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SCOTT KUNGHA DRENGSEN: Morning Guests Who Never Arrived CD
I was never a great fan of what was released on the old Windham Hill label, and, while this isn't on that label and is a lot more spellbinding, it's got the feel and, to an extent, the sound, of Mark Isham & Michael Manring at their most electronic, with basses, guitars, synths and loops providing the spacey soundtrack at the heart of the music, while all around you'll hear at intervals, gently loping electric basses, occasional strummed guitar, synths of every celestial flavour and, on a couple of tracks, female vocal in a similar sounding vein. The whole effect is of peace and tranquility, but with music that is much more than the mood suggests. The whole cosmic feel of most of it is absolutely riveting, and this will be a space album for you to treasure for years to come.
CARL MATTHEWS: The Escher Experience CD
The third album following his fantastic rhythmically driven debut and the more horizontal 'Call For World Saviours', and this is every bit as fantastic as the 'Mirage 2000' CD but in a wholly different way. For this is the sound of decidedly blissed, chilled-out, deep ambient electronic music with melody and muscle that is both ethereal and solid, yet languid and atmospheric. With thirteen tracks in 53 minutes, the album, nevertheless flows as an organic entity. The synthscapes are deep, the lazy rhythms derived from a more laid-back ambient dub approach, while all the time assorted synth surrounds are constantly coming and going over the central melodic, rhythmic and chilled-out heart of the compositions. The effect is to lose yourself in a celestial sea of strings, synths, deep dubby rhythms and flowing compositions. Sometimes the rhythms are only implied as a gorgeous set of layers from cosmic synths, flute sounds, and rich textures, from distant choral to drone-characterised atmospheres, unfolds, but by and large this is the sound of chilled-out music at an all time high, ass you will be once you've experienced its delights. Whether you like it melodic, laid back or rhythmic, slow, languid or deep, ethereal, ambient dub or tuneful, all your electronic music needs will be met by this sumptuous, strong, cohesive and consistent album of blissful ambient-synth music - magical and no mistake.
VIDNA OBMANA: Tremor CD
Sometimes you wonder - and this is not a criticism - where a Steve Roach album ends and a Vidna Obmana album begins, the real answer lying in the flow of the compositions, with Obmana's tending towards a much greater degree of variation within a set of shorter tracks (4-8 minutes and eleven of them) while Roach prefers to stretch things. But other than that, you'll get a lot out of this, for it's a one that is full of flowing cosmic synths, accompanied by wonderfully resonant African-sounding drums, nothing of th intensity of Roach's 'Trance Spirits' but no less enjoyable, in many ways sounding like a much more cosmic, spacey, decelerated version of that album's drums-driven tracks. The atmospheres, layers and textures that Obmana reveals on this album are nothing short of breathtaking as the music winds it s way into your soul, the mix of native and electronic rarely sounding more at home and natural. There's a distinct flow that runs through every track with a thematic cohesion that makes it feel almost like one long piece, while the mix of light and shade has been played to perfection. One of Obmana's finest for ages, this is a 100% cast iron guaranteed set of gems.
OBSERVATION POINT: Sidewinds EP
I wouldn't normally entertain a twenty minute EP unless the music on it was really worth hearing This is! Opens with a two minute section of distant, echoed voices above this mighty bass synth rumble that immediately hooks you in to its dark, brooding atmosphere then fades. Then you hear synth chords that are almost electric piano-like, hanging in the ether as a lone synth occasionally calls from below, and bass synth rumble fills the backdrop, so totally like Eno circa 'Another Green World' it's untrue, particularly as the track lasts just short of three wonderful minutes. Then it's onto the near ten minute 'Cumulus', opening with an even stronger river of deep flowing bass synths as a magical string synth-like sea rolls in from below and takes over the foreground as the atmosphere continues to remain both spacey and dark, yet almost melodic, as the bass synths fade, then return, as carefully crafted layers of hard-to-hear distant voices are audible below the dual-layers of synths flow, a combination of soundscapes that is quite stunning, and again, although not actually sounding like any seventies Eno piece, has that flavour running through it. Finally, the near five minute 'Reed Dweller' features choral synth, piano and bass synth, more of an Eno-esque magic to it as distant bird song is added and the chords soar and flow, other layers of string synth and melodic leads added as the track progresses, all quite horizon-stretching and gorgeous. Overall, twenty minutes of bliss in an early Eno synth/keys vein that you really should check out.
