Machu Piccuu Impressions

The ostensible purpose of this album is to evoke the pristine, serene mountaintops of Machu Picchu, Peru. The album itself is definitely serene – in fact, it's soporific. Composer/performer Rusty Crutcher attempts to marry pre-recorded sounds of the outdoors with ambient musical tracks, but in many cases, it seems that he attempts to let the pre-recorded sounds to stand alone. This they cannot do. The soft flute instrumentals and cricket chirps of the first track are inoffensive; in fact, many ambient CDs start off slowly. No big deal. But. Not only does the album never pick up steam, it seems to lose it. Two full minutes of uninterrupted, unembellished bird song on "Third Movement" are followed by 90 seconds of the same birdsong on the "Nature Segue," and then two more minutes of birdsong on "Fourth Movement.".. The sounds become background noise ten seconds into Third Movement, and by the time the flutes begin their soft, hesitant piping again ("Fourth Movement"), it's easy to forget that there's even an album playing. Though the first movement of "Papa Cielo" (8) reminds you that there is, in fact, a rather pleasant melodic theme weaving throughout the work, it isn't enough to save it. One finds oneself waiting for a man's voice to intone, "You're feeling calm...and relaxed..." in classic meditational tones. It would be a welcome addition. At least some spoken-word meditations might liven things up a bit. ~ L. Katz, Rovi