Album Review: Beyond the Purple Sun by Jim Ottaway

Beyond the Purple Sun is Australian music composer and synthesist Jim Ottaway’s 2019 conceptual sequel of sorts to his 2017 album Deep Space Blue. It’s also his chronological follow-up to 2018's Yesterday Passing, a comparatively more upbeat and contemporarily melodic album that was nicely nestled in between the two deep space listening excursions.

Although Ottaway has been releasing music for several years now, his earlier works were initially only available in his native Australia, until he later re-released them on the global market. Eventually, his landmark space-ambient album Southern Cross hit the scene in 2016, which quickly earned him notable praise and airplay in the Western Hemisphere. Later that same year, he released the more digitally dynamic and retrofuturistic Timeless e-Motion, my personal favorite Ottaway album to date.

Comprised of seven compositions, his 13th international release features music that was recorded from 2010 to early 2019, thereby echoing many hallmarks of his other space-ambient works released over that time-period.

As another imaginative sonic voyage to the limits of the known universe, Beyond the Purple Sun further expounds on the artist’s impressions and explorations of magnificent cosmic panoramas. Possessing intriguing song titles such as “Celestial Rainbows”, “Lavender Moons” and “Birth Of A Violet Quasar” – all of which deliver as much beauty and intrigue as they seemingly promise – the music herein often paints images of ultraviolet-illuminated celestial objects and plasma energies lighting up a black expanse. Imparting feelings of floating and weightlessness, ethereal intonations tantalizingly call from afar like intercosmic transmissions of incorporeal voices; while prismatic icy shimmers and crystallized modulations intermittently rain upon undulating drones and gurgling signal sounds throughout. Finally arriving at the hypnotizing title piece, “Beyond the Purple Sun”, a steadily forward movement is illustrated by the sustained vintage rhythm of pulsating sequencer patterns.

Continuing to impress and expound with each recording, Jim Ottaway has become one of today’s preeminent composers of ambient sci-fi and space music. Thoroughly immersive and transportive, Beyond the Purple Sun is definitive deep space listening for lovers of astronomical mysteries! ~Candice Michelle

Available at Amazon, Bandcamp and other music retail & streaming platforms. For more information, please visit the artist's website.

Album Review: Deep Space Blue by Jim Ottaway

Deep Space Blue is the latest album from Jim Ottaway, an electronic music composer based in Gold Coast, Australia. Having released several albums in the ambient, space and electronica genres, Deep Space Blue is a classic ambient-space recording much in the style of Jim’s early 2016 album, Southern Cross, with the two albums being separated by a late 2016 release of dynamic electronic music called Timeless e-Motion. By the time that album was released, I sensed that Jim was well on his way to achieving much greater recognition among the electronic-space music scene and my instincts were proven right; he has since received notable airplay in the U.S. on terrestrial radio programs such as Star’s End, Echoes and Hearts of Space. On Deep Space Blue (which is comprised of six compositions spanning an hour in total), Jim crafts and shapes his illustrious cosmic soundscapes using a plethora of top-notch electronic musical equipment to achieve a highly dimensional and realistic-seeming sonic experience.

Opening the album is the nebulous “Astral Voices” – a drifty and subtly melodic composition characterized by shimmering soundwaves and ethereal vocal intonations. “In Search of the Lost Star” follows next – a contemplative and immersive piece comprised of undulating textures and a free-floating semblance that seemingly carries the listener throughout space in slow-motion. Spanning at over eleven minutes, “39.5 Light Years (Trappist -1)” effectively conveys a notion of traversing unfathomable distances across the cosmos – its underlying rhythmic current highlighting synthesized vocal tones and creaking sound effects evoking the cold vastness of space. Imbued with a touch of Kevin Braheny’s classic Galaxies album, “Stars of Ice” is the perfect piece for winter stargazing – its glistening icicles and foreboding drones seemingly conjuring images of an ice palace located somewhere in the abode of an alien world. The title track, “Deep Space Blue”, is a comparatively more digitally dynamic piece that conveys a feeling of interstellar space-travel and zipping through wormholes. Concluding the album is the nearly 16 ½ minute long “Interplanetary Panspermia” – a darkly retro-futuristic piece of resonating deep space signals and spooky sci-fi effects that effectively convey an extraterrestrial presence.

