Remco Helbers 'On Some Road'
Edition Blue / FARFIELD Records

1. Urban Nightscape II
2. A Kinder Blue IV
3. A Kinder Blue II
4. Floating in Sequence II
5. Cathedral II
6. Obsession I
7. Dragon III

The music was inspired by paintings of London-based abstract painter John Kimber. Remco met John on a Guitar Craft Course led by Robert Fripp in 1998. When John organised his first exhibition at Lauderdale House in London this music was used on the opening night.

The seven paintings that inspired the compositions are printed in the CD-booklet. The liner notes on the sleeve were written by another Guitar Craft-participant Sid Smith. Sid is the author of the King Crimson-biography "In the Court of King Crimson".

The soundscapes were recorded with use of a Chapman Grand Stick, a 12-string instrument on which notes are tapped, rather than plucked. With the aid of a digital looping device seven improvisations were recorded to harddisk. Fragments were taken from these recordings and used as "buildingblocks"in a sampler, where they were further reworked and enhanced.

Reviews of 'On Some Road':

Sonic Curiosity review by Matt Howarth (Feb. 2003) :
This CD from 2002 is the debut release by Dutch musician Remco Helbers, offering 49 minutes of relaxing ambience based on the abstract paintings of British artist John Kimber. The two met while they were studying with legendary guitarist Robert Fripp.

Helbers' instrument of choice is the Chapman Stick. All sounds are transformed into StickLoops by his gentle touch. Some tracks feature a near-subliminal presence of bells and bowls, supplying an elusive percussive undercurrent for the ambient soundscapes.

This music flows like an imperturbable river. Tenuous fields of placid sonic textures impersonate an atmospheric calm. There is little variance among the minimal tonalities as the harmonic paths traverse their even-tempered course. Delicate waves of ethereal substance establish an airy sentiment that is serious but warm, generating an intriguing environment of unobtrusive resonance.

Although produced by layerings of ephemeral loops, this music possesses scarce cyclic demeanor, manifesting as seemingly infinite sheets of soothing textures. These emanations breathe and sigh, rippling with almost imperceptible hills and valleys. The constant quality of the melodies is deceptive, so gradual and slight are the variations.

copyright 2003 Matt Howarth

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E-mix CD review by Mark Jenkins (Jan. 2003)

"On Some Road" comprises "ambient soundscapes" composed to accompany an exhibition of abstract paintings by John Kimber. The textures sound electronic, but the sound source is acoustic, a Chapman Stick looped, processed and echoed rather in the style of Robert Fripp. Add some bells, singing bowls and huge sampled drones, and the finished textures vary from dark to gentle and melancholy - there's none of the percussive nature of the Stick here, and the music falls somewhere between the styles of Brian Eno and the lighter side of Vidna Obmana.

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EER-Music review by Hannah M.G. Shapero (Dec. 2002)

Remco Helbers, from the Netherlands, uses an infinite-sustain string synthesizer, loops, and some Oriental bells to create a meditative album of drones. The music is inspired by the abstract paintings of British artist John Kimber, and images of the artworks are included in the full CD package. The music is as abstract as the art: there is no rhythm, just a gentle, floating mood, with little or no loud-soft changes. Each track hovers around a cluster of notes in a chord, and the basic harmony doesn’t change during the duration of that track, though some notes may fade in and out. Some of these harmonies are major and thus feel soothing; others are minor and sound plaintive. A couple of tracks explore a more dissonant collection of notes, which gives them an alien, spooky sound. But none of these pieces is harsh; Helbers maintains a steady, contemplative quality . On Some Road with its long sustained stretches and unbroken surface, is a good soundtrack for inner exploration, or for dreams touched with melancholy.

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Ambientrance review by David J. Opdyke (Dec. 2002)

When Remco Helbers travels On Some Road , there are no annoying highway sounds... only luxuriantly-spread tapestries of tonal Chapman Stick-powered gauze. Serene!

Angelic choirs seem to emanate from the gleamingly-bright-though-vaporous core of Urban Nightscape II which opens this collection of beatless ambience. Billowing tones spaciously swell upon the sheens of A Kinder Blue IV, while the drifting streams of A Kinder Blue II are underscored with slow, muted metallic clangs.

Guitar-like strands cross a cushiony skyscape in somberly majestic Floating In Sequence II (3:36). Cathedral I (9:06) emits continually ebbing/flowing layers of symphonic-like currents (which occasionally rise to rather glaring forcefulness). Deeply churning Dragon III descends upon the final minutes of the disc, with powerful lows undulating through its expansive territories.

When traveling On Some Road with Remco Helbers, you'll be ear-witness to indefinable auroras of peaceful sonic ooze, inspired by the paintings of John Kimber; mini-prints of his colorful/textural abstractions are shown in the liner notes. The enhanced sound of the Chapman Stick ("a 12-string instrument on which notes are tapped rather than plucked") creates super smooth highways for your imagination. B+

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Krimson News review by Sid Smith (Nov. 2002)

I suppose I should declare from the outset that when it comes to this album, I’m more than a little biased. I met Remco on a Guitar Craft seminar a few years ago. Not only that but this music was composed to accompany the opening of an exhibition of paintings by my chum, John Kimber, which I helped to hang. And if that isn’t bad enough, a piece of my writing is included in the lavishly illustrated booklet which comes with the CD.

Inspired by the inner landscapes of one artist, Helbers throws light upon his own aesthetic responses, producing music of passionate intensity which corresponds with and extends the scope of its source. The ebb and flow of layered sounds combine to create richly textured compositions, ensuring that these portraits are not mere ambient snapshots. Cathedral I and A Kinder Blue II are imbued with a vast, cinematic sweep. Though the music unfurls at a glacial pace it’s possessed with a warmth and commitment which make this album so engaging. As well as utilising the versatile Chapman Grand-Stick, Remco’s use of Tibetan bells and bowls adds a gleaming patina to the work, another perspective or point of detail.

The legacy of sonic pioneers such as Brian Eno and the burgeoning availability of extreme sophisticated technology, means there’s a lot of home-grown ambient soundscapes out there. Yet for all this proliferation and welcome demystification of the recording studio, taste and judgement are still rare commodities. On Some Road is happily blessed with both.

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