Mike Oldfield
Incantations

Two years after the previous "Ommadawn," the talented composer and multi-instrumentalist Scottish Mike Oldfield releases "Incantations". It’s '78 and it's surprising that good old Mike, during the punk earthquake, produces four sides of music marked by his typical exploration of the sounds of his homeland, replayed in a modern key with a remarkable melodic sense and delicate taste.

This work is marked by a strong compositional vein, though it perhaps sometimes leaves a bit too much room for conventional solutions that Oldfield uses to get himself out of trouble. The first part opens with a bucolic atmosphere, strings, winds on a carpet of synthetic sounds. The main theme is very beautiful, light, and airy music where the percussion, cymbals, and a subtle electric guitar phrasing by Mike appear. From an insertion of bells and a flute theme, Oldfield introduces a female chant. The "Queens College Girls Choir" magically marks this part and the second; opened by the flute on a background of fluid and dynamic synthetic sounds, then joined by low organ notes and a distant drum. Again, an engaging bucolic atmosphere into which Mike's guitar is then inserted. The third part opens with a joyful folk theme with triumphant tones, various types of percussion then seal the whole thing. The final part of "Incantations" reprises some main themes of the album, but perhaps this is the least successful section and for long stretches, it proves to be a bit prolix and boring.

"Incantations" is a work rich in magic (incantations being the title) but perhaps it is too complex and not immediately grasped, moreover it's Oldfield's last work before the change towards modern and commercially fruitful sounds, given that by now a certain type of too cerebral music is not well received by the general public.