The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral (Live From The Lost Continent)

Indisc: 1991

No doubt one of the more redundant singles I've picked up. There's only three tracks on here, and I already have two of them. Yeah, the Live From The Lost Continent version would have been a welcome addition to any UK punter's collection, a wholly different version compared to the album cut in that region (itself a remodelling of an unreleased song called Go To Sleep). Capping off The KLF's 'Stadium House' trilogy, wherein Jimmy and Billy took their Pure Trance singles and turned them into rollicking rave anthems filled with adoring crowds, Last Train was probably the most vain-glorious of the bunch. Well, certainly my personal favourite, even if The Charts say 3 a.m. Eternal was most popular of the trio (to say nothing of the Tammy Wynette featuring version of Justified And Ancient).

Anyhow, that's all a moot point for yours truly, as the American version of The White Room used the Lost Continent version of Last Train instead. Guess Arista figured their audience wouldn't have time for the 'subtler', calmer UK variant – don't bore us, get to the mutha'-fuggin' anthem chorus! Either that, or there was even more sample-clearance issues. Neither would surprise me.

Also included on this single is the 1989 Pure Trance Original. You know this as the version as heard on Chill Out, which I also have, kind of. I guess it's nice having it on its own, separate from the the full album mix, but again, redundant to my own music collection.

That leaves just The Iron Horse rub, and you know what? This actually makes getting the single for exactly one track out of three almost worth it. It's basically a primitive 'prog house' version of Last Train, back when the genre had just started its tentative first walk out onto the shores of UK clubland. The Lost Continent version is essentially stripped down to its most functional rhythmic components, chugging along at a deep, unrelenting pace. Shame its barely four minutes long, but I'm sure enterprising DJs could loop this for a propah' prog journey, if so inclined.

“But, Sykonee, you sexy beast of scintillating sound analysis,” I hear the cries, “why not cover that other remix package for this single?” What, The Moody Boys one? Yeah, that exists, but wasn't among the CD options from where I picked this up. It's not that hard to find, but certainly far from as common as this single is.

And frankly, I'm not sure if there's much to say about them, both essentially rubs on the UK album variant of Last Train. The 808Bass Version adds more rolling deep ends while the 120 Rock Steady version gets ravier with punchier riffs and broken beats, but that's about the extent of differences. Meanwhile, the Mu D. Vari-Speed Version is just Last Train To Trancentral (Remix 1) from the Pure Trance single, only played through a tape reel or turntable pitch shift at various speeds (I'm not sure which – maybe both?). I'll pass.

Aes Dana - Inks

Ultimae Records: 2019

I don't want to claim Ultimae Records has 'fallen off', as some do, because that's not really the case. Yeah, their musical manifesto has morphed into something quite different from its inception, but that doesn't mean their quality standards have slipped. They've simply chosen to explore different sonic avenues, and whether you're up for joining them in this journey likely comes down to personal taste. And for myself, I can't say I've always been for it. Whereas Ultimae of old was 'must buy' with every release, I've skipped on a few in more recent years, not even worried some may slip into over-inflated collector's market territory.

And truth be told, Aes Dana's Inks might have been included in there. Much as I've generally liked his older albums like Season 5, Perimeters and Pollen, it's been a long time since he indulged in prog-psy of that nature. Rather, dub techno and journeys through the sonic spaces between has dominated his muse for the past decade, and after the wafer-thin outing that was Far & Off with MikTek, not to mention Ultimae's general direction, I wasn't in any hurry to hear where his muse was going.

Still, I was willing to listen to some Bandcamp samples, and what's this? D'n'B rhythms? In an Ultimae release!? Oh... oh my! Never would I have imagined hearing something like that out of this label, much less from Aes Dana himself. And sure, they're nothing on the level of some fierce Technical Itch Amen break action, but those broken beats in Unfold, Transparency Syndrome, Ashen, and Alep Offset sure skip and stutter like some low-key, ASC microfunk does. Well, I'm sold, let's check Inks out proper-like then.

