Seven Mirrors

The work of Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung (b. 1942) represents one of the more successful attempts to accomplish a musical integration of East and West, resulting in a style that is uniquely his own. In general, Ung's music is resplendent with lush romantic harmonies, rhythmic complexities, and lyrical melodic passages, an amalgamation that, together with his own idiosyncratic compositional technique, has evolved over the course of time.

The compositions of Cambodian native Chinary Ung (b. 1942) display mixed elements of European, Asian, and Western musics. ...Ung's music sounds very improvised even though it is written, but the variations of texture and timbre allowed give it the flavor and elements of spontaneous composition. ...The deeper viola sounds on Khse Buon, which was initially written for cello, are exploited by Susan Ung, as she patiently constructs long tones strung together with plucked, percussion inserts; spirited; choppy or spare sounds; and yearning East Indian or Koto-like sounds with Arabic legato.

Seven Tears finds Golden Earring continuing to develop its distinctive blend of hard rock and prog elements, but the end result is not as consistent as 1970's Golden Earring. Seven Tears shows a band willing to take big risks to transform its combination of elements into a totally unique style. The album's highlight is "She Flies on Strange Wings," an art rock epic that combines verses done in a stomping, heavy metal style with spacy choruses and a slow, dreamy midsection that is strongly reminiscent of Pink Floyd. Overall, Seven Tears is more like a collection of songs than a fully realized album, but there are enough strong moments to make it worthwhile for hardcore Golden Earring fans…

Happy Traum's long association with Bob Dylan makes him the perfect instructor to teach these seven fingerstyle arrangements of Dylan favorites. The detailed, in-depth lessons are designed for both early intermediate and more experienced players who will gain important guitar technique along with first-hand historical insights.