderfully disorienting, suggesting rugged confines as well as far flung artifices.
The title track irises open to reveal a multitude of erupting, heavenly electronic light beams soon to be pierced by an eldritch motif of misty mountain modular and cushioned bells. "Altai Himalaya" harkens back to Parsons' eponymous classic Himalaya, aerated blasts of synth drifting in the wake of stratospheric jet streams. Both "Beyond the Light" and "Corona" reveal a composer who's come a long way since the simple two-chord notations of Tibetan Plateau: vari-hued pigments of electronics flow silkily into and out of one another like kaleidoscopic oils, buffed by tablaesque sequencers, pealing intrasolar radio waves and, in the case of "Corona", truculent synths howling into the deep night.
The penultimate twenty minutes that is "Bathing Light" seems to end too abruptly even at that considerable length, but taking into account the buzz saw cut of its synths, its baleful atmosphere and incessant rhythmic momentum, it portends something of a new direction for Parsons, who once noted that his music was "about bathing in the sound." Surely a most inviting proposition, for on EARTHLIGHT, the water's mighty warm indeed.

Artist: David Parsons
P: 1989
Himalaya is a musical journey through India and the Himalaya Mountains. Using a variety of synthesizers, David Parsons creates a beautiful and vivid musical picture. We hear and feel the driving wind and sense the mystery of the deserted snowy mountain meadows. In Rishikesh an underlying growling depicts the awesome feeling of standing at the base of the majestic Himalaya Mountains and looking up. The full-bodied rumble of Kailasa portrays the power of the shrine of Lord Shiva. In Varuna Deva rhythms are used like brushes to paint the lively Ganges River. Spiced with recordings of natural sounds, such as thunder and chanting, Himalaya is a passionate view of India and her mighty mountain range.

Artist: David Parsons
P: 2004
In Retrospect: 1980-2003 is a double CD retrospective of David Parsons' recording career, one heavily influenced by other cultures and extensive travel. The music on In Retrospect: 1980-2003 has been selected and sequenced by Parsons. It also features previously unissued material. We are pleased to add to our catalogue a recording by one who has made such an immense contribution to Celestial Harmonies, both as a recording artist and as a producer.

Artist: David Parsons
P: 2005
INNER PLACES is an outstanding new release from New Zealand-based veteran synth and Indian music artist David Parsons. This is one of drifting, mysterious beauty. No rhythmic elements are present on the CD, leaving the focus towards the mystical atmospheres and cloud-like pieces. Highly recommended to those who want to float into a pure mystical drift.
From his homeland in New Zealand, David Parsons travels frequently to Asia for spiritual and musical inspiration. After collecting musical samples and studying different musical and cultural traditions, Parsons returns to his studio to integrate these influences with his own experiences. In the process, he bridges disparate elements with seamless grace, and creates a unique musical affirmation of our common humanity and cultural endowment.
Parsons' recordings make the Eastern sensibility comprehensible to the Western listener and formulate a unique and captivating new expression.
To Parsons' credit as a musician, composer and performer, he has evolved into a rare and highly acclaimed producer of cultural music traditions. His work is often featured in film, television and radio scores, and continues to be widely praised by reviewers.

Artist: David Parsons
P: 2009
This release plays like a deeper extract from the 2008 Earthlight release. The live feel is evident and the flow is effortless thoughout the six pieces. Elongated sound textures and delicate use of unique sounds and subtle rhythmic elements intermix in classic Parsons style, transcendent and earthy. While this release is fully electronic, his years of playing Indian music and recording volumes of indigenous projects has provided his personal music with a special quality that is infused into the overall atmosphere of his masterful soundscape music.

Artist: David Parsons
P: 2002
As far back as I can remember I have been strongly attracted to both Hinduism and Buddhism, although, because I have an interest in other religious philosophies around the world, I have never fully committed myself to any one belief system. By doing so, I worry that I might be tempted to exclude the great truths existent in other philosophies—so I keep an open mind.
I have been very privileged to be able to travel, courtesy of Celestial Harmonies, to many countries, documenting and recording some great musical traditions. This has allowed me to experience other cultures, more from their people’s point of view than would have normally been possible. This is something I wish we could all experience—it would certainly go a long way towards dissolving some of the hatred, ignorance and lack of cultural sensitivity so rampant in the world today.
Throughout all of my travels I gained a better insight into and respect for Islam, as well as a new appreciation of Christianity via the Armenian Apostolic Church. However, my thoughts still keep leading back to the Indian philosophies. I have always had this love of Hinduism, probably because of its absolute human approach. I am very drawn to Tibetan Buddhism mainly because they have kept some of the pantheon of Hindu deities and the result, for me anyway, is a fascinating synthesis. It has all the logical, intellectual aspects of Buddhist thought together with the rich kaleidoscope of Hinduism. I have always believed that when the creator placed the world in the care of humanity he gave the Tibetans the workshop manual.
It is with these thoughts in mind that I have composed the tracks on this album. The track titles are only the starting points for the listener. I’m sure the music will mean different things to different people and I don’t particularly want to impose my feelings about the music in any concrete way. It is perhaps enough to say that the music is simply the fleeting sonic impressions of a 21st century electronic composer of a great world teaching, that perhaps one day he might find the courage to commit to.

2002. David Parsons