Amin Bhatia, The Interstellar Suite (remastered)

Keyboard

CD Reviews

Bhatia is one of the few masters who can convincingly pull off an entire synthesized orchestra, rating up there with Wendy Carlos and Isao Tomita. Although there is some space-talk dialogue and a choir in the hidden bonus track, no samples appear on this remastering of the original TIS, Bhatia's soundtrack for an imaginary sci-fi flick that he completed and released in 1987. He created all the orchestral timbres and sound effects with a handful of synths - Minimoog, Oberheim Expander, Roland JX-10, and Yamaha TX-816 - and two crash cymbals. The music sounds as fresh as it did 17 years ago and ranges from soft, introspective, and beautiful to raging, emotional, and hold-on-to-your-helmet exciting. Not to be missed. MARK VAIL (Bhatia Music Inc., www.interstellarsuite.com)

Keyboard May 2004