Carinthia: All My Fountains Are In You
Carinthia

It's telling that Daniel Paul Jorgensen's Carinthia album, All My Fountains Are In You, was mastered by none other than Keith Kenniff (aka Goldmund and Helios), as Jorgensen's material exudes a lush and entrancing character that's quite a bit like Helios's. Imagine, if you will, Helios and Slow Dancing Society crossed with the instrumental uplift of Sigur Rós and you'll have some idea of the beautiful material presented on Jorgensen's full-length debut. Moments even arise where one almost expects Jonsi's voice to appear until one remembers it's a Carinthia recording that's playing and not one by Sigur Rós.

The album's nine harmonious settings unfold leisurely, with pianos, guitars (acoustic and electric), wordless choirs, organ, glockenspiel, and shimmering ambient washes ably supported by delicate beat structures and augmented with subtle electronic treatments and an occasional outdoors field recording (the rain-soaked “The Gentle Deep,” for example). The plaintive piano melodies coursing through “Dove On Distant Oaks” feel like they're shrouded in mist and resounding next to a country stream. Few shadows darken Carinthia's door as the album delivers one dreamy chord progression after another (“Selah” and “I Am With You Always” two examples of many) with piano the stately melodic voice typically leading the way.

How appropriate it is that Jorgensen named his project Carinthia, not because it's titled after a southern province in Austria but because it's a place where where he spent his childhood. As such, the recording often exudes a wistful and nostalgic warmth that bespeaks cherished memories of days long past. Electronic ambient music of the quietly rapturous kind, All My Fountains Are In You is soul-stirring music of the stream and valley, the sky and forest.

November 2010