REVIEW
January 22, 2023: Amazon Customer Review by
Joe Ross
Meditative musical therapy...
and a scenic electronic synth-based sound
New Age music legend Chuck Wild is back in 2022 with his 18th album under the artist name Liquid Mind. Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity continues the Liquid Mind story following the 2021 release of Liquid Mind: Musical Healthcare®. A long time artist on the legendary Real Music Records label, both Chuck and Real Music joined forces with the London-based Myndstream label in 2018.
Chuck has released two albums on the Real Music / Myndstream imprint. First was Liquid Mind XIII: Mindfulness in 2020, and, in 2021, a best-of collection called Musical Healthcare®, which included one new 12-minute track called “Healing Hands”. Taking his fans past the pandemic era, Chuck’s 2022 album, Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity features all new music and is a most worthy addition to the Liquid Mind series of albums.
Chuck has long been a proponent of the numerous healing aspects of New Age music and, in fact all good music, yet his synth-based sound is clearly inspired by 50 years of synth-based instrumental music first made popular in the early 1970s by original electronic entities such as, for example aspects of Tangerine Dream, although Liquid Mind clearly is coming from a more contemporary and curative New Age backdrop.
The cover art of Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity makes a good first impression with its sparkling design and album art. Chuck explains, “When Glen Wexler and I were discussing the cover, I emphasized it needed to be as simple as possible, and Glen suggested a circle or 3-dimensional version thereof, with some waves to represent water (liquid) … as he created the cover he got the idea to use the other two basic shapes within the CD package/PDF digital booklet, again to emphasize geometric simplicity that matches the musical / harmonic simplicity of the Liquid Mind series.”
There are really two ways to experience the music of Liquid Mind; both as meditative musical therapy to calm and relax the body and mind and also as a scenic electronic, synth-based sound, and both are equally valid. It was the late, great album producer Bruce Swedien that first encouraged Chuck to further pursue his approach to therapeutic electronic music and in a sense, with its slow-moving, glacial-like string synths sounds, Chuck’s music can also be viewed as being a kind of modern era classical music and in that way, it is also cinematic and could easily work as symphonic soundtrack music. So, if you’re into diving deep into your personal meditative headspace, Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity is the album to go to for relaxing, mindful meditation, as well as other slow-moving therapies such as yoga. (Robert Silverstein, Roots Music Report)