Dweller At The Threshold
D.A.T. - Full Boundary Condition - 2004
Overview
Full Boundary Condition is a triple CD set which includes remastered versions of the first two Dweller at the Threshold albums: No Boundary Condition and Generation Transmission Illumination, as well as a third disc compiling sections from our 28 July 2001 concert at The Old Church in Portland, Oregon as well as recordings taken from this concert's practice sessions.
Reviews
In addition to containing Dweller’s first two albums, No Boundary Condition and Generation Transmission Illumination, a third disc includes previously unreleased material from 2001. The reissues benefit from 24-bit mastering courtesy of Giles Reaves. The 12-minute epic "Event Horizon" sounds even better now than it did in 1996, bright, crisp and spot on, building just so and then leveling off as it fades into dreamy reverie. The piano on "Passage To Light" seems more luminous. Vintage synth flutes sound great on "Generation Pt 3," mellotron strings sound awesome on "Pt 7. Which brings us to disc three, a lengthy excerpt of DATT’s July 2001 show in Portland, Oregon, as well as two live studio pieces created during rehearsals for the concert. Shades of Klaus Schulze’s Timewind are heard at the beginning, then swirling sounds like Tangerine Dream’s Logos, then a perfect sequence surrounded by spacey sound effects. A new sequence replaces the old one, followed by a bass line that rolls up and down. The second section features Paul Ellis bringing his power synth chords, an active number that segues into the atmospheric third part, drifting easily by until the next hypnotic loop takes hold a few minutes in, again begging comparisons to classic TD circa 1982. Heavenly stuff. The final track, "The Outer Boundary Condition," is from their rehearsal for the concert, which I recognize as a piece that was played near the show’s conclusion. A stair-stepping sequencer effect works well, eventually fading into a beautiful section of pads and strings as good as any vintage Berlin school showing. Fantastic finish to a great set.
-Phil Derby / Electroambient Space
Energized by the classic cosmic music of the 1970s, synthesists in the USA have been making significant world-class contributions to the community for many years. Dweller at the Threshold is one of several such groups spread thinly across North America. Inspired by the electronic music movement of pre-ambient/techno Europe, Dweller at the Threshold grew out of a fascination with the ability of electronic music to facilitate a cinematic yet personal experience in sound. To DatT, the synthesizer is the ultimate creative tool, offering a versatile palette of contrasting textures animated by hands-on manipulation. Present within their music are the syncopated electronic rhythms, haunting melodic lead lines and unearthly morphing atmospheres found in good spacemusic, but DatT's effect is off-center enough to give the attentive listener a refreshing pause. This unique approach to music and technology allows DatT to produce realizations that are distinctly their own. They capture the mood of this bygone era without becoming cliched and explore this expansive realm while retaining their own true voice.
The third disc (65'32"), after which this 3CD set is named, is characterized by improvised passages of deep electro-ambient soundworlds and ethereal interstellar spacescapes which resolve into full-blooded sequencer studies intertwined with ribbons of warm synthesizer melodies. The Full Boundary Condition is the result of a search through the sonic expanse of the musician's mind via the synthesizer. The meaning of this music remaining hidden somewhere within itself.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END
D.A.T. - Ouroboros - 2001
Overview
Reviews
The great thing about DatT is that this group has captured the mood of the era without becoming a cliche. DatT explores this realm of music while retaining their own true voice. Due to their unique approach to music and technology, DatT produces compositions that are distinctly their own. Sure, present are the syncopated electronic rhythms, haunting mellotron leads and unearthly morphing effects we look for in good spacemusic, but DatT produces all this off-center enough to give the attentive listener a refreshing pause. This is achieved by more than just a comprehension of the historical aspects of creating spacemusic, more than just the how of making sounds and what goes where, Dweller at the Threshold understands deeply the ultimate purpose and meaning of this music.
- Chuck van Zyl / STAR'S END
Ouroboros by Dweller at the Threshold is the first Binary release. The first Dweller album, No Boundary Condition (released on Eurock) had a stronger Tangerine Dream influence, but the group has since moved further into deep, deep space. The sound of Dweller at the Threshold possesses a character and clarity that is breathtaking. An audience member at a recent DATT concert in Portland was overheard afterward saying "I haven't heard something that good since Tangerine Dream was young." That isn't to say that Dweller intends to mimic any one of the German synth music greats, it's just that their sound has enough substance to thrill even the most jaded e-music fan.