Honestly though, first impressions are gonna' be tough to get through, because yeah, Mr. Villuis' first solo album in seven years does have that omnipresent, minimalist grey-tone dub techno vibe throughout. If modern Ultimae still doesn't do it for you, little on Inks will change your mind, and you'd be forgiven for dismissing it out of hand.

Yet once this album finally (finally!) started sinking in, I was quite mesmerized by the diversity lurking beneath the surface. Tunes on that more classic Ultimae downbeat tip include the titular opener and Akacie, while techno of all stripes gets a look in with Nuphar Log (classic dub), Peace Corrosion (minimalist proggy outing), and Otherness (d'at Berghain shi'). Some ambient pieces in The Gradual District and Juniper round things out, but man, even Alep Offset is a journey and a half. Ol' Vincent even slows the tempo down to a hip-hop crawl. D'n'B and hip-hop in an Ultimae release? Wonders never cease.

Again, if you remain unconvinced about the label's current general tone, I doubt Inks will change your mind. I was glad I gave this a chance though. Heck, it even got me hype to nab Aes Dana's more recent album, (a) period. Heard quite good things about that one and it's already sold out. Son of a b

Owl - Infinite Horizon

Silent Season: 2021

I brought this up in the last Silent Season review I did (Daar's Entire), but man, has there ever been a lasting drought from this label. Daar's album remains the 'final' item they released, while this Infinite Horizon from Owl is only a month older. I feel like I'll have gone through the entire Silent Season back-catalogue in reverse order before they release something new. You think I'm joking, but Tomas Jirku's Touching The Sublime is also in my queue, currently the 'fourth-to-last' item from the label. Ooh, and now the OCD compels me to grab the digital-only Moon Song EP from Yuka, just to claim I have all these in proper order. Or heck, why not drop a hundred bones on the entire Bandcamp collection? Sure, I already have twenty out of the sixty-seven releases, but I'm gonna' need something to satisfy my Silent Season fix in their ongoing absence.

Owl is Pierre Nesi, a chap who's released a scattershot amount of material over the past decade. He had an earlier, modestly successful run making drum 'n' bass and future garage with fellow Belgian Lucas D'Haeyaert as Glÿph (yikes, guys, change that Discogs photo! You look right out of an Aphex Twin video). Seems the Owl alias emerged as a means of exploring the more atmospheric elements of his muse, with rhythms more on the downbeat. He made a debut on Silent Season as part of their 10 Year Collection series of vinyl releases, returning half a decade later for there here seven track debut solo album.

As this is a Silent Season release, I went into Infinite Horizon fully expecting to hear things like fuzzy field recordings, layers of dubby timbre, and maybe even some of techno's rhythmic pulse. Sure enough, opener Moonshine Haze provides that, but gosh, why does that distant howl put my nerves on edge? There's still some sense of hazy, grey-tone melancholy to Mr. Nesi's choice of synth harmony, which fits that omnipresent coastal rainforest vibe I've long associated with the label. There's just something oddly bleak about it too.

And that tone doesn't let up in following tracks Glimpse Of Decline and Losing Cohesion. Despite moments of melodic respite (dashes of spritely bells in Decline, the sound of chirping birds in Cohesion), there's still an overwhelming sense of depression. Heck, I'll just come right out and say Two Lands is out-and-out dark ambient, the sort you might hear on a Cryo Chamber cinematic drone release.

I can't say that's the dominate tone of Infinity Horizon though. Hidden Forest is a straight up dub techno cut in the classic Silent Season wide-screen ambient vein, while Distant Transmission and the titular cut go more for the reflective ambient dub outings. Overall, this seven tracker hits most of the vintage vibes you'd expect out of this label. I just have never heard Silent Season go as dark as Two Lands before. Makes me wonder what else I might have missed over the years.

