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Feature -- Critically praised new CD from Valerie Mih
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Valerie Mih |
"Meridians" Released |
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“Meridians is a very personal album for me and taps into my desire to take listeners on a subtle, meditative inward journey,” says Valerie. "My ultimate goal is to pull listeners into a different mental state, then bring them back to the present moment. It’s about giving them an opportunity to mentally release any negativity in their day or their lives. Instrumentally I’m trying to achieve certain moods and feelings...the Meridians album flows back and forth from a very rich textural soundscape to the direct intimacy of solo piano.” |
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Hear full versions of "Meridians" and "Autumn" HERE |
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About "Meridians" |
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--a new album by pianist Valerie Mih. Now available on iTunes,
Amazon.com and CD Baby Wowing reviewers with its depth, “Meridians” places pianist/composer Valerie Mih on the map as a brilliant new arrival on the scene. Strikingly blending classical, ambient and jazz genres, she adds unique textures of accordion, voice and electronic ambience to her nuanced piano performances. “Meridians” transports listeners to a peaceful and deeply emotional place within.
“Valerie Mih is a musician's musician….Well known in both the San Francisco and New York City scenes as a solo and ensemble performer, she blends elements of classical, jazz and new age into a musical tapestry that is part story and part dream. What's most striking about Mih's music is the sense of movement. Classical-style piano pieces that are ambient in nature give the feel of the push and pull you might find on a body of water. This is not musical drifting in the sense of purely ambient fluff, but more like the deep and mystifying currents running beneath a wide river. Valerie Mih creates some magic on ‘Meridians’. The music flows like time flows around us. Never pushing too hard but always pushing, pulling and cajoling us to where we need to be.” (Wildy’s World Music
Review) Oct. 11, 2008 Valerie Mih – Meridians The titular track starts off Meridians, and despite the fact that the piano is the key element to the track, the addition of atmospheric elements to the track is what makes the composition into something spectacular. Mih does not need anything in the way of vocals to tell a narrative, ensuring that listeners are taken for a journey throughout each of Meridians 9 tracks. The types of genres and styles that Mih approaches during this CD is impressive, moving from atmospheric to a Tori Amos meets Ani DiFranco type of approach within the space of two tracks. The more complex arrangements that are presented to listeners during “Flow” further expands the range of Meridians; rather than have any idea where Mih will go in the tracks to follow, listeners have to wonder where exactly Mih will take them. It is this sense of whimsy and wonder that fuels Meridians with the energy that it needs to keep listeners focused in on this disc. “Saturn’s Rings” is a slower, more deliberate track than anything that had previously been heard on Meridians. It is this slow and deliberate style that sets the track as a diametric opposite to “Flow”. Despite the differences that the two tracks may have, there is a common thread that unites the two songs (and by extension, the entirety of tracks on Meridians: for the nine cuts here, there is a complexity that requires listeners to focus into Meridians and dissect the disc. “Autumn” really acts as the uniting track between the poles of slow and deliberate and quick and intense: with this track, the two distinct styles previously heard during Meridians come forth and play, interacting with each other in a track that is perhaps the best on the disc. Mih may have debuted last year with her Sacred Sound, but the compositions that are commonplace on Meridians sound as if they were composed by someone that has been releasing albums for decades. There is a tremendous amount of possibility for Mih in the years to come, and I believe that she has shown listeners a brilliant glimpse of what is to come through the whole of “Meridians”. Make it a point to pick up Meridians, see Mih at any places that she may be performing, and get in on the ground floor. For more info see www.myspace.com/valeriemih and www.circulardreaming.com. Valerie would like to invite you to join
her circle of friends, music & creativity by subscribing to my monthly music
e-publication, "A Musical Offering." It includes free music downloads, concert
updates and fun articles on music & art. To join, go to www.circulardreaming.com and enter your email in the subscription box. To welcome you when you
subscribe, you'll immediately receive a complimentary gift of 3 music
downloads! |
Valerie Mih hails from San Francisco, CA
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2008 Asian Talent Online.com