The debut solo album from the leader of the ambient music group Mooch, this sees him coming up with a varied and consistent set of tracks that you just can’t fail to enjoy. Each of the seven tracks lasts around nine minutes, so you get something to really dive into but nothing overdone or overly long for the ideas on offer. ‘Locust Swarm’, the opener, is built around rhythm layers of chattering percussives and very subtly used ethnic drums, as a layer of flowing string-like synth is provided on top, to create a most heartwarming yet slow train-like ride through the ever changing and beautiful musical scenery, the train-like rhythms providing the constant, while the synth layers climb and soar, ebb and flow to create a most magical effect, with subtle bass undercurrent and Schulze-like synths that make it a track that would have easily graced many a Fax Label release. For ‘Harp’, he mixes sequencers, the train-like percussive rhythm, middle-eastern sounding synth melodies to create a sort of mystic Eastern T. Dream like quality that builds into something a lot more symphonic and majestic than ever they were capable of producing. The synth layers build into gorgeous clouds of joy as the soar high above the sequencers and percussion, all very Germanic but highly individual and creative and one sensational piece of music. ‘Inundation’ decelerates the proceedings with a slowly undulating Middle Eastern drum/percussion rhythm that’s crisp and exotic and full of atmosphere, while a set of sinuous synth leads of various textures and ranges, wind slowly around the heart of the mix, sometimes low-key and other times more spacey-melodic, building and changing, tone, colour, harmonics yet always flowing along in an hypnotic manner. The Goddess Nekhebit’ slightly accelerates part of the percussive rhythm layers while keeping the drum layer slow, so that you get a juxtaposition of effects that works a treat as a siren-like call to prayer from the synth layers, emerges into the open, and a soothing river of assorted synth layers comes into view as the piece journeys through far-off lands, this time with so many subtle layers to the arrangements, you notice something different every time you play it, as the sheer beauty and majesty mix to perfection, again with a chilled-out bliss to its slow-motion symphonic ambience. ‘Scarab’ leads with an altogether more solid, darker set of echoed but subtle African-sounding drums that immediately grabs your attention as the synth layers enter and climb above the rhythmic centre of the piece, the synths becoming very string-like and once more with a Germanic quality to their spacey building qualities. With the rhythms travelling deliberately through the mix, it is left to the electronics and bass undercurrents to provide the textures, but the rhythm is one of the most hypnotic patterns you’ll find anywhere, as the whole structure once more begins to develop, with more emerging smoke-plumes of synths flying slowly high into the heavens, creating more of an early seventies Teutonic feel to some of the tones that you are hearing. ‘Lilyhead’ starts with tinkling percussion and a warm synth tone that dreamily emerges from the heart of the mix as a faint female voice sample echoes the word of the title track, undecipherable at first but gradually coming into view, and the track begins to add more layers and textures, building slowly but creating a thing of great beauty as it opens out and expands to fill the view from horizon to horizon, all the time the subtlest of rhythms pursuing a charted course, as synths develop organic tendrils and wind themselves around the outer rim of the mix as the string-like core continues and the samples change shape, all quite breathtaking and slightly dark at the same time - just superb. The final track ‘Boat Of The Goddess Maat’ starts with an undulating synth phrase that get s repeated throughout, again incredibly beautiful and hypnotic, as the rhythm consists of a tinkling Eastern percussive line, slow handclaps and exotic percussive textures, until THE most gorgeous string synth lead unwinds and flows majestically but slowly through the mix, a pice of sonic brilliance that has emotion and exoticism in perfect harmony as the mix of West and East never sounded so good, and a track that is almost overwhelming in its sheer subtlety, dynamics, construction and charm, never mind an emotional atmosphere that ends a totally original and utterly fantastic album on the warmest of tracks…….and the new Mooch CD (as opposed to the current CD-R just issued) promises even finer things to come than even the music on offer here. The guy’s a genius and no mistake.
Never one to do things by halves, Steve gives us a second new CD and this one’s more wide-ranging than the other one, starting with a splendid track, Massive Strings, Man’, that sounds like Kraftwerk’s ‘Trans Europe Express’ played by a string-led chamber orchestra from either the Indian sub-continent or Arabic - it’s like nothing else you’ve heard before and is just amazing, with synths and percussion travelling along allowing you to experience the journey first-hand. This feel of travelling through assorted territories of varying degrees of exoticism, beauty and fascination, a world wholly unfamiliar to Western eyes and ears yet with more than enough reference points to prevent you from feeling threatened or failing to understand and appreciate the compositional delights, is one that runs right through the heart of what is one seriously incredible album. Track two features a mix of delicate but solid exotic drums and percussion, a full sound of synth choirs, synth flows and an atmosphere that is both spacey and far-reaching, the rhythm at the heart of the track driving it along in wonderful fashion, while the expansive, sparing, beautiful and slightly dark synth layers act as the scenery to the train-like rhythm’s progress, a trip you’ll delight in taking for now and always, and at eight minutes, just the perfect length. ‘Acid Corrodes’ is a near ten minute trip through a more accelerated environment with a sort of cyclical electronics/percussive/drums rhythm around and through which a maze of synths and effects, layers and textures, revolve, but the rhythm is firmly set at the heart of the mix and this is what transfixes you, again taking that train journey (through new and exotic landscapes) comparison to its maximum effect. ‘A Man Plays Arghul Drone’ consists of four minutes of exotic cosmic synth layers as the journey takes a temporary respite, before ‘Perpetual Loop Commission’ commences the trip, this time with layers of flowing string synths on top of the slightly more distant rhythm base, while the overall effect of the rhythms, this time more varied and accelerated from before, but still percussive as opposed to electronic, is still a vital componenet. On top of this assorted layers of synths, flutes, string synths and other layers, all provide melodic and exotic textural qualities that give the piece a big soundscape and ensuring that the landscape is constantly changing while maintaining a consistent beauty all its own. ‘Nothing Is Still’ takes us away from the journey, and into the main square, where tabla-like drums, clay pots and percussion give resonant and spellbinding rhythms, above which handclaps, synth layers, flowing synth melodies that meander like a slowly moving stream, along with more exotic synth layers, combine to create a gorgeous slice of middle-eastern tinged ambience, again, as in most of the album, the rhythms providing a vital and utterly transfixing component of the overall sound, all absolutely superb as synths build, melodies and tunes develop as the piece slowly changes shape and strengthens, ending at just under nine minutes in a sea of synths, strings and percussion, eventually fading to a rhythm-free cosmic finale. The final track, ‘Chill-Out Courtyard’, is the biggest sounding piece on the album, with huge electronic, synth and percussive layers, more an assortment of layers and textures than traditional melodies and rhythms this time, all combine to creat a spectacular musical soundscape, with nature effects in there too, towering layers of rumbling bass synths, but a totally crystalline sound throughout, with a gigantic organ-like flow adding to the overall sound as the composition ebbs and flows. Overall, then, like the other album, sounding absolutely perfect, immaculately played and produced and an album of essential listening and ultimately long-lasting enjoyment - totally timeless and perfect at the same time.
The moment she opens her mouth on track one, you think ‘Kate Bush’ and this is the feel and, to an extent, the style of her early work, that pervades a lot of the mood on this excellent debut album. With much less annoying and warmer, deeper vocals ranging from husky, through multi-tracked, to ethereal and soaring, this is an album of sheer class tracks where each song is a new experience and you actually find yourself looking forward all the time to what is around the next corner, while still getting maximum enjoyment out of the present one. At other times there’s a touch of (good - and she did have the odd great song) Beverley Craven, with some gorgeous arrangements and sky-high hooks, multi-tracked choruses that all bring out the best in both the vocals, the musical backing and the songs themselves. This is the sort of album that has you transfixed, but is also one that you have to be in the right mood to hear, but once that mood appears, there is nothing else to fit the bill. I would imagine that, the more you play it, the more you will want to play it, and it’s an album which I have now heard three or four times and
every time I realise just what a good, full-sounding, well arranged, melodic, rhythmic, atmospheric yet deceptively simple album it really is. Highly recommended.