Not quite complex enough to be jazz, not quite mellow or ambient enough to be new age, and just a little too cerebral to just be pop music, Acoustic Alchemy's Natural Elements is its own little oddity.
These tunes, based on the dueling acoustic guitars of Gregory Carmichael and Nick Webb, are invariably melodic, at times featuring a sort of folkiness that suggests Bert Jansch and John Renbourn's work in the Pentangle, and the mixture of acoustic guitar and synthesizers is not really that much different from what Vini Reilly was doing in the far hipper Durutti Column around the same time.
On the down side, John Parson's production, which is heavy on his own synthesizer programming, is as slick as fiberglass rubbed down with bacon fat and causes even the most agreeable tunes, like the lovely "Late Night Duke Street," to slide away into nothingness after all but the most careful listens.
A fine album, Natural Elements is nonetheless only for committed fans of the genre.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drake's DrumGreg Carmichael, Nick Webb | Acoustic Alchemy | Play | 04:49 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 2 | Overnight SleeperGreg Carmichael, Nick Webb | Acoustic Alchemy | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 3 | Natural ElementsGreg Carmichael, Nick Webb | Acoustic Alchemy | Play | 03:55 | 9 MB | 20 MB |
| 4 | CasinoSimon James, Nick Webb | Acoustic Alchemy | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 5 | If OnlyGreg Carmichael, Nick Webb | Acoustic Alchemy | Play | 05:17 | 12 MB | 29 MB |
| 6 | Ballad for KayNick Webb | Acoustic Alchemy | Play | 02:59 | 6 MB | 12 MB |
| 7 | Evil the WeaselJohn Parsons | Acoustic Alchemy | Play | 05:37 | 12 MB | 36 MB |
| 8 | Late Nite Duke Street | Acoustic Alchemy | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 21 MB |
| 34 mins | 80 MB | |||||
| 34 mins | 193 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acoustic Alchemy | Primary Artist |
| 2 | Mario Argandona | Percussion |
| 3 | Milan Bogdan | Digital Editing |
| 4 | Rainer Bruninghaus | Piano, Synthesizer |
| 5 | Greg Carmichael | Composer, Guitar |
| 6 | Paul Cox | Photography |
| 7 | Stewart Coxhead | Liner Notes |
| 8 | Vera Elfert | Recorder |
| 9 | Klaus Genuit | Engineer |
| 10 | Mike Herting | Keyboards, Synthesizer |
| 11 | Ashley Jackson | Paintings |
| 12 | Simon James | Composer |
| 13 | Günther Kasper | Engineer |
| 14 | Simon Levy | Art Direction |
| 15 | Serge Maillard | Programming |
| 16 | Konrad Mathieu | Bass |
| 17 | Craig Oddy | Photography |
| 18 | John Parsons | Composer, Producer, Programming |
| 19 | Benny Quinn | Mastering |
| 20 | Linda Schwab | Artwork |
| 21 | Bert Smaak | Drums |
| 22 | Fiona Spear | Graphic Design |
| 23 | Manfred Struck | Mixing |
| 24 | Nick Webb | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Pedal Steel |
Acoustic Alchemy
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |