Near the end of March, Omiqron6 dropped A New Kind of Lightning. Very little is known about the artist called Omiqron6: he/she is from Mexico City, and has this to say about the music on A New Kind of Lightning: "In times when the collective human spirit is sunk in conflict, violence and suffering... I love to help elevate it.”
Stylistically, Omiqron6 is categorized as experimental ambient music. For those who don’t know, ambient music emphasizes tonal ambience rather than rhythm or melody. In other words, ambient music doesn’t really have a definable structure or arrangement. Ambient music originated in the U.K., primarily because of the various musical atmospheres generated by the synthesizer.
Some people equate ambient music with Muzak or elevator music. But there is a vast difference: ambient music is trying to set a mood, a surrounding milieu, while elevator music is usually safe, sterile lounge-like music utilized as background filler. Elevator music is certainly not trying to set a mood. Basically, elevator music is designed to put your brain in “neutral.” The design of ambient music is to engage your mind at various levels, consciously and subconsciously.
A New Kind of Lightning contains eight tracks. “Om Is On” is the first track. The use of “om” in the title suggests transcendental meditation facilitation. Since I don’t meditate, I can’t provide a valid estimation of the song’s meditative qualities. But as ambient music, it’s good, reflecting a light, airy atmosphere that gets into your brain and enhances happy thoughts.
Whereas the second track, “Pawa,” sets off active cogitation, with its squirming, musical fractal descents via the burping synth, which becomes a bit annoying as the music progresses. It’s almost strident in a mean kind of way.
While listening to “3Times Astray,” I imagined myself on a space yacht, floating through clouds as winged-dolphins cavorted around me. Weird, huh? But hey, it was very relaxing. I likewise found “Warrior” to be relaxing, but not in the same languid manner as “3Times Astray.” “Warrior” is more mystical, more abstruse in the atmosphere it oozes forth.
My favorite tune on the album is “Tau Tonic,” probably because it jumps around, intermingling instruments and themes in a highly-stylized manner.
Omiqron6 has produced a strong album, especially for listeners looking for ambient music that varies from one song to the next.
Find out more about Omiqron6 here.