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Towards the Wind | 
| Artist: Stephan Micus
Label: ECM
Category: Music
List Price: £14.99
Buy New: £12.69
You Save: £2.30 (15%)
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Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 158295
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 601215945324
EAN: 0601215945324
ASIN: B00006589J
Release Date: June 24, 2002
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Before Sunrise | | • | Morning Breeze | | • | Flying Horses | | • | Padre | | • | Birds Of Dawn | | • | Virgen de la Nieve | | • | Eastern Princess | | • | Crossing Dark Rivers |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
For the last 30 years Stephan Micus has ploughed a fascinating furrow, of which Towards The Wind represents the continuation. A few years ago he became smitten with the Armenian duduk, and managed to persuade Djivan Gasparian, the world's most famous dudukist, to give him a month's intensive training. This CD, with its pervasively meditative mood, is the result. But it's more than just the duduk: Micus uses multi-track techniques to accompany himself on the kalimba thumb-piano, the dondon talking-drum, the Chinese sattar, and the shakuhachi, as well as the steel guitar: the layered effects he produces are clever. "Effect" is the key word here, as Micus's own words confirm: the shakuhachi and the duduk both have a breathy tone "that resonates so richly, there's really no need to write complicated pieces for them". One can express a lot, he claims, by playing one note. But he's learned the duduk well, though he can't yet produce those magically flattened tones w! hich give his mentor's music its special allure. However, when he allows his instruments to speak alone--the kalimba's high tintinnabulation, the bass guitar's growl--his music can be as evocative as the oceanic swell. --Michael Church
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| Customer Reviews:
 A BEAUTY! THANKS FOR ANOTHER DEPARTURE FROM MASS RUBBISH! September 27, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is one of my favourite Stephan Micus recordings. His use of the duduk, a double reed-ed Armenian wind instrument sounds not unlike an oboe or even saxophone in places and has brought a strong, resonant and melodic warmth to this album. His voice arrangements are fantastic.
His music has sometimes been described as bleak, even miserable, but I think that this is largely because his music is truly contemplative. Like a mirror it's able to reflect whatever mood we might be in at the time, perhaps even what it is to be human. Having said that perhaps some of his music does lean towards the melancholy, if so, be assured that this one does not.
I have yet to hear any music produced by Stephan Micus which isn't distinguished as a breath of essentially beautiful clean air, compared to that which is produced for the mass commercial market. If you want a distant break from 'formulaic drum machine' driven and 'push button' sounds, listen to this. The man's a treasure, his music is beautiful!
Other favourites are Garden of Mirrors, Desert Poems and Implosions.
Thank God we still have a choice of contemporary music which has dignity and is fearless in its departure from 'music for the masses' and much deserved thanks to Stephan Micus for continuing to contribute so invaluably to it.
astonishing March 5, 2003
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Micus's achievement as a musician is immense and unparalled. He has spent his life travelling the planet learning the secrets of instruments from many cultures. However it is not the accomplishment that you remember but the extraordinary beauty of the music. In this release he adds the armenian duduk to his range. The result is an album of spiritual depth and integrity that is (as always) inspiring and peaceful. The range of this music is huge yet none of it could be by any other musician. It is as astonishingly original as a new variety of orchid yet as inevitable as a rock face. This is music that will take you if you let it into the interior of your own heart and soul.
 Haunting music to dream by. August 13, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Micus' work is relatively new to me and I have been astounded by the beauty and calm of it. He chooses a range of instruments which Western listeners may be unfamiliar with, but combines them with such skill as to produce CDs of pure calm. Towards the Wind is no exception. The opening, Before Sunrise show cases a new instrument for Micus; the duduk, an Armenian instrument which produces sad and mellow tones. But don't think this is all doom and gloom. As with his other CDs there is light relief particularly with the kalimba solos and the sublime Birds of Dawn where Micus seems to have discovered a more rounded and, dare I say, Western structure to his composition. I've given it four stars because he relies a bit too much on the guitars this time round for my liking.
Although not as haunting as Music of Stones, Wings over Water, or Garden of Mirrors this is still a wonderful CD. Perfect for sitting in my field watching the swallows and the sun going down!
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