A mesmerizing cosmic voyage from beginning to end, Deep Space Blue is definitive ambient-space music that plays out like the perfect soundtrack to a sci-fi movie or astronomy documentary. Certain to appeal to listeners who enjoy the many classic space music works by artists such as Jonn Serrie and Kevin Braheny, this fantastic album marks another “stellar” win for Jim Ottaway! ~Candice Michelle

Available at Bandcamp, Amazon and other music retail & streaming platforms. For more information, please visit the artist's website.

Album Review: Timeless e-Motion by Jim Ottaway

Jim Ottaway is an Australia-based electronic music composer with an impressive catalog of recordings that range from ambient-space to chill-out electronica. While his latest album, Timeless e-Motion, combines stylistic characteristics of both, it’s also a bit different from anything Jim has previously recorded. Namely, he employs greater elements of classic electronic space music in the vein of Tangerine Dream and Jean-Michel Jarre, all while infusing his compositions with a wholly up-to-date and modern feel via his vast arsenal of electronic music equipment and gear. Comprised of thirteen tracks spanning sixty-five minuets, the album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jim between the years of 2013 and 2016.

“Sequence of Life” opens with a dynamic and rhythmic arrangement of sequencers and pulsing effects. A fantastic introduction, it conveys a feeling of moving through space and time. Following next is the hauntingly beautiful “Timeless e-Motion”, which gently paces along on a dreamily floating, liquid-like current. Easily my favorite piece on the album, hazy tones, scattering chimes and vocal-like washes are carried along by a hypnotic bassline and rhythmic pulse, which gradually evolves into a subtle chill beat. Digital bleeps and signals echo throughout, as if emanating from somewhere deep in the galaxy. At just over eight minutes in length, this piece could easily drift on forever, perhaps while one endlessly tries to solve the infinite mysteries of our vast and largely unknowable universe. Varying between the more dynamic, travelling pace of the first track and the floating ambience of the title track, the compositions always seem to move in a linear, forward motion. Each employs a varied degree of digital sequencing, synthesized vocals, spacey signals and pulsating electronic rhythms. The seventh track, “Behind Close Eyes”, is another especially notable and mesmerizing piece, which effectively brings to mind that of being in virtual reality or dreamlike simulation. Despite these distinctive sci-fi motifs, the compositions herein convey human warmth and a conscious presence throughout, as if musically illustrating a narrative of the cosmos and how it relates to life here on earth. Another favorite is the twelfth track, “Cosmic Shift”, a classic ambient-space number characterized by ethereal chords, sparkling chimes and a wondrous sense of mystery, as one can easily imagine numerous constellations of twinkling stars against a stark midnight sky. Aptly concluding the album is “Timeless e-Motion (radio edit)”, which clocks in at just over five minutes, lending itself as a sort of reprise of the title track to wrap-up this fantastical cosmic journey.

Jim Ottaway’s previous album, Southern Cross, was one of my favorite recordings of 2016 and this one is surely destined to become another. In fact, Timeless e-Motion may very well be the best output from this amazingly talented artist thus far, unquestionably solidifying Jim’s place as a distinctive and innovative electronic music composer. Fusing ambient, modern electronica and classic space music, I can detect several decades of musical influences here, as Jim masterfully carves out his own sound and style that he has both developed and gradually improved on over the years. Lending itself to an emotive sci-fi quality, the music of Timeless e-Motion conveys a mesmerizing notion of having entered some futuristic parallel dream-world that’s dominated by themes of hyperspace, wormholes and time-travel. Likewise permeated by an ever-present and intangible mystery throughout, this album is both an interstellar and inner voyage that’s absolutely not to be missed! ~Candice Michelle

Available at Amazon, Bandcamp and other music retailers. For more information please visit the artist's website.

Album Review: Southern Cross by Jim Ottaway

Southern Cross is the follow-up to electronic music composer Jim Ottaway’s highly energetic Invisible Vortex album. Named for a distinctive constellation in the Southern Hemisphere, Southern Cross is Jim’s first intrinsically ambient-space album since Liquid Moon, which was originally released in Australia in 2011, and later internationally in 2014. Comprised of six tracks spanning seventy minutes total, the album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jim, as well as lovingly dedicated to the memory of his mother Madge who passed away in 2015.

