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  NATURAL
STATES (New DVD Artwork!)
(1985) David Lanz and Paul Speer
“This
was our first project as a duo and was the cornerstone of what was
to become Miramar Productions. Film director Jan Nickman came up
with the concept of Natural States as a music video album and David
and I worked diligently for a year and half in our spare time composing
the music.”
Available on CD ($9.99) and DVD ($12.99)
(DVD's are NTSC format and have no region coding.)
 :
CD
($9.99) |
DVD
($12.99)
1- Miranova 
Windows Video
Quicktime Video
2- Faces of the Forest- Part One
3- Faces of the Forest- Part Two
4- Behind the Waterfall - - - 
MP3
Windows Video
Quicktime Video
5- Mountain
6- Allegro/985- - -
MP3
Windows Video
Quicktime Video
7- Lento/984
8- Rain Forest
9- First Light
Since
its release, the video has achieved multi-platinum sales and the
soundtrack album has sold several hundred thousand units. Considered
by many to be one of the outstanding works in the contemporary instrumental
genre, it also spawned the hit single, "Behind the Waterfall."
The visuals, directed and photographed by Emmy winning director,
Jan C. Nickman, are a journey of wonder into the beautiful and lush
Pacific Northwestern United States. The music by Lanz and Speer
was painstakingly composed to perfectly match the stunning images
of nature.
***** (5 stars) customer rating at Amazon.com
PEOPLE MAGAZINE REVIEW
"NATURAL STATES A dusky forest behind a scrim of sunshine,
a frothy collision of waterfalls, the ice-blue peaks of a forbidding
mountain range soothe the eye in this expertly crafted mix of music
and images. Filmed in the Pacific Northwest, this 45-minute voyage
pulls the viewer into what seem like secret corners of the universe.
No discarded beer can or abandoned shoe gives a clue of human intrusion.
Seattle producer-director Jan Nickman has created a video album
to be replayed like an LP. David Lanz and Paul Speer scored the
tape, using woodwinds to lend a haunted quality to some segments.
The same team produced Desert Vision, which sweeps viewers over
the burnt orange mesas and into the baked canyons of the Southwest.
Among the spectacular images: New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns (off
the usual tourist route), where the camera (a Steadicam operated
by Jeff Mart) hovers among the monster stalactites and stalagmites."
Copyright Time, Inc. 1987 from "People Weekly" Oct. 19,
1987.
VARIOUS
MEDIA REVIEW
Natural States is, quite simply, some of the prettiest music you're
likely to hear. David Lanz and Paul Speer together expand "New
Age" or "ambient music" into tonal colors more familiar
to jazz-rock fans while still maintaining a basically minimalistic
framework. The video is a series of Steadicam (and aerial) journeys
over the Pacific coastline, through the Northwest rainforests, or
up a snow-covered Mt. Rainier, edited to the music by talented filmmaker
Jan Nickman. Robert Carlberg, Various Media, 1985
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  DESERT
VISION (New DVD Artwork!)
(1987) David Lanz and Paul Speer
“Desert Vision is my favorite of the collaborations with
David. The visuals that Jan provided were very inspirational to
work with. I feel we captured a certain essence of one of the most
beautiful places in the world.”
Available on CD ($9.99) or DVD ($12.99)
(DVD's are NTSC format and have no region coding.)
:
CD
($9.99) |
DVD
($12.99)
1-
Eagle's Path
Windows Video
Quicktime Video
2- Saquaro
3- Desert Rain - - -
MP3
Windows Video
Quicktime Video
4- Sculptures - - -
MP3
Windows Video
Quicktime Video
5- Canyon Lands
6- Carlsbad
7- White Sands
8- Stormlight
9- Tawtoma
Like
its predecessor Natural States, Desert Vision has achieved significant
sales and global notoriety. It is a collection of musical impressions
of the American Southwest that has become a timeless classic.
In the video, also directed and photographed by Emmy winning director,
Jan C. Nickman, the camera takes you places rarely seen by human
beings. Soaring over mesas and strolling through carved canyons
of stone, it reveals one of the most remarkable places on the planet
in full splendor.
****1/2 (4.5 stars) customer rating at Amazon.com
DESERET NEWS REVIEW
Desert Vision (Miramar Productions) "Desert Vision" is
nine separate mini-movies directed innovatively and stylishly by
Jan Nickman.
Miramar Productions refers to the "Desert Vision" collection
as a "video album" and that's an appropriate title since
this 50-minute hi-fi stereo tape takes a specific theme for each
of its nine pieces, sets them to beautiful instrumental music by
David Lanz and Paul Speer, and with the use of a Steadicam, takes
the viewer on breathtaking tours over some of the world's most stunning
natural rock and sand formations.
Among them are vivid scenes of Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National
Parks in the segment titles "Desert Rain"; Arches, Bryce
Canyon, and Canyonlands National Parks in "Sculptures"
and various southern Utah locations in "Canyon Lands"
and "Stormlight."
Other locations used include Arizona and New Mexico, where aerials
and time-lapse cloud and light movement enhance the work. But I
found the tape most intriguing when it was merely the photographer
walking through caves or around cactus or over rock-laden areas.
Words are actually quite inadequate to describe the experience of
enjoying a tape like "Desert Vision," and I must confess
to being surprised at just how fully entertaining and intriguing
this one is. Watching it a second time just reinforced its mesmerizing
qualities and convinced me that this truly is a video that can be
watched over and over without becoming tiresome.
In fact, watching "Desert Vision" encouraged me to go
out and find Miramar's earlier, similar production "Natural
States." And it may have the same effect on you.
Christopher Hicks, Deseret News, November 12, 1987.
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 BRIDGE
OF DREAMS
(1993) David Lanz and Paul Speer
“This
record was to become our last as Lanz and Speer though I continued
to work with David as his producer until 1998. We also had the pleasure
of mounting a 22 city North American tour to support the album.”
Available on CD ($9.99)
1 - A Day in the Life
2 - Into the Dream - - -
MP3
3 - And the World Falls Away
4 - Whispered in Signs
5 - Bridge of Dreams
6 - She Stands on the Mountain, Still
7 - Veil of Tears
8 - Reverie
9 - Walking with Alfredo - - -
MP3
10- Out of the Shadows
11- Ode to a Dark Star
12- Song of the East (In this Dream)
David
Lanz and Paul Speer continued their musical legacy with a music
only release. With Scott Rockenfield drumming on three tracks, it
also features members of the Seattle Symphony.
From
the opening track of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life,"
to two cuts featuring David on vocals, their third album together
fills the air with their trademark sound.
***** (5 stars) customer rating at Amazon.com
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