OBSERVATION POINT: Above And Beyond CD
Recorded in 2003 and remixed by Carl Matthews, this is an 8 track CD of soothing, full-sounding, slowly encroaching, always changing, beautifully serene, truly atmospheric, immaculately produced and played slice of synth music heaven for those that want it deep, occasionally dark but always absolutely rewarding listening. The eight tracks are just so ethereal, melodic and magical, often with a river of subtle bass running underneath as assorted layers and textues combine. It's music that transports you to another dimension - so much more than endlessly drifting space music and yet it has the feel of the best practitioners of the genre - and I have to say that it's one of the most peaceful, most relaxing sets of music that I've had the privilege to hear and enjoy in a long while. In many ways, it's got '70's running through its veins, and the comparison to those gorgeous short instrumentals that inhabited the third and fourth Brian Eno albums, would not be too wide of the mark. It's substantial, varied, changing, atmospheric, spellbinding and beautiful, with a heart and soul to its creation and execution. Music to float off to, but not space music as you might think it - far more than that.
QUINN: Benetah The Quiet……… CD
Based on the back cover, the guy looks like a French gravedigger - just look - awesome!!! This belies the fact that he's come up with a neat album that oozes Enigma, Deep Forest and the like, out of most tracks. So, it's a case of set the controls for the heart of the medieval forest as clattering percussive rhythms, heavenly female voiced choirs, choppy electric guitars, miles and miles of endless synths and this huge-sounding mix of melody and space, rhythm and atmosphere, come charging through on twelve predominantly rhythmic tracks, evoking images of the sun rising at dawn as druid-like figures light fires and dance to celebrate the coming of some new-found age of magic. If you like the aforementioned bands, like a lot going on the music, like it chilled out and blissful, downtempo and tuneful, instrumental with wordless choirs and vocals, then this is right up your neck of the woods.
RADIO MASSACRE INTERNATIONAL: People Would Really Like Space Rock If They Would Only Give It A Try CD-R
Hey you!! - Yes, you - the synth music fan reading this - tell me, what have you got against drums and guitars? I mean to say, has it really got so insular that this band has almost to apologize on its cover for the fact that 20% of this CD has drums on it? The 12 minute opener is the group in uncompromising mode - apart from the gently cascading, cyclical sequencer rhythms, you're treated to a feast of rolling drum work and soaring, sustained and right out front electric guitar, with distant electro-percussive whispering rhythms and even more distant synth backdrops. It's positively heavenly, so strong, so atmospheric but it ain't synth music as we know it, Jim. Far from it - and that's what makes this band so good - they go into areas others daren't approach - and make it work to a tee. The 16 minute 'In A Not Silent Way' is about the closest I've ever heard them get to vintage live '85-era Ash Ra, only with touches of Pete Namlook in there too, as the synth and keyboard riches steer a course under some gloriously sounding Gottsching-like electric guitar, as sequencers carry the main body of the rhythmic base, while phased synths provide an extra seventies-sounding feel as the piece rolls forth, always changing but always staying within this atmospheric framework, the melodic and emotive side of real space music, as close to Ash Ra as it gets. The 25 minute 'Bring Me The Picture Of Yuri Gagarin' is like 'Ash Ra goes space-rock' with some fantastic playing as the piece starts quietly with synths, sequencers and guitars, before intensifying, adding the drums and going supernova in no uncertain terms, the final 6 minutes echoing pure mid-'80's/late '90's live Ash Ra only way stronger and more powerful with some of the closest sounding drumming to Harald Grobkopf that I've heard. It's electronic but it's in a league of its own - powerful, emotive and atmospheric throughout. Three further tracks also keep the guitar upfront but, as with most of this album, in a much more melodic and deep-feeling way than ever before, probably the finest album of guitar-as-lead style music that they've issued to date and just superb.
RADIO MASSACRE INTERNATIONAL: E-Live 2003 CDR
You can imagine the conversation the group had before this:
"About time we did an electronic music set isn't it?"
"Aww, must we? What about the guitar? What about the drums? We were just getting into that"
"Yeh - but if we do that, we'll get lynched"
"Electronics it is, then - set the sequencers for the heart of the auditorium"
and so they did!!!
