Healing Music Vol. 2
Valrock Music
By R.J. Lannan
Let the music play on.
With just a handful of instruments Valerie Romanoff manages to orchestrate an album that is meditative, soothing, and entertaining. The album called Healing Music Volume 2 is eighteen tracks of cross genre fare that includes New Age, World and a nod to several sub-genres. Half of the tracks are radio edited tracks and are shorter than the originals. This is my first encounter of Valerie’s music and I am fascinated by her composition skills and musicality. There is a wonderful balance of synth and acoustic blended tracks on this album, all guaranteed to allow you to chill out and daydream or both.
Valerie loves pink skies. There several tracks with the name. Pink Skies Over Still Waters opens the album and sets the mood with flute, guitar and mildly droning synth back grounds. The music seems to be effective at conjuring up pastoral imagery. I could imagine the lake in the foreground and the sun kissing the edge as she wakes up. Water and light are the perfect combination.
It sometimes takes at bit of gumption to take the plunge, but every now and then we need to see Beyond the Bend. Romanoff’s composition of the same name is light and playful. A steady tabla tempo and dynamic bass track powers this one with electric guitar leading the way. I could not help but take a peek.
One of the longer cuts (17:42) on Healing Music V2 is called Dawn of Tao. It has a surprising Tommy by the Who underture vibe in the intro. One of the things I liked about the album is that it did not have the repetitiveness of typical Eastern music. This particular song builds momentum as it plays and results is strong rhythms and an expansive motif. The natural order of things began taking shape.
There is a very slow, satisfying track aptly named Moving Glass. There is a hint of blues cushioned in the notes that give off a drifting quality. There is nothing shoe-gazing about this piece. It has calming properties brought about by Valerie’s mollifying electric guitar work and it is meditative and capacious.
The soothing sound of the sitar weighs in on the tune Backdrop. It balances well with the guitar building an atmosphere of quietude, but still with a sense of energy in the air. Stevin McNamara does an admirable job on sitar that complements the tune in general.
Om Shanti Shalom is the trifecta of peace. It has a little more tempo than most and a pronounced percussion, but still accomplishes to build a groove for all to enjoy. Flute by Tom Rossi blends seamlessly with Valerie’s rhythm guitar. Overlaying the track is a resonator guitar and just a modicum of distant voice.
My favorite on Healing Music V2 is the bonus track Pink Skies: Full Suite. At over 17 minutes, it is penultimate chill soundscape. The recording contains over two hours of music, so you can put this on and hit repeat and bask in its musical aura for some time. I highly recommend this album and I am looking forward to hearing more of Valerie Romanoff’s work. This is me in search of Healing Music Volume 1.
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