Banco de Gaia - Igizeh (20th Anniversary Edition)

Disco Gecko: 2020

I was hyped when Toby Marks started putting out 20th anniversary editions of his back-catalogue, but only for the first couple albums. As I only discovered Banco's music after the Last Train To Lhasa era, his early years had remained something of a mystery, a potential trove of unreleased alternates, versions, and remixes of tunes that don't get as much shine in modern years. By Big Men Cry though, I was consistently on the ball about Banco, so didn't miss out on much that I wasn't interested in to begin with. And to be blunt, the packages that were released for Big Men Cry and Magical Sounds... didn't look to enhance those albums beyond what I already got out of them. Thus I let them pass on by.

Igizeh's re-issue though, I was interested in this one. This album tends to get overlooked, the big-beat 'hit' How Much Reality Can You Take? overshadowing some of the best songs to ever emerge from the World Bank. Seti I remains a top class tribal opener, Obsidian a fun romp into trance's domain, while Ms. Folker's heart-wrenching go with Glove Puppet cuts like a knife through your soul. Meanwhile, though B2 and Gizeh may not be quite on part with similar tunes in Banco's catalogue, they're still solid entries into his ambient dub and epic jam lexicon. Even the 'lesser' tunes like Creme Egg, Fake It Till You Make It and Sixty Sixteen nicely round out the album experience. Yes, Igizeh has everything going for it that should have made it a Banco de Gaia classic, if not for one thing: the mixdown.

Granted, there's none of the dirty digitalness that marred You Are Here. However, it was rather muffled too, as though the microphones used to record in all these live settings simply couldn't pick up the performed music at its best. Surely a spiffy, modern, remastering of Igizeh would erase those limitations, give these songs the resonance they deserve? Well, there's more clarity in 20th Anniversary - I can pick out even more drumming than before! I still need to crank the volume a little extra though. Guess there's no getting around the quality of the source material.

But enough of that. The selling point of these anniversary editions has been the bonus content, and I was quite intrigued by what Igizeh's offered. Banco's drifting into proper band territory has made much of that music difficult to remix, likely the reason why Magical Sounds... featured mostly live versions instead. Not here though, every tune getting the remix treatment in some way. A couple I already have (ADF's go with Obsidian, Dreadzone's go on Glove Puppet, Jack Dangers' go on Reality), others are just dancier versions of the originals (Seti I, Creme Egg, Gizeh, B2). More interestingly, 100th Monkey's turns the Pink Floydy Fake It into prog-psy, while Andrew Heath radically alters Sixty Sixteen into his brand of minimalist ambient. It's like the rousing, climatic second half of the original never existed!

Higher Intelligence Agency - Discatron

Headphone: 2020

*PREVIOUSLY, ON EMCRITIC...*

Man, what I wouldn't give for something new [from The Higher Intelligence Agency]. Something new... something new... something new...

*AND NOW, THE CONTINUATION!*

When I left the last HIA review off on that cliff-hanger, it was with full intent of Discatron being that “something new... something new...” item. Wouldn't you know it though, Bobby Bird released another item since then, and a full LP at that, Song Of The Machine. Goodness, that's more music from the Agency this decade than the previous two combined! Heck, you'd have to go even further back for any solo material. Something must have lit quite the creative spark under Bobby's muse to have put out two whole new joints in such (relatively) rapid succession. Methinks it was uploading his catalogue to Bandcamp that did the trick. Revisiting one's past artistic accomplishments has a habit of doing that.

Given that massive gap between Birmingham Frequencies and Discatron, surely Mr. Bird has gathered all manner of new toys to tinker with, new sonic roads left unexplored, fresh angles to approach his songcraft. Hah, no, not really. Seems HIA has taken the B12 route in maintaining his distinct style of ambient-bleep techno-dub, just giving it a modern production spit-shine. And frankly, I doubt fans of HIA, myself included, would have it any other way. When you already have a unique approach to music making, one that honestly has never been replicated or duplicated after thirty years in the business, there's little sense in messing with that formula.

And the titular opener of this EP allays any worry folks may have of that. Chirping, singing bleeps, wobbly acid bassline, and dubby percussion that's tight and crisp, with a vibe that keeps things firmly tongue-in-cheek, never letting anything grow tedious or self-serious as dub techno is so wont to do. The only thing that keeps Discatron in the here and now and not some long, lost older tune is just how cavernous the dub delay reaches now.

