„Big Map Idea, the sixth Tibbetts album, is a set of hypnotic compositions with dreamy depth and texture, quieter than most of the other Tibbetts/Anderson compositions, but with not nearly as much quiet introspective space as Tibbetts‘ third album, Northern Song. To some, this might have a darker mood than others, but I find it a refreshing and enjoyable set of tracks.
„Black Mountain Side“ begins the album, it’s a significant improvement of the Jimmy Page track first heard on Led Zeppelin’s first album (although I love the way it works as a lead-in to „Communication Breakdown“ on that earlier album). As usual, the percussion here and throughout Big Map Idea is top-shelf. The ensuing tracks are largely based on excellent percussion and acoustic or subtle electric guitar layers.
Part of an interview of Tibbetts by Michael Engelbrecht included in the liner notes of the CD describe Tibbetts use of sounds from the natural environment: „There are a lot of possibilities in sound; possibilities of boredom and of entertainment, there are possibilities of sound actually tapping into your memory and uncovering something with potential, with energy. sounds unlock a flood of emotions … So you can go into the field, into the arena, out into the world with a tape recorder looking for sounds with coherent harmonic content, good rhythmic content, or emotional content. When you bring these sounds back into the studio and record them on to one track of your recorder, those sounds will inform the music you’re making around them: An emotional situation will inform the music. You can use these sounds as a skeleton, as a scaffolding for a piece of music, as a mold for a piece of clay. In the end, if necessary, you can pull the sound away and let the music exist on its own.“ He later adds he and Marc arrived at this approach because they „were bored with recording in the studio.“
5 brilliant TIBBETTS albums:
– Safe Journey
– Full Moon Dogs
– Big Map Idea
– Northern Song
– Natural Causes
And, well, in fact there are 6 fantastic ones (the other ones are „only“ good):
– A Man About A Horse