Backroom Blues Volume IV:
Robert Slap's "Modern Medicine" takes on a good-nature jazzy sound. Guitar work is quite impressive showing off a great dexterity. Best of all are the small flourishes, from the saxophone to the low-slung bass.
Skope Magazine - FEB 2017
Fast forward to me putting together a recent podcast episode, shuffling the music in my library, and this quite good, if obviously New Age, track comes on, and it’s Robert Slap. So here’s the review. Yes, Atlantis Trilogy: Brave New World, the final installment in Slap’s story of the lost kingdom, has its very, very New Age moments and does wander a bit into too-sweet or too-melodramatic territories for me, but there’s also some very good work here. Slap has spent his life in the music industry and worked as a backing player for a lot of musicians, so he’s got his chops. In fact, it was the guitar work on “Healing Temple” that brought me around for a fresh listen. There’s a fair amount of world influence throughout the album. “Voices From the Past” is a striding, cool tune filled with bright, round tones almost like kalimba or dulcimer, laid out in separate, complementary sequencer lines. Light hand percussion, synth vocal pads, and more flute round the piece out. Something in it puts me in mind of Shadowfax’s “New Electric India.” The biggest draw for me is the piece that pulled me back in, “Healing Temple.” It slips in on a bass drone and echoing, crystalline tones. Acoustic guitar and flute take the forefront; the flute here is snakey and lithe. Midway through, Slap lays down a guitar solo against a slow-moving backdrop of pads and sharp percussion. I honestly wish more of this style of playing had found its way into the mix.Out in the world beyond my opinion, Atlantis Trilogy: Brave New World is resonating with New Age listeners. It’s been ranked highly on the Zone Music Reporter charts, which means it’s been getting airplay on New Age outlets. I’ve seen fit to include it in my own podcast as well. There’s good music here, especially if you’re predisposed to a heavy New Age style, and I like it more when Slap dials down the melodrama. I think that while it may enhance the story, for me as a listener, it interrupts the experience. However, for some—perhaps many—this trip to Atlantis will be worth taking.
John Shanahan - Hypnagogue 11.23.2017
Recollections is a masterful mélange of diverse musical flavors. I loved the intertwining roots of Robert’s guitar styles, which incorporated jazz, rock, fusion, ambient electronic, and world music. And I was as impressed with Robert’s flair for composition and arranging, as I was with his impeccable guitar playing. One of the many things I like about Robert’s music is the way he adds dashes of world music influences into his jazzy compositions – just enough to provide a bit of exotic flavor without it trying to be an authentic indigenous sound.
MICHAEL DIAMOND - Music and Media Focus 08.09.2016
"The music has hidden depths, is complex and yet at the same time as fluent as the ancient civilisations which inspired the creations, allows you to weave whatever you desire into the journey. The softness of pounding drums, a gentle crescendo of sound rising up as if the night is giving way to the gloriousness of a new dawning, the ship arriving safely to the shore, the awesomeness of a new civilisation reached, travelling effortlessly through space to a new galaxy are all there to be immersed within.
There is a magnitude to the journey undertaken to which there is no known ending, which is in itself a reflection of the work, of the magic that has become woven throughout the various pieces, and within itself brings a sense of great peace and healing. Step into the tapestry that is a Brave New World and emerge refreshed, relaxed and surprisingly invigorated, ready to take on a fresh new day. But most of all, allow the sound to take you wherever you wish to go, to find whatever needs to be found, to create whatever needs to be discovered. You will have a wonderful time."
Janet Mawdesley - Blue Wolf Reviews - 03.24.2016
"Having been a new age music journalist for over 3 decades, the name of Robert Slap is one I’ve been familiar with for a long time. Recording artist and music industry professional, Robert Slap, recently celebrated his 50th anniversary in the music industry – a journey he calls: "from Motown to Atlantis."
In the third chapter of his Atlantis Trilogy, veteran musician Robert Slap has, once again created an imaginative soundtrack that brings this primeval mythos to life. There is a deeply metaphysical energy to this music that transcends time and space, connecting us here and now with an unimaginably ancient past. Like these Elders and Wizards of old, Robert is acutely aware of the power of music and sound."