“Alpha Crucis” opens the album with a rumbling vibration, followed by expansive chords and a rainstick-type sound, which frequently returns throughout the compositions. Imparting an immediate sense of deep space exploration, it’s fourteen minutes and twenty seconds of pure atmospheric bliss. Alluringly arcane, this mood is carried into “Beta Crucis”, where swirling chimes mimic a galaxy filled with twinkling stars. Moving into the darkest piece, “Gamma Crucis”, linear time seems to dissolve and physical distance is no longer a barrier to the furthest reaches of space. This especially noteworthy piece is permeated by a wonderfully eerie creepiness that’s filled with the sounds of deep drones, ghostly voices, alien signals and glowing pulsars. More traces of light shine through the vast darkness on “Delta Crucis”, as if drifting among a meteor shower – before giving way to “Epsilon Crucis”, the album’s warmest, most ethereal composition. Closing out the album is the phenomenal “Southern Cross (Timeless Motion)”, with its rhythmic pulse beaming like a quasar amidst swirling chimes and a melodious drone, before dissipating into a sea of stardust.

Sitting at the meeting point of both pure ambient and classic space music, Southern Cross is easily Jim’s most groundbreaking album to date. I frequently had to remind myself that the many otherworldly sounds herein were actually coming from a recording studio and not some distant location of the galaxy, thanks to the impressive array of state-of-the-art recording equipment and software detailed in the liner notes. An especially rewarding headphone experience, Southern Cross is a must-have album for both fans of ambient-space music and astronomy enthusiasts! ~Candice Michelle

Available at Amazon, Bandcamp and other music retailers. For more information, please visit the artist's website. 

Album Review: Invisible Vortex by Jim Ottaway

Jim Ottaway is an electronic music composer from Australia, whose album Invisible Vortex was created using an impressive array of electronic music gear and equipment, including several different keyboards and synthesizers. Dedicated in part to the memory of Tangerine Dream founder, Edgar Froese (1944-2015), notable influences of musical styles spanning several decades are evident, in particular, 80s-era European electronic music, 90s-era trance-techno, modern electronica, chill-out and a touch of progressive rock.

The highly energetic “Come Dance with Me” opens the album with a trance-techno dance-floor beat, digital bleeps and scratchy sounds, as the listener embarks on an interstellar voyage through space and time. “Alien Cries” follows next, which is characterized by a pronounced bassline and an electronic rock rhythm. Finally giving way to what is perhaps the album’s pinnacle, is a track called “Takin’ the Time”. Featuring Rick Fenn of the 70s-era British rock group 10cc on guitar, this incredible piece evokes the wonders of the universe, with its intergalactic, otherworldly tone, which is conveyed by swirling chimes, voice-like effects, and a potent driving rhythm. Right from the opening sequencers on “Just Another Dream”, which is a lighter trance-techno track, I could detect the nod to Tangerine Dream; perhaps not surprising, since the piece is a glowing tribute to the band’s soundtracks for "Risky Business", "Thief" and "Sorcerer". “Call for Peace" is another favorite, a slower piece led by a pronounced staccato down-beat and alternating hazy, distorted effects. A bonus ‘Chill Out Mix’ of the same tune closes out the album, clocking in at a full eleven minutes and twenty seconds. This slower-paced alternate version is equably carried along by a muffled breakbeat, until it eventually drifts away into oblivion.

Jim Ottaway has done a stellar job of connecting the past with the future on Invisible Vortex, by combining the sensibilities of both vintage and modern electronic music. The compositions herein explore the limitless bounds of space and time, sending the listener soaring above the stratosphere and cruising into the cosmos. The highly outgoing, dynamic and active nature of this album makes for a thoroughly rewarding sonic adventure, which will certainly appeal to electronic music enthusiasts who enjoy aural concepts exploring science fiction and retro-futuristic worlds. ~Candice Michelle

Available at Amazon, Bandcamp and other music retailers. For more information, please visit the artist's website.