Second track 3P mostly focuses on Bird's brand of broken beat with acid in support, reverb effects wishing and washing about as the rhythm cruises along. B-Theory, the track that first clued me in that HIA was even on the rise again, really pulls on those vintage Artificial Intelligence feels, less pulpy than other Bobby works. Finally, Sound Matter goes about as deep into dub as you'll ever hear HIA, a languid pace for a slow burner of a moody tune. Oh, and the digital version of Discatron includes an experimental piece called Colourmotion. Is probably more interesting for those into musique concrete, and I'm sure Bobby had fun twiddling nobs in getting some of these drone tones, but I'm more about his cool grooves, y'dig?

So a solid (motion) return for HIA, all said. As for Song Of The Machine, eh, I dunno. Looks like an 'experimental Steampunk' album to me, and I prefer my HIA pulp-fiction indulgences '50s sci-fi.

Intergalactic Federation - 1/2

Fax +49-69/450464/Fantasy Enhancing: 1994/2020

A reissue of the Intergalactic Federation albums from Fax+? Sure, may as well. I'm honestly a little surprised it didn't happen sooner, as I'm sure the endlessly active David Moufang (Move D) has retained some rights to their distribution. Maybe he had to clear things up with former Deep Space Network pal Jonas Grossmann, though seeing as how Higher Intelligent Agency has had his collaboration with them available for some time, that doesn't track. Were they waiting on Dr. Atmo to re-emerge from cryo-stasis? He'd been absent for many years, but it's been over a half-decade since he properly returned to the world of ambient techno. Did the players involved just assume that *gasp* there wasn't enough interest in I.F. for a re-issue?

I mean, I can sort of see that being the case, I.F. rather obscure even by Fax+ side-project standards. True, it came out during what many consider the label's golden years, and the first album commands hefty triple-digit sums of money on the open market these days. That can be said for a lot of Fax+ items though, and despite the pedigree on hand, most folks are quicker to name-drop other projects from Move D and Dr. Atmo than this one. Matters aren't helped that it was such a short-lived pairing, the Deep Space Network and good Doc' moving onto other ventures shortly after. For all intents, I.F. should go the way of other unheralded Fax+ releases like Electro Harmonix, Wechselspannung, and Softcore.

Interest did persist though, especially for those coming to the Fax+ party way late in the game. No sense in letting I.F. languish in collector's purgatory, so here's Fantasy Enhancing giving us both albums in a spiffy DVD package! Man, I hope this bodes well for that rumoured Dr. Atmo box-set.

What's funny to me is when I finally laid my ears upon these I.F. recordings, my first thoughts were, “Oh hey, it's ambient dub! Neat! Sure didn't expect that from a Fax+ release.” I don't know why I shouldn't have. Maybe I've just long associated the label with the trancey, spaced-out, experimental side of ambient techno, that I simply couldn't fathom anything else. Just goes to show how deep the Fax+ well goes.

The first I.F. album certainly opens as such, a very chill, minimalist outing of bloopy electronics and meditative rhythms. Things pick up for Ten Waves, but only marginally so, while Kisy Loa (the closest thing to a 'single' off here) starts treading closer to ambient techno's proper domain. Plus, it's funny hearing that gabber kick so slow, muffled and distant. CD1 closer Caravan goes groovier, psychedelic, man, sending the listener to the cosmos on the back of space camels. Or something.

By comparison, the group's second session is a relatively straight-forward, if subdued, trip into tribal dub-funk. These tracks wouldn't sound out of place on one of Beyond's compilations, though would need some paring down to fit, but who ever heard of a Fax+ jam session being concise?