-Mike Griffin
D.A.T. - Generation Transmission Illumination - 1998
Overview
Reviews
"Much of the Electronic Spacemusic genre developed (and to this day thrives) in Europe. Inspired by this movement, synthesists here in the USA have been making significant world class contributions to the community for many years. Dweller at the Threshold is one of several such groups spread thinly throughout North America. Using elements of the "Berlin School" as a point of departure, DatT has produced a second CD of original electronic excursions. To say that Generation Transmission Illumination simply offers melodies over sequencer patterns would not do justice to their new release. DatT has carefully examined "The Genre" and produced music familiar yet undoubtedly their own. With a keen ear for interesting rhythms, compelling harmonies & melodies plus deep-space textures, DatT consistently delivers noteworthy and identifiable releases."
- Chuck van Zyl / Star's End
"5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece of ambient soundscape
Well I hope someone finds this review and discovers an awesome example of ambient music.
This disc is basically 3 distinct movements in parts which obviously are Generation., Transmission and Illumination. The keyboard influenced sounds flow in spaces and let your mind soar with the music I feel the best piece is the illumination section where the music gets light kind of like the definition of the word, but definitely get this disc, put it on and close your eyes and let your mind take off with the sounds technically sound and perfect and feast for the senses."
-David Trombley
On their debut album “No Boundary Condition”, Dweller at the Threshold (DATT) already proved they could expand very nicely on the classic analogue music made in Germany’s ‘70’s by TD, Schulze and the likes, carefully avoiding the trap of being a copy-cat. “Generation-Transmission-Illumination” shifts between hypnotizing and dreamy territory along rhythmic sequencer efforts pushing things forward without urgency. It culminates in three movements of spacy, gently soaring yet compelling space music and imaginative ambiences pairing the light and the dark seamlessly. If you listened and enjoyed DATT’s first album, you can dive into this 53-minute cosmic release without any doubt or hesitation.
-Bert Strollenberg Sonic Immersion
D.A.T. - No Boundary Condition - 1996
Overview
Reviews
Dweller at the Threshold is a trio of Paul Ellis, Dave Fulton, and Jeff Vasey, on synthesizers, synthesizers, and synthesizers respectively, out to explore the far reaches of a finite universe with no boundaries. Their music is purely electronic, event driven, and very explorative, growing and developing over time. For the most part, ideas are born in free space, they grow, blossom and dissolve. For comparisons, one might sense a strong influence of seventies Tangerine Dream, the period from Phaedra to Sorcerer. DATT’s music moves the listener through portals, each revealing a new ‘scene’ with its own unique cast of characters, almost as if it were a soundtrack to a night of dark and restless dreaming. Ultimately one portal leads to the next, and the process begins all over again. Although there are ten tracks listed, everything seems to flow seamlessly together, in cinematic fashion. Their arsenal consists of both analog and digital equipment, from which they produce some wildly original sounds and textures. In all, this is definitely one of the best purely electronic releases I’ve heard in some time, and one I can recommend highly. Top notch
-Peter Thelen Expose
In the most perfect cosmic vein, this album by Dweller at the Threshold will delight the lovers of Space Music. Ethereal, gliding sounds, spectacular melodies, strong sequencer rhythms, are the basic ingredients that give shape to the themes of the album. The music has a pleasant freshness, thanks to the imaginative melodies and atmospheres. The melodies usually are warm, lively. There are dark, mysterious passages. Others turn out to be epic, majestic. There are slow themes and other lively ones. Among the latter, the second one ("Event Horizon"), whose sequencer-based rhythm turns out to be impressive indeed, perfectly suiting the melody which has a great strength while accompanying it, is most noteworthy in fact. In a few words, this is one of the recordings that takes electronic music to its highest reaches.
-J. Munnshe Eurock
Dweller at the Threshold (DATT), in its original incarnation, was a synthesizer trio. The members were Dave Fulton, Paul Ellis, and Jeff Vasey. No Boundary Condition is their debut CD, and it has a firm foothold in the Berlin school of electronic music. The trio surrounds micro-atmospheres with heavy sequences and waves of synthesizer riffs. While this CD has all the elements of early electronica, it has enough experimental textures to lift it a notch or two. Indeed, this disc could be the logical follow-up to The Forbidden Planet by Bebe and Louis Barron from 1956. (That album is often recognized as the first all electronic album. It won an Oscar for best soundtrack that year as well.) But DATT is neither primitive nor primal. They are immersed -- totally -- in the technology of the new millennium. The ONLY acoustic sound on this album is the last note. This disc is absolutely essential for fans of Berlin school electronic music. It will appeal to fans of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Ron Boots, Robert Carty, Ashra, and Constance Demby. For casual e-music fans, it's an important CD.
-Jim Brenholts Ambient Visions
