sonolumina - releases

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"Solar Logos" is the debut album by sonolumina created at symbolic insight studios by bios+a+ic and bahiya over a six year period. The music features a variety of source by musicians which was reworked and processed to create a new innovative sound. The core rhythms are Washington percussionists, Erik Brown and Jonathan Brummett, with Boulder, CO, bassist, Leon Arguello. Grammy award winning guitarist, Al Petteway from Asheville, NC, plays handmade banjola on "hado", and 6 year old prodigy, Terra Petteway Davis, makes her cd debut on vocals, accordion, and strings. Nine unique tracks take the listener on a journey from modern American belly dance fusion around the world to Eastern inspired IDM grooves, drawing from both current electronic trends and ancient tribal traditions. This sonolumina album marks the beginning of an innovative experimental project currently working on new material, while also developing their live multi-media performance for 2012.

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Reviews for Solar Logos

Westword, Music
Sonolumina, Solar Logos, Symbolic Insight
There doesn't seem to be much obvious or interesting use of stereo effects on recordings anymore. But on "Fire," the opening tune on Sonolumina's Solar Logos, the hand-drum sound travels back and forth from one speaker to the other so that it feels like you're in the middle of a circle of bass pulses and percussion. Aphex Twin probably never would have teamed up with Dead Can Dance, but that unlikely pairing might have produced the hypnotic electro raga of "Buddha," with its circular, abstract vocals. Distant instrumental voices drift in and out of focus across the album, giving it an impressionistic feel. The diversity of influences and blending of ideas gives each song a soothing quality of the familiar, but with a distinctly exotic character.
By Tom Murphy Tuesday, Mar 6 2012
http://www.westword.com/2012-03-08/music/sonolumina/

A&A #335 reviews
Sonolumina Solar Logos (Symbolic Insight)>BR? If you're interested in rhythms that make the body move, then Sonolumina is ready for you. These hypnotic pieces borrow from all sorts of international traditions and throw them into a modern, electronic atmosphere. The playing is inspiring, and there simply no way to keep the hips from swaying.
Jon Worley
http://www.aidabet.com/issues/335/335reviews.html

Slug Magazine, National Music Reviews
Issue 279 / March 2012
sonolumina, Solar Logos, Symbolic Insight
Sonolumina = (Faith and the Muse – Monica Richards) + (Dead Can Dance – Brendan Perry) Solar Logos is the debut album by this worldly Colorado-based twosome, made up of dancer bahiya (a.k.a. Jewl Petteway) and producer Wesley Davis, along with a wide array of musicians and rhythm-makers, including a six-year old on accordion and strings (she sings, too). With all the opaque design sensibility (I hate not being able to read the tracks and liner notes!) and mystical mumbo-jumbo one expects from such things (are those crop circles or petroglyphs?), the end product is great for all you aspiring dark belly dancers out there. It is an interesting concatenation of folk-inspired world music, deep club trance beats, glitchy found sound, and electronic noize, particularly on “Sengali.” Nine tracks feature a bewildering array of other instruments, both familiar (flutes and horns) foreign (tablas) and all but made-up (banjola), all crashing together into nine tracks, or one big, messy, rhythmic masala. Play this while bringing new democracy to your favorite Middle Eastern country, or pump it in the desert while burning stuff, man. –Madelyn Boudreaux
http://www.slugmag.com/article.php?id=3394&page=11

Chain D.L.K.
March 2012
Sonolumina, Solar Logos, Symbolic Insight
I have been a reviewer for ChainDLK for seven years now and I think this is a first: belly dancing music. Here's how the press sheet describes the album: 'Nine unique tracks take the listener on a journey from modern American belly dance fusion around the world to Eastern inspired IDM grooves, drawing from both current electronic trends and ancient tribal traditions.' Evidently Jewl Pettaway, one half of Sonolumina, is a dancer as well as a musician, so this makes some sense. There are some hints of their influences, specifically Muslimgauze in tracks like 'Hado,' which is somewhat reminiscent of 'Curfew, Gaza' off Zul'm. However, where Muslimgauze pushed the envelope, about half of this album seems like the kind of thing that you would expect to hear at your local Moroccan restaurant during belly dancing nights. It does seem to get progressively more experimental as the album goes on. There are some subtle nods to experimentation, with some staticy beats in 'Fatima' and 'Ganges' (it's a bit difficult to read the track listing because of the font ' I had to go to discogs to get the track listing) throws in some spoken word, but it isn't really what I would call experimental. Three tracks come closest to this though: 'Sengali,' which brings in some distortion and noise, and 'Moodi' and 'Tablaji,' which are both much more of an ambient middle-eastern excursion with some subdued percussion and field recordings. Had the entire album been like the last 22 minutes, it would have been a bit more on the experimental side. It was a fun listen though. Get it for someone who is interested in trying out belly dancing. This album weighs in at around 67 minutes.
id#6846 Review by: eskaton
http://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/?id=6846

Monsieur Delire
SONOLUMINA / Solar Logos (Symbolic Insight)
Premier album pour Sonolumina, un duo mari et femme composé de Jewl Petteway (aka Bahiya) et Wesley Davis (aka biostatic). Musique d’ambiance trip-hop orientale, avec une forte influence Dead Can Dance (voix en moins). Musique sensuelle, forte en percussions et mélodies du Moyen-Orient. Quelques longueurs, mais essentiellement réussi. [Ci-dessous: Quelques extraits à écouter via ReverbNation.]
A debut album for Sonolumina, a husband-and-wife duo consisting of Jewl Petteway (aka Bahiya) and Wesley Davis (aka biostatic). Ambient Eastern-sounding trip-hop music with a strong influence coming from Dead Can Dance (minus the vocals). Sensual music, with lots of Middle-Eastern melodies and percussion. A few overlong passages, but successful overall.
http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/2012/02/2012-02-02-sabrina-siegel-brent-fariss.html

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