"There are beautiful jewels in this album whose versatility in the genres and accessibility remain its greatest strengths."
Sylvain Lupari in his review (4/5 stars) of Lost And Found In Imaginary Landscapes.
Taede’s sonic creations are contemporary, warm and accessible, mixing influences of classic Jarre and some of Vangelis flavours with ‘80’s synth-music to a positive, cohesive and emotive-driven whole.
Sonic Immersion
The music of Tonal Assembly, the artist name of Taede A. Smedes, is a blend of the sound of Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis, spiced up by influences from Kraftwerk and 80s synthwave music. His tracks are thoroughly melodic, rhythmic compositions that at the same time have a meditative calmness to them.
Smedes: “There are many musical influences to be found in my music, most obviously those of Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, and Kraftwerk. But also Dutch synthpop groups like Future World Orchestra and Peru have been a major influence, going back to my childhood years. I’m a child of the 1980s, and my own music tries to capture and emulate the warm sound of that era.”
“With my music I try to transport people out of their everyday world to imaginary places far from here. I am in the business of creating imaginary landscapes using merely a palette of sounds.”
“For me, the creativity inherent in composing electronic music touches on the Transcendent. Most creatures create sound in some way or other. But experiencing music seems to be a unique feature of human beings. Synthesizer technology allows humans to create sounds and melodies that cannot be found in nature. The creative potential is unlimited, it is an amazing extension of nature.”
"Lost And Found In Imaginary Landscapes" (2019)
In April 2019, my first album Lost And Found In Imaginary Landscapes was released on Ron Boots' Groove Unlimited label.
The album contains 8 atmospheric tracks:
- Rising
- On The Shores Of The Cosmic Horizon
- Above The Clouds
- Beyond Words
- Blizzard
- Runners High
- The Voyage Begins
- Fragility
(featuring Leonie Smedes)
Ordering:
The CD can be ordered on Bandcamp (either as download or physical CD): https://tonalassembly.bandcamp.com/
“Creating music for me is a synesthetic experience. In my mind, sounds transform into colors, so that composing for me feels a lot like painting (a connection that was already obvious to the painter Kandinsky, whose works fascinate and inspire me).
A lot could be said if only the words could be found. But having said that, the whole process of creating a piece of music remains a mystery to me. I hope this sense of mystery seeps through in my music.”
REVIEW
Sylvain Lupari, in his review of the album, gave it 4/5 stars, concluding:
Not complicated, or almost not, and rather very harmonious in a sound universe that we master quite well, LOST And FOUND In IMAGINARY LANDSCAPES is a very nice album for those who search melodies and these rhythms well sculpted by a sequencer in mode charm. There are beautiful jewels in this album whose versatility in the genres and accessibility remain its greatest strengths.
Read the entire review here: https://www.synthsequences.com/post/tonal-assembly-lost-and-found-in-imaginary-landscapes-2019.
REVIEW
Stefan Erbe wrote on "Empulsiv.de":
Der Niederländer Taede Smedes alias Tonal Assembly wirft mit seinem aktuellen Erstlingsalbum einen echten Kracher ins weite Rund der 2019er Veröffentlichungen. Seine Stücke strotzen dabei vor guter Ideen, knackigem Sound und verträumten Arpeggien und schaffen etwas, was kaum einem vergangenem Neuling so recht gelingen konnte. Sein Sound klingt individuell, einprägsam und ist exzellent produziert und man mag kaum glauben, dass Taedes Debut-Silbering tatsächlich aus der Hand eines Newcomers entwachsen ist, denn auch seine Kompositionsarimethik vermengt Eingängiges und Komplexes zu einem der besten Alben 2019. Es bleibt zu vermuten, dass auch das Jahr 2020 unter einem guten Stern für weitere tonale Zusammenstellungen stehen werden.
REVIEW
The website Sonic Immersion writes:
Taede’s sonic creations are contemporary, warm and accessible, mixing influences of classic Jarre and some of Vangelis flavours with ‘80’s synth-music to a positive, cohesive and emotive-driven whole. For me, Taede’s colourful music flies high especially on “Beyond Words”, the vibrant “Runner’s High” and the evocative closing piece “Fragility”. All in all, “Lost and Found in Imaginary Landscapes” will appeal and be loved by a wide Em-audience. Nice going, Taede!