Thus, welcome to the return of the most "synth" RMI CDR for a long while, as their incredibly powerful, atmospheric and almost entirely electronic set clearly illustrates. With sequencers set on stun, this is the band doing what their fans love best - showing that if T Dream had not found how to write a tune, this is the road they might have traveled, after about the late seventies or so. The longest track here is 17 mins, the shortest just 4, which means that there's a lot of great music going on here. The synths are out in force while the guitar is used more as texture apart from the few times where it really blasts of and the effect is even greater for not hearing it more often, in a musical context such as this. The drums make an appearance in a couple of places, one being particularly smoking as they storm ahead in unstoppable fashion, but this is very much the return of the synth - intense, crystal clear, superbly played and produced. As a set it's riveting stuff - as an electronic music CD, more than outstanding in its own unique way - and for one of their finest-feeling CD's to date, pretty nigh on perfect. Original, not copyist, accessible, full of imagery and tension, flow and drive, this is one you would kick yourself for missing.
RADIO MASSACRE INTERNATIONAL: Walking On The Sea CD
Recorded live in January 2004 in a rather cold part of the world - and it shows - this is ice music!! The full concert, this is the sound of RMI in reflective, exploratory and textural mode, only no less powerful and still with squencers flying, but a wholly different kettle of frozen fish from the other 2 CDR's that have come out at the same time. The opening 25 minute piece starts with mellotrons and the deep, multi-layered synths sound that is 1975-era T Dream, but then moves onto a completely different plane with resonant bass synths and slowly rhythmic bass sequences allied to swirling ice flows of synth movements that soar, drive and drift, around which hints and then actual rhythms ebb and flow, the result being one of those substantial slices of electronic music that inhabits a number of musical areas from space to "Berlin" yet which comes out sounding so fresh that you'll want to play it again and again. The 13 minute second track starts with slowly cyclical sequencers around and above which equally cyclical organ-like layers and hissing electro-percussive splashes start to circle like vultures waiting for a prey, then the more resonant sequencers, all still slow and languid, are heard and the track moves with might and purpose, yet somehow still reflective as the choral mellotrons, initially, then more synth layers are added to give a sound that is rich, solid and deep, emotional and yet almost stark at the same time, a remarkable slice of improvisation. A 5 minute slice of thunderously cosmic space synths exploration leads into the 11 minute track 4 and here the sequencers gather pace to provide a more powerful setting where the synth layers and textures really come into their own, and finally the guitar steps out to provide a searing sea of soloing while the layers gather strength and the piece rises up to end the set on a high. The CD finishes with a near 15 minute bonus track, recorded live in the studio, just before they took off for the concert, and it's a deep, eerie, menacing, bass-thunder, slice of essentially huge-sounding space music that conforms more to the amorphous sonic soup theory than the sweet stuff you'd normally class as cosmic, dark but with mellotrons and a decided air of the seventies wafting through as the mists drift and the sea of sonic delights moves inexorably forward, only the last three minutes or so, lightening the mood with deep, resonant, bell-like bass synths and assorted drifts and layers of space synths moving, swooping and flying on top - a superb track and if this band can make space music sound deep, meaningful fresh and invigorating, then it clearly illustrates just how much of a musical force they are - superb album.
ROEDELIUS: Painting With Sound - The Life And Music Of Hans Joachim Roedelius BOOK
From the pen, research and enthusiasm of Stephen Iliffe comes this remarkable 118 page book on this legendary musician whose career spans over thirty years in the modern idiom, from the early days of Krautrock electronic pioneering through his more "new age" and "filmic" periods through to the present day and still making ground-breaking and accessible music. The book, however, is one of those that not only tells a professional story about his music and playing but also a personal one that really gets inside the musician and you come out of the book with eyes wide open and the feeling that you've found a really decent human being as well as a supremely underrated musician, one whose works cover an immense part of the complete electronic music spectrum. The book is written and structured superbly so that even the parts of his musical life that you might not have heard, come across as so interesting regardless of the type of music being played as his thoughts, reasonings and musical development are most engaging, and knowing why he did something, for reasons of musical progress or personal, or both, make for a fascinating story. I found virtually every part of the book pretty spot on, although my main gripe (and a purely personal one) is the way the "Cluster II" album on Brain that was THE one to introduce the world to the band in terms of its distribution, sales and, I would argue, at the time, its musical invention, sound and innovation, a unique statement compared to what all other bands were doing at the time, is literally cast as the "one to avoid" in the book, something that is far from the truth. That aside, it's a book that I will read again as there really is so much to take in first time around. On every level, this comes highly recommended, a story for fans and essential reading for anyone who wants to know the life of a consummate German musician.