MICHAEL DIAMOND - Music and Media Focus 02.11.2016
"Robert Slap is a perfect melodist. The compositions of the album are listened to in one breath. This project of the artist is a perfect example of that new age music which conquered the whole world. His electronic keyboards are filled with various nuances, and aerial voices are delicately coloring the palette of the album. The music of the “Atlantis Trilogy: Brave New World” contains a profound understanding of human nature and penetrates into the most distant corners of the soul. Something bewitching is felt in the compositions of Robert Slap."
Serge Koslovsky - 01.22.2016 WEB SITE
'Reverberating guitar and tight percussion elements underscore this beautiful jazz instrumental, making it shine brilliantly.' "Voodoo" from "Recollections: Volume 1"
Winner Best Song:Instrumental/Jazz - AKADAMIA Musics Awards 01.15.2016
"Inspired by creator Robert Slap's journey to Mexico to explore the pyramids of Teotihuacan, Atlantis Trilogy: Brave New World is an instrumental music CD imagining the Atlantis civilization of legend and lore. Atlantis Trilogy includes the content of Slap's 1991 album, previously released as "Atlantis Healing Temple", and a new track, "Brave New World", a final chapter concluding the Atlantean era and heralding the dawn of modern times. An evocative New Age soundscape, Atlantis Trilogy is highly recommended to connoisseurs of the genre."
Midwest Book Review - December 2015
"Recollections Vol 1 was a pleasure to listen to, I adore the smooth Jazz genre, but here Robert Slap crossed boundaries to make something good, brilliant, by adding the global world feel, and mixing in a little new age magic, sheer genius. I would recommend this album any day of the week; you cannot get enough of music of this quality into your collection."
Steve Sheppard - One World Music Radio
I'm always drawn back to the haunting yet soothing music of Robert Slap."
by Nalot
"Atlantis Trilogy: Brave New World was all I hoped it would be, a journey of sight and sound that laid me on the beach of musical serenity and allowed my entire imagination to envelope the subject matter. If you’re looking for an album to capture your inner mind and bring you a beautiful sense of calm while doing so, then you need to look no further than this release, its perfect, so don’t hesitate, add this one to your musical library as quick as you can".
Steve Sheppard - One World Music RadioRobert,Your music ... intricate polyrhythms,layers upon layers of not just the norm of piano,guitar but tribal...then I hear a wooden flute creating such a peaceful mental place.This could definitely defuse some of my PTSD.I guess what I am trying to say is,this is not music as most of us have been trained by the world.It's ,in my opinion an experience...When I first started listening my back was in excruciating pain.I have been carrying way to much emotional shit that I have no control over...Then all of a sudden you have started a rather complex groove,(I can tell it's keyboards but it resembles a percussion instrument) The guitar work is very tasty.My friend I could get used to this.....This is some deep stuff. RW
"First-rate new age higher-consciousness music. Gentle, loving, strong, intimate, ethereally beautiful. Vastly spacious synth drones combined with ocean sounds and sparse, poignant melodic lines. Relaxing, inspiring, from the heart of new age music at its best."
Lee Underwood: Jazziz magazine
"Multi-instrumentalist Slap creates the ultimate music for creative visualization. His albums encompass the progressive as well as environmental sides of new age music, setting specific tones and carrying through with colorful emotional themes that resonate long after the music has ended. Slap combines elements of East Indian and Asian music with modern, classical,and jazz influences, generating many relaxing moods and textures."
Patti Jean Birosik: The New Age Music Guide
Linda Atnip: Music Connection
Additional Comments:
"The sweetest shakuhachi this side of heaven"
"Over the years as we listen to various artists we always come back to your wonderful music. Your music comforts and moves us and personally I can't thank you enough."
"I have this on tape and was so pleased to find it on CD. Robert Slap is a magician in meditative music."
"I have been teaching meditation for nearly 20 years. Choosing the right piece of music to play in the background can be daunting with all the new artists and offerings available. But I keep coming back to Ascension by Robert Slap. It's perfectly timed, perfectly written to take a person into the depths of their being for an enlightening hour of meditation. It does not over power, it does not interfere with your concentration. Instead it melodically lifts your soul and gently carries you into the spirit of your mind for that perfect altered state of awareness. I highly recommend it for beginners and experts alike."
"I’m not always a fan of new-age or electronic music, but musician Robert Slap has used modern technology to synthesize various pitches and octaves of male voices singing the holy syllable “Om” together with a background choir of soothing voices in a way that is truly magical. It sounds like a cosmic version of monks singing, as each “Om” descends with the gentle freshness of water drops falling upon a lake."