PAUL AVGERINOS: Phos Hilaron

Paul Avgerinos

Phos Hilaron

© 2005 Paul Avgerinos (015882031523)

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Top Five Relaxation / Meditation album . Phos Hilaron is a deeply devotional Ambient Soundscape with hymns nearly 2000 years old; we chant blissful peace in this perfect moment .

notes

Top Ten for Three Months on the New Age Chart !
www.NewAgeReporter.com

"Phos Hilaron is your most incredible effort yet.
This is spiritual clarity, musical channeling and deep chanting at its best.
On behalf of all lovers of Sacred Music, we thank you."
PADMA - Mystic Radio

"One of the most remarkable New Age recordings I have heard thus far in 2005." Eric Cohen - WAER

"Phos Hilaron is absolutely beautiful. It transcends the
boundaries of one religion and enters the realm of The Sacred.
I hear this music in my soul." Karen Larsen - WERU

"Paul Avgerinos is one of the Giants of New Age Ambience"
ALL MUSIC GUIDE

With Two Grammy nominations , Paul Avgerinos is a classically trained composer whose music is broadcast all over the world .
Currently, he lives and works in his Studio Unicorn in Redding, Connecticut, where the deer pass by his studio windows and the hawks and eagles give inspiration from above.

reviews

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  • Peaceful, reverent and moving. And, definitely not wallpaper.
    author: Tony Dillon Davis - CKUA

    One of the great clichés in ambient music is the use of chant. Often samples of recordings of Gregorian chant, occasionally simply a few voices overdubbed to give the illusion of a choir, religious chant, whether in Greek, Latin or Sanskrit is too often relegated to a kind of sonic wallpaper. This is perhaps inevitable in an increasingly secularized world. But its very use is in answer to a growing spiritual hunger. It calls to a kind of organic memory, leaving even the skeptic with a curious sense of calm, of uplift. And, it is so comfortable. After all, you can't really tell what they are singing, so you don't have to think on the words. It, therefore, takes a kind of daring to present the same musical element in English. But, that is precisely what American artist Paul Avgerinos has done with Phos Hilaron. Despite the Greek title, the hymns on this disc are all sung in English. A personal awakening led Avgerinos, best known for electro-ambient meditations, to re-connect with Christianity. It led him to his own church, the Episcopalian (Anglican). The selections on Phos Hilaron are all taken from the Episcopalian hymnal, but set in Avgerinos' rich combination of electronic and acoustic instruments with the assistance of another fine artist, Kevin Braheny. The result is peaceful, reverent and moving. And, definitely not wallpaper.

  • The CD merits a "Highly recommended" from me with room to spare.
    author: Bill Binkleman - Wind & Wire

    I've always been bemused and confused at the notion that "new age music" is anti-Christian or, even worse, "unholy," in one way or another. Many artists who record what is considered new age music are devoutly religious, including more than a few who (if liner notes are any indication) are zealous Christians. Which brings me to Paul Avgerinos. You have to admire the his conviction. Phos Hilaron may not be the most marketable CD out there, but it surely is one of the strongest statements of an artist's beliefs I've ever seen/heard. I assume that the hymns contained on this alum, including the title one, are special and meaningful to Avgerinos. I do know that his singing of them, accompanied by some exceptional new age and spacemusic, is special indeed. While I can't pretend that the words of these hymns carry significant meaning for me, the music on Phos Hilaron is undeniably beautiful and I can just as easily consider Avgerinos' chants and choir singing to be part of the overall music itself. Whether everyone can do that or not is an individual distinction. The hymns are sung in English and the lyrics are printed in the liner notes, so you will be able to follow along if you so desire, and the words are decipherable even when just listening to the album. Worth special mention is that this recording also features Kevin (Fortune) Braheny, who many will remember from his previous exceptional releases on Hearts of Space years ago (The Way Home, Galaxies, Secret Rooms, Rain and The Spell, the latter two with Tim Clark). It's wonderful to see Kevin recording music again and hearing the warm rich tones of EWI (electric woodwind instrument) almost brought a tear to my eye. I sure have missed his special magic. Besides his melodious richly emotive singing, Avgerinos contributes bass violin, guitars, fretless bass and keyboards to the album. Someone named Jodan plays flutes, Jeff Pearce sits in on processed guitars, Steve Waite is featured on 12-string acoustic guitar, John Widgren plays some pedal steel and Christine Yandell has some heavenly turns on vocalizations (wordless vocals). The music itself on the CD is uniformly warm and flowing and (surprisingly) also contains beats and rhythms on some tracks. Whenever Braheny's EWI makes an appearance (such as on the opening "Humbly I Adore Thee" or "Call to Prayer"), those gently soaring EWI strains wend their way in and around the other instruments like a graceful bird in flight. "Humbly I Adore Thee" opens the CD with percolating gentle beats, synthesizer washes, and Avgerinos' deep resonant voice (multi-tracked), as well as Braheny's EWI. It's a smart move to open the album with this hymn. "O Sons and Daughters" starts off with spacy keyboard swells and serene yet majestic singing, before an earthy (almost sultry) rhythm on hand percussion and bass anchors the track in an almost tribal cadence. The aforementioned "Call to Prayer" adds acoustic guitar and those lovely vocalizings from Yandell to Braheny's EWI, and the combination is heavenly to hear, resplendent in its bright sparkling beauty. The title track is a more drifting style of hymn, although guitar opens the track along with assorted electronics. Flute hovers and flits in the background amidst spacy effects and noises. Later in the track, an insistent but muted fast-paced beat emerges, set against ethereal drifting textures and washes, along with bell trees twinkling alongside. "Anoint and Cheer" represents an even bolder re-imagining for Avgerinos as he tilts the hymn toward, of all things, Berlin school EM with gentle sequenced EM pulses that I swear reminded me of Tangerine Dream from their Risky Business era. Maybe I'm being presumptuous, but Avgerinos' ability to blend these old hymns with EM borders on near genius. I have to think in anyone else's hands, this could be a disaster. Not only does he succeed, but he does so with aplomb, grace, and style! However, he's just getting warmed up! "Song of Gladness" introduces, believe it or not, pseudo-glitch beats! I kid you not. Oh my goodness! And later, pedal steel merges with the flowing synths and beats! And there are still four more great tracks on the recording I haven't described yet (I really dig the rhythmic tones and beats on "The Mystery Telling"). Now, it's highly important to stress that Phos Hilaron is nothing like Enigma, Magna Canta, or similar artists' recordings (not meant as a criticism of those artists' work). This is not just Gregorian chant mixed with contemporary electronica, although on a very superficial level one might think so. To my way of thinking, this is nothing less than reenvisioning the older hymns for the 21st century. In other words, this is not a gimmick or a pop music infatuation for Avgerinos. This is the real deal, folks. Originally, in an email to Paul, I admitted to him that I wasn't sure what to make of this album and I also wondered at the commercial viability of the project. He was gracious in his response, centering around how personally committed he was to this album. I respected him for this and the more I listened to Phos Hilaron, the more impressed I was with not just his conviction but the way he has combined his passion with his abundant talent in such a way that he has crafted a truly amazing piece of work. If you're at all religious, and you happen to be a fan of ambient, new age, or spacemusic, I would have to think the enjoyment you'll have listening to this album would be intensified many times over. However, even agnostics (like myself) should fall under the spell of Phos Hilaron's flowing electronic spacemusic, beautiful choral vocals, rich melodies, and the occasional pleasant beats and rhythms. The CD merits a "Highly recommended" from me with room to spare.

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