Toki Fuko - Spring Ray

Silent Season: 2019

Not to get all 'I remember when...' on y'all here, but we truly live in a remarkable era of music consumption. Used to be an album was the same no matter which format you sprung for. It wasn't long before musicians and their labels realized certain formats could hold more music than others, so you'd get 'bonus tracks' on a CD over a record. Then the domain of digital exclusives burst the dams like never before, albums of obscene lengths that no one in their right mind would ever want to listen to in single sittings. Okay, such monstrosities are uncommon, but for those weaned on physical medium, it can come off excessive.

Toki Fuko's debut on Silent Season doesn't go to those extremes, but Spring Ray does have a rather quirky roll-out. The vinyl version contains four takes: the original, Deduction, Outtake, and Reshape. Each eat up one side of a record, making it a double-LP. Meanwhile, the CD features just two tracks of its own, Induction and Spatial Awareness. Whereas the vinyl tracks were about a dozen minutes each, these last a half-hour each. So clearly, exclusive to the CD, though there was room to add at least one of the vinyl cuts too. Why not at least the original? Guess Silent Season wanted each medium to be unique, or maximize sales across all formats, but don't worry! Folks who abstain from one physical item over another (*cough*) can get them all with the digital version!

And how does Spring Ray sound to warrant so many interpretations? The original certainly is in Silent Season's wheel-house, a spacious, dubby outing of laid-back grooves and subtly shifting sounds, a general sense of tranquility while lost wandering among mysterious, moss-covered rainforests. It doesn't seem like much to hang an additional ninety minutes of music off of, but this Toki Fuko (real name Sergey Korotaev), he's a crafty one in his studio.

Deduction keeps things firmly in the Silent Season stylee of chill dub techno, with a bit more urban flair added with subtle samples of city sounds. Outtake has a jazzier vibe going for it, what with distant trumpets and chants, all the while rhythms looser in their swaying groove, and Reshape... Gosh, is this ever a meditative slice of tribal, dubby music. For some reason, I keep thinking Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia, even though PWoG only seldom went this chill. I can easily see myself grooving to this outdoors in some primal gathering though, crusties jamming on jembes while chai is brewing nearby.

By contrast, the two thirty minute versions don't have as much to talk about. Induction takes elements of the original and Outtake, and stretches things out for an extended jam, while Spatial Awareness does the same but in dub techno's domain. They're both solid sessions, at no point feeling like Fuko's aimlessly wandering as the tracks play out, even if they can't help but fade into the background. Which given Toki's musical manifesto, may be the point.

The Higher Intelligence Agency - Reform

Beyond/Headphone: 1994/2014

Another of those almost mythical EPs I suspected of existing, but could never confirm until the burgeoning days of Lord Discogs. Pentatonik's remix was among the first rubs of a HIA track I ever came across in my early ambient dub explorations, while two more remixes were discovered through the old AudioGalaxy app. Imagine my surprise when I found out there was a whole single dedicated to 'reforming' tracks from the Agency, with such names like Autechre, A Positive Life, and The Irresistible Force attached to the project. Okay, that last one I guessed immediately, since even in the dodgy days of mislabeled MP3s, there was no mistaking Mixmaster Morris' distinct sound with his go on Speedlearn.

Though knowing of Reform's existance was half the battle (huh?), I still didn't see much need in nabbing myself a copy. I technically already had three of the four tracks, and despite the CD not being that expensive on the used market, those international shipping fees sure are, especially for what I was getting. So I let it slide, content in having what I had, and oh what's this? HIA has a Bandcamp, with remastered versions of all his old material? Sure, why not. Be worth finally hearing that APL remix, I wager.

I wish I could say it was worth the wait. Music from Stefan Pierlejewski is skint enough as it is, and Ketamine Entity was one of the quirkier, fun tracks from Bobby Bird. I was quite anxious in what the downbeat acid-ambient producer would cook up, but the results are rather tame and ultra-mellow. The sweeping space synths, subtle acid burbles, softly chugging rhythms and languid pace are nice enough in a stripped, dubby fashion. I just know what APL is fully capable of, and for whatever reason, if feels like Stefan was holding back.