SEQUENCES: Issue 29 Magazine+CD
Ah yes - one of the best issues for ages and ages. First off the magazine has loads of right up to the minute synth music reviews and news, an exclusive interview with Andy Pickford, feature on Alfa-Matrix, fresh interviews with some of the leading ladies in today's synth music scene, live reviews and more. Then the star of the show - the CD - 79 minutes of exclusive tracks and, it has to be said, the finest and most musically consistent CD ever in the history of Sequences - there's not a less than riveting track on here covering all of the finest styles in synth music today, and all done absolutely expertly. So, if you brand new tracks from Andy Pickford, RMI, Ramp, The Glimmer Room, Intelligentsia, T-Bass UK, Mark Jenkins, Stephanie Sante, Natasha Barrett, Gaylene, Hypnosphere and more, then you have to get this new edition - it is SO worth the asking price for the CD on its own - top quality every way you look at it and essential for most synth music fans.
RUSSELL STOREY: Dreams And Visions CDR
From the excellent New Zealand space music musician comes this CD featuring his trademark two epic tracks. The first, 30 minutes of 'Dreams Of Galileo' is a more intense, drone-oriented track with layers of synths that really have that kind of deep, dark brooding quality to them, as the textures tend to resemble laser beams of sound and really drive through. On the other hand, the near 40 minute 'Visions Of Edgar' is a lot more spacey and spacious, substituting an expansive, open approach for the dark clouds that appeared before, and the approach could not have worked better on what is a slowly unfolding, engaging slice of multi-textured cosmic synth music, providing a neat contrast and a huge-sounding piece of music for all its lightness.
RUSSELL STOREY: Eclipse CDR
Here the 34 minute title track opens the CD and it's into a dark territory of seriously slow-motion space synths and cosmic layering. You notice that all the time the soundscapes change shape while still retaining the warm, emotive feel that this particular track exhibits, as it slowly travels an intergalaxian journey to become a truly atmospheric slice of drifting, open-ended space synth. The other track, 30 minutes of 'Apollo' is one of his most sonically varied tracks to date with all sorts of synths and soundscapes phased and layered to produce an everchanging sea of sounds that, while stil always spacey and cosmic, actually has a good deal of variation and depth, the drone factor accompanying the space music to provide a quite unnerving set of passages, some of which relate as much to something like 'Zeit' or similar and you could well imagine this piece being some lost '70's track. It drifts, drones and flows its way through the blackness of space, nothing overly "light" about it, and even verging on the intense once more at times along the way. The synths become richer sounding as the track develops and the mood changes to one of greater serenity although still quite dark, but another engaging track all the same.
RUSSELL STOREY: A Light Years Journey CD£10.99
The opening track lasts 40 minutes and for this we are headed out into deep, deep outer space with a myriad spacey, cosmic synthscapes that soar, drift, drone, float, swirl and resonate, as this mighty space synth epic unfolds, deep, dark and meaningful, not to mention one seriously engaging piece of music. Despite being called meditative, the 30 minute 'Vortex' is altogether more "heavenly" with a gorgeous set of flowing, higher-register synth spacescapes that slowly drift in quite beautiful fashion, constantly changing shape in slow-moving, deep space fashion, all of which makes this the finest of all the space music CD's he's done to date and the ideal starting point for anyone into some outstanding cosmic synth music without a rhythm in sight.
SYNOPSIS: Earth Views CDR
The opener to this album, 'Tsunami Breaks' is 9 minutes of excellent music - starts with 3 minutes of scene setting as slowly shifting space synth soundscapes move and drift over and around one another, then out of the back emerges this electro-percussive train-like rhythm that chugs away quite fast as the layers of space synths, instead of drifting away as you might expect, are actually pushed to the front of the mix to immaculate effect, only to fade away and leave that fantastic rhythm upfront, although still with synths swirling away all around and the effect of the one against the other is quite superb. Just short of 7 minutes a melody line emerges from piano and synth and provides a neat finale on top of the slowly mutating rhythmic base and the ever soaring strings - excellent stuff. 'Icewalk' at nearly 8 minutes, starts with a set of cyclical synth rhythms in an almost Terry Riley type of style, and not sounding a million miles away from that either, almost reminiscent of a modern take on 'Persian Surgery Dervishes'. But then the synths come in stronger and even more cyclical rhythms swirl around, layer upon layer, to mesmerizing effect, and this sea of rhythms and atmospherics constitutes the majority of the track, although expansive slower string-like passages give a bit more of a velvet sheen to the final part of the piece. At over 9 minutes, the longest track on the CD, 'Lammergeyers Flight' spends the first half of its existence in space synths mode before this fast percussive rhythm and more swirling cyclical rhythms emerge, only for the track to develop this thudding techno beat and completely alter the effect that had