Jonathan Day - Water Sand Stone

Sunday 1st July 1990
Jonathan Day - Water Sand Stone

STYLE: Roots/Acoustic
RATING 6 6 6 6 6 6
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 11305-CAS81
LABEL: Independent
FORMAT: Cassette Album

Reviewed by Chris Tozer

Here's a cassette where the inlay card gives you a good idea of the contents.  "Ambience music!" I thought as I realised that the water colour landscape had been hand painted (that's a luxury not found on your average Amy Grant album). Jonathan Day is a veritable Mike Oldfield who uses a wide variety of instruments to complete each track in a similar way to the painting of different water colours on his cover picture. Hence, they are not so much songs but musical pictures. Even the vocals are chiefly employed like instruments with eerie cries and excessive reverb. At times, such effects limit word clarity which could have been helped by including a lyric sheet. The music is often soulful and dreamy - yet the theology behind the tracks is never ambient but happily Christian - as shown on tracks like "Raman" and "A Hand Like Mine" with its numerous Gospel quotations. Don't try dancing to this album or the continually changing beat will confuse your feet! But investi­gate a recording far removed from the usual mass - productions even Christians have to endure.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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