Well, that was that. Time to revisit the tunes I did already hear, starting with Autechre's rub on Conoid Tone, titled Speech3. Fun fact: this was the first time I heard anything from the IDM darlings, and my conclusion was... “huh, like a harsher HIA”. Yeah, this being early-years Autechre, don't go expecting something circuit breaking. Just a moody, crisp little reformation of acid bleep-dub. As for TIF's go with Speedlearn, it's Mixmaster Morris. There's swirly sounds, buoyant tones, trippy sound manipulations, and ooh, watch as the fractals twist and contort when the LSD trip hits!

As nifty as these rubs are though, Pentatonik's Alpha 1999 reformation of Delta remains king. I mean, right from the drop, that bassline! Then, a funky rhythm that has you strutting in the sun within a genre that has no damn business being so struttable. And that synth lead, so perfectly complementing the original's singing bleepy goodness! Is more of Pentatonik's music like this? I've only heard a few tunes, and they aren't like this, but the dude debuted with a double album (Anthology), so surely there's some like this. Maybe it's about time I look into that...

Segue - The Island

Silent Season: 2019

I can't help but feel that Silent Season's shine has diminished some. Oh, not the quality of their releases, they remain top-notch. It feels ages ago, though, since the little dub techno label out of the Canadian west coast broke out of the underground thanks to a spiffy Resident Advisor spotlight, Segue's own Pacifica leading the charge. For a time after, Silent Season couldn't drop an album without everyone wanting in on that action, making nabbing a physical copy something of a mad scramble. Not so much anymore, but don't worry, all ye' investors of the label's older catalogue: those CDs still command upwards of three-digits on the Discogs Marketplace.

It was with this framing some couldn't help but think Segue's third album with the label was something of an attempt at re-capturing that initial hype. Never mind that journey over the Coastal Mountains, Jordan is taking his muse back to the Pacific waters, to another of those charming little island one finds sprinkled about the Strait Of Georgia, tide waters nipping at its steep shores. There's trees, and blue skies, and gosh, doesn't The Island art remind you of Pacifica? None of that sepia-toned alpine cloud cover, nosiree.

I kid, as musically, Mr. Sauer's come quite a ways from those days. Melody's been creeping ever more noticeably and gracefully into his dub techno output, to such a point that it practically dominates over the deep under-belly of his tracks. Opener Sunrise Over Malaspina leads with more of those vintage Segue synths, dubbed out with plenty of tasteful reverb, soon joined by a soft rhythm and sprinkly arps. Shore Breeze keeps the mellow vibes going, sparse synths backed by melancholic pads and minimalist crunchy static. Mirage quickens the pace, but the beats remain soft and... is silty a way to describe a rhythm? Like stepping in the beach where the water's just receded, as the cosmic vista above you is revealed in quickly approaching twilight. Yeah, some music is just best described in simile.

As should be abundantly clear by now, The Island is more of that Segue stylee I'm sure everyone reading this already loves. It's maybe not quite as 'floaty' as Over The Mountains or 'functionalist' as Pacifica, but if you liked those albums, you'll like The Island. The only two cuts on here I found my own interest drifting on was Beacon Point and Midnight Dip, tracks that were more about dub techno sound design than anything my mammal brain could latch onto (the former too plodding for any repeat plays). The ship is nicely righted for the final two tunes in Galaxies (so spacious!) and Deep Current (so chill!).

Which leaves me in a conundrum regarding Segue's larger discography. I like what I hear from him, but getting hard-copies of it all isn't exactly easy anymore. Do I keep holding out for a chance deal, or just bite the bullet on his Bandcamp? Ooh, four of his albums, including Pacifica, that I don't have yet? Tempting...

Purl - Deep Ground

Silent Season: 2011

Now this was fortuitous of me, finding an O.G. CD of not only any ol' Silent Season release, but a Purl one at that. Mind, this isn't one of the label's initial run of CDs, lacking their distinct gatefold design with recycled cardboard casing. Far as I can tell, this album came out with the launch of Silent Season's 'download series' (hence catalogue numbers being SSDxx), so it makes sense they'd spend less effort on a CD option. Wasn't the label mostly a digital one in the first place though? I guess, but growing positive buzz at the start of the '10s probably spurred on a little re-launch in the process.

