I'm not sure why Connecticut multi-instrumentalist Rick Rascati simply couldn't send us a copy of his new record, Skywatcher, rather than a 29-minute six-track sampler that includes three tracks each from Skywatcher and last year's Aural Paintings. After all, it's tough to judge an album based on three songs — but I'll try. Rascati refers to his music as New Age, although he's shortchanging himself by doing so. With influences ranging from Keith Emerson to David Arkenstone to Loreena McKennitt, his compositions flutter and bask in warm sonic environs. The songs from Skywatcher lean more toward the ambient, Tangerine Dream side of electronic music, while the three culled from Aural Paintings are alive with playful arrangements. The hopeful, cinematic "Far Beyond Tomorrow" is the standout track from Skywatcher, while Aural Paintings' worldly "Mesopotamia" is the sampler's best song.
Track Listing:
1) Time/Space Continuum
2) Behind the Clouds
3) Far Beyond Tomorrow
4) Mesopotamia
5) Awaken the Dream
6) The Way It Should Be
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