Aotūroa is a new project from Tom Scrase, one of Aotearoa’s leading drummers, who performs with the likes of dDub, Corrella and in the percussion ensemble Strike! Percussion. Brothers Part I: Spirit is taken from his debut album where it is combined with Brothers Part II: Earth as one piece of music nearly 7 minutes in length but here it has been reduced to 4. Tom produces music which he sees as working with other mediums such as dance, installation, or films, and here he has a percussive base on top of which there are multiple layers, but they are never dense, as there is plenty of space between the different elements. He brings ambient and textural soundscapes together with keyboards and multi-tracked vocals to take us on a journey.
When this played with the video, as opposed to the music on its own, it feels far more structured and relevant, as if it now has a purpose. The images are of different landscapes, with the camera moving slowly through the scenes, and there really is a feeling that the images and the audio belong together and that they have been chosen in such a way that each reflects the other and together they are stronger than each is individually. The first time I played this I felt it more like an art installation than either music or film, and the more I have watched and listened to this stronger that feeling has become. The two forms belong together, with each being less if the other one is missing. Not quite New Age, here we have a song about humanity’s relationship to the planet and the eternal, in a manner which is almost meditative in manner.
Rating: 6/10