been created up to that point, turning from the sublime to the dancefloor in one fell swoop, but then not having the courage of its convictions to see the piece out like that so that you get this building drum beat that develops into nothing above a huge panorama of string synths - actually quite engaging once you've heard it the first time and know that the thudding beats occupy less than a minute of the piece, and as an effect in that respect, works with hindsight. In the way it builds, the 8 minute 'Colorado Thunder' reminded me quite a bit of the legendary Astralasia track 'Aloo' with rich, warm sounding cosmic ambient intro developing into a muscular set of slow, chilled-out percussive rhythms that eventually subside to leave this stirring mix of gorgeous string-like synths and swirling space music layers that combine to create a tapestry of sound that conveys melody without actually having any, and the way the layers are constructed and developed made this one of my favourite tracks on the album - just fantastic stuff. The 5 minute 'Angel Falls' almost carries on in a similar vein with this sublime multi-layered ambient synths soundscape that slowly develops into assorted rhythms and cascading piano/synth leads that pick up pace and run towards the track's end point, all quite hypnotic as layers are built and eventually fade. The near 8 minute 'Aurora Australis' also suffers from a slight identity crisis, wondering at times whether to be trancey, ambient, chill-out or melodic synth, and eventually deciding on all of them, fine if you like the styles and the way they've been constructed, but a bit off-putting if you don't. Pacific Rim' is a grand sounding 8 minutes of rhythm-less synths music, too strong to be spacey but not deep enough for seventies T Dream, although in places not that far off, and it certainly conveys a similar atmosphere. The 7 minute 'Heliosphere' could almost have been some lost Vangelis track with its rich strings and solid synth/sequencer rhythms, a bit too "Berlin" sounding in the rhythm department for Vangelis perhaps, but with its twinkling melodies and stirring atmospheres/rhythms, it works and sounds just fine. The album ends with just under 5 minutes of 'Night Vision', a suitably symphonic slice of melodic space music to finish what has been an exceedingly enjoyable album.
V/A: Paradox Room - A Sandpiper Records Sampler CD
A twelve track guide to the label, this features a selection of tracks from the artists on the label including Carl Matthews, Observation Point and 8 more. While the Pamb track is thoroughly muscular and crisp sounding drum 'n' bass with strings, and the Polarition track sets a distant sea of melodies to this huge-sounding up-front drum beat, nearly all the rest of the tracks inhabit the territory that the label has made its own - a sort of chilled-out mix of ambience, spacious sounding relaxed tracks and melodic pieces full of atmosphere, some rhythmic, some less so. As a guide to the heady delights the label has to offer, it's both useful and, unusually, doesn't contain a poor track among them.
CYRILLE VERDEAUX: Flowers From Heaven CD
Oh gawd - this is not me, not me at all. Before I'm tempted to go into realms I'll regret, let me say that it's a warm feeling album of new-age synths and keys with all the tracks as songs, most of them sung by female vocalists. Now, and you might not believe this, I do have a romantic streak tucked away somewhere, but when I hear songs with lyrics like this, the temptation to cry out "ohhhh jeeezusss - what is this crap!!!!!" is almost too much to bear - sickly isn't the word - this isn't romance, it's schmaltz on an epic American scale. I'm only on track 8, I am feeling distinctly queasy and there are another 8 of the darned things to go. Piano, violin, strings, slowly ambient rhythms, heavenly choirs - the works - arrangements I can live with, even the vocals are palatable - although who that guy is singing on track 8 should be announced as he deserves a good lynching - and then at last you get to track 9 (I'm working off a CDR advance with no titles or info), things suddenly take a turn for the better as a more celestial and cohesive track shines like a light in the dark, wordless female vocal adding to the effect. But sadly this is only a glimmer of hope as your fears are realized and the whole song thing starts up again and that awful male vocal (knowing my luck it's probably the main man himself) comes back to haunt you in track 12.
Well, this is the first and last time that the people at the label send me an advance copy of a new album - sorry chaps, but, as I said, it's not me - not me at all.
KEVIN WOOD: Scenic Listening CD
It's albums like this that blur the boundaries, so that, while the rhythmic content is of a more "ambient" nature, the melodic and soundscaping content is decidedly more "synth" and, in this case, more "new age", with plenty of heavenly wordless choirs, lilting piano chords and oceans of strings, all set to delightfully lurching rhythmic backbone of varying levels of strength and pace. Occasionally the music is slower, no less strong and structured, but still with that presence of piano and choir well in evidence. Far too sweet for the likes of me, this is the sort of thing that, in larger doses, makes my teeth drop out. Those of you who love a good tune, a great melody, not too chunky rhythms and good full, warm well produced sound and enough tweeness to make the Birdie Song look like a heavy metal number, will really get a lot out of this.
