Wings Over Water

The globe-trotting fusion sounds of multi-instrumentalist Stephan Micus may be tough to describe, but they combine to make simply gorgeous music. Wings over Water, recorded in 1982, is certainly no exception. The six-part work features arrangements that sound impossibly complex ("Part 1" features five acoustic guitars and the ney, an Egyptian reed flute; "Part 3" is for two Spanish guitars and nine flowerpots), but they come off as soothing, gamelan-influenced folk music. More contemplative than Micus's The Garden of Mirrors, the compositions on Wings over Water unfold organically and slowly, with plenty of hypnotic passages and ethereal flute work. --Jason Verlinde