All well and good for Silent Season, but there's a nice additional talking point to this CD where Purl is concerned, in that it's his first album to receive the CD treatment at all. True, it was just his third LP released, but for a chap who's put out a couple dozen albums this past decade, hard copy editions remain rare, especially the earlier half of his career. In fact, he never put out another CD until his Silent Season follow-up Stillpoint (so sayeth Lord Discogs). As his profile has grown, Purl's expanded his reach across more labels that do offer physical options, making these initial steps beyond the only-digital realm nifty little artifacts of a discography on the rise. So goes the line of marketing in the collector's world anyway.

And what sort of sounds may we find on Ludvig's debut Silent Season outing? Dub techno and ambient drone of course – it's the label's brand, after all. That may not seem such a big deal since it's familiar ground where Purl music is concerned, but his prior couple albums had been mostly pure ambient exercises with dubby overtones. Rhythms were not really part of his repertoire yet.

On Deep Ground however, he goes all out, unleashing the fiercest, freshest beats that- No, not really. First proper track Sus is actually quite laid back, a distant techno rhythm gliding along a gentle backing synth, sounding not too out of place on an old Aphex Twin collection. Elsewhere, Storisende feels almost proggy with its comparatively prominent chugging rhythm, its backing layered pads no less blissy than anything else in Purl's discography.

The over-arching influence of dub techno couldn't be ignored though, and Under Trädens Rötter sounds like it could have come from one of Wolfgang Voigt's Gas sessions, though more mysterious than ominous. Sargyll, meanwhile, goes real deep into the dub muck, its rhythm barely a low thrum as sound echo off cavernous spaces.

It's not all dub techno, half of Deep Ground made up of ambient pieces of varying length (shortest: three, thirty-three; longest: ten, thirty-nine). They're all nice affairs, typical of Purl's style at the time, but oddly sequenced, making the album's flow a little wonky in the process. By no means a deal breaker though, Deep Ground definitely worth scoping out among Purl's many LPs.

Various - Touched By Silence (The Compilation)

Touched: 2019

As I was poking about HIA's extended Discoggian network, I stumbled upon a new entry within their compilation contributions, this here Touched By Silence. B-Theory, is that a new track? I never recalled seeing such a title from ye' olden days. And gosh, look at the killer's row of talent on this twenty-one tracker! The Orb, Lorenzo Montanà, Gabriel Le Mar, Si Matthews, David Morely, Richard H. Kirk... Ooh, Dub Tractor! I remember him from that Ambient Ibiza CD!

Honey, if you think this digi-comp is something, you should see the eleven CD box-set from which this sprung. Full-length outings from FSOL, Autumn Of Communion, Mick Chillage, Scanner, and many more who've been at this ambient techno game for many years. When Touched does a charity drive for Macmillan Cancer Support, they don't mess around.

So the purpose of this compilation is straight-forward enough. Let's get into some musical details then, should the good cause and sweet assortment of artists not be enticing enough. Oh, and in case you feel you're missing out on that aforementioned FSOL action, fret not, for the opening track from Apertures is a collaboration between Brian Dougans and Ross Baker. They apparently have an album in the works, but Lord Discogs has yet to list anything, nor did I spot anything on the FSOL website. It's a moody modern classical piece with echoing pianos and shimmering psychedelics. Tickle me intrigued.

Okay, the acts I do know. HIA is here, and B-Theory... actually sounds like something that might have been released on B12's Firescope print? I mean, both come from a similar heritage, but I'm missing the playful dub of vintage Bobby Bird. The Orb's cut sounds like it could have been on a Youth-contributing album. David Morley's Vertical System does the cascading Berlin-School synth thing. Si Matthews' Nocture does more a chill, pastoral ambient techno thing. Lorenzo does his bleepy, skittery-rhythm thing in Hola Morning. Le Mar goes almost full world beat with Ingo Ito in When The Trees Are Gone. And Dub Tractor's Blo Rlx One is rather Balaeric and dubby, while Mr. H. Kirk's Dereliction is almost experimental, an utterly empty piece with sparse sounds and effects. A weird addition to a compilation filled with mostly pleasant ambient tones, though not unexpected from the Cabaret Voiltaire member.

And if there's anything I have to quibble about Touched By Silence, it's the wild variance in tracks, including how quiet some go compared to others. Yes, even for a supposed assortment of downtempo artists. For instance, The Orb's upbeat dub-house cut is track three, and surrounded by several beatless, blissful ones. Other rhythm-heavy tracks break up the pure ambience along the way, but not in a fashion that seems conducive to a flowing playthrough, rather half-haphazardly sequenced. Heck, many tracks here could be cappers on a regular release.

Again, that's just a quibble, and doesn't really detract from the whole. There's plenty to enjoy from this compilation, even if the Random button seems turned on.

The Higher Intelligence Agency - Preform

self-release: 2020

Bobby Bird's been a bit of a busy-body on Bandcamp this (b)last half-decade, slowly releasing his back-catalogue with upgraded fidelity. This has seen the availability of long out-of-print and rare items again, including his collaborations with Pete Namlook and Biosphere. There were a few, scattered HIA items from the project's earliest days that had yet to be re-issued though. I've covered some of these as they appeared on compilations, but others were exclusive to tapes of the original Oscillate shows. Basically a lot of very hard-to-get stuff for completists, unless one was willing to scour Discogs for them. I mean, it's not like these assorted early tracks were available on a tidy collection.

So Bobby gathered all these stray tunes into a tidy collection called Preform. Aw, now isn't that nice of him.

Three of the eight tracks included here, I already have: W.H.Y. (from Ambient Dub Vol. 2), Harmony Angel (from One A.D.), and Alphanex, which was the name of the short-lived pairing of Bird and Brian Duffy, for the one-off track Planet Hoskins on Ambient Dub, Vol. 1. Not sure why this change was made for this compilation, but whatever, it's great to have that in such spiffy remastered form. Seriously, d'at bass! HIA got its rep from being purveyors of bleepy dub, but back in the day, they squeezed some serious juice out of those low ends. Having a higher fidelity version of Why ain't such a bad thing either. Harmony Angel is fine, but was never one of my 'must hear' tracks on One A.D.

Two other 'compilation exclusive' tracks are on Preform, one of which any follower of the Artificial Intelligence series should know, Selenite. I... kinda' feel like I've heard variations on this track before. Then again, many of WHY's elements were re-purposed into the Colourform track Re-Echo, not to mention bits of Harmony Angel could be heard in Speedlearn. Hence this collection of tracks being called Preform, I guess.

Anyhow, the other compilation track is Genius Island, which appeared on one of those gargantuan charity-driven collections on Touched Music, a quite lovely, spaced-out slice of ambient techno dub (Spectral's chimes help). There's actually an earlier version that appeared on the tape Totally Ambient Groove Volume 2 – Live From Oscillate, but I assume this version was plucked instead since it already had a re-jiggering for a 2014 release.

Speaking of those tapes, the remaining three tracks on Preform all come those sessions, and yeah, these definitely sound like tunes intended for a live audience. Sub Oscillate 2 is little more than an acid techno workout with dub flourishes. Meanwhile, Alien Mind feeds of that ol' school HIA vibe of dancefloor efficiency while working all the pulpy, bleepy sci-fi sounds and samples you can indulge. Juju Love is sillier, though that twisting bleep noise sure harkens to the sort of leads weeaboo trap loves. Interesting curiosos for the HIA completist, but well removed from the minimalist electro-dub that'd mark Bird's later work.

Lars Leonhard & Roman Ridder - Patterns In Nature

self-release: 2018

Hey now, don't give me that look. When I said Orange Dawn was the last of the Lars solo albums in my possession, I meant it! That did not include collaborative outings, but chronist to honest (?), this is the only one of such releases I have. Not that Mr. Leonhard has paired up often