DAVID WRIGHT: Continuum CD
So, he's done many styles over the years, and the last album, 'Walking With Ghosts' was widely, and justifiably, regarded as his most consistent and cohesive albums to date. Where next? More of the same? Retro/Berlin School? Back to "Romantic"? No - none of those. If I tell you the album features just five tracks over a staggering 77 minutes of music, that might just whet your appetite and many of you will be thinking - "it's Berlin - he's joined the retro brigade - and you'd be absolutely………..wrong!!! "Space music, then? Must be space music, with tracks that long" - oh nooo it isn't!!!
It's what you wouldn't expect. It's a synth album through and through but it's an amazing mix of inventive, epic, atmospheric, immediate and downright tuneful.
Let's take the final track - it lasts 22 minutes and is one of those epic pieces that just continually unfolds, with so many layers and textures, melodies and magic, emotion and atmosphere, as classic a slice of moving, melodic and heartwarming synth music as you'll encounter. NASA samples, heavenly choirs, multi-layers of flowing synths, rivers of melodies, addictive electronic and electro-percussive rhythms all forming various parts of a track a bit like a long spacecraft voyage that travels through the cosmos and ultimately arrives at its destination to be greeted with a reception that is just wondrous, as the combination of rhythms, melodies and layers of synths just fly skywards in gloriously majestic fashion, eventually fading into the last few minutes where string synths and lilting piano appear, and finally the silence of cosmic synths to end a truly fantastic piece of music. It reminded me in parts of something like 'Tubular Bells 3' only all synth and less techno, more melodic and just as warm-sounding, but so addictive listening. A stunning track.
Track two lasts 19 minutes and starts in slowly unfolding space music setting, albeit with more layers than a Royal Wedding cake, as this river of strings, gently undulating bass synths, solo synth, space synths surrounds and swoops all over the backdrop, all form and evolve while this gorgeous melody flows gracefully on top. Around the 8 minute point this wondrous chunky rhythm emerges as strings fly up and synths spread out from horizon to horizon, the rhythmic backdrop having all the feel if not the actual sound of slow-motion "retro" with a distant sequencer slowly cycling its way over the chunky electro-percussive beats while a heavenly choir-like soundscape also unfolds and all these layers and melodies come and go, nothing standing still, yet so beautifully cohesive and flowing, a warm atmosphere pervading the whole thing throughout, light and solid at the same time, almost symphonic towards the final parts and quite majestic.
The other three tracks are between 11 and 12 minutes long, each, and the opener starts with deep, dark brooding space bass synths as more swoops are overlaid, string synths and piano emerge to provide this rich tapestry of sound that contrasts with the darkness below then, out of nowhere, this wonderful sounding female voice starts to chant, a rhythm begins to roll in classic electro-percussive Mike Oldfield vein, and the whole thing starts to rise, the effect absolutely mesmerizing and there's no way you'd guess that this was a David Wright album - it's so different but so fantastic that the only thing you wonder is why he didn't try this years ago. Veering between cosmic space synths and that warm, rich female voice, and the rolling rhythms with all the synths swirling around, and distant piano in the back, it's a tapestry of melody, texture, strength and cohesion, a bit like Vangelis-meets-Clannad-meets-Gandalf only spacier and it's just superb!! Track three is a slice of full-sounding, constantly moving, rhythm-free space music that owes more to the cosmic voyages of 1975 Tangerine Dream than anything, only with more going on and not a sequencer in sight - and it sounds amazing. Finally track 4 opens with throbbing bass synth rhythm, space mission samples, a gorgeous melody line on the piano and atmospheric synth backdrops as the track flows so easily and yet so passionately, serene yet strong, gradually adding more melodies of a more symphonic but quietly cohesive manner as the piece continues. Around 5 minutes that addictive rhythmic style that pervades so much of this album comes into play as space synths swoop and soar all around the melodic heart, all slowly building as new layers and textures come on board.
That's it, then. A sublime, emotive, timeless set of tracks that will be played for a long, long time to come - a new avenue for this musician but one which, thanks to its emotive compositions, solid and rich arrangements and perfection of playing, works a treat from start to finish with not a less than engaging second on the whole 77 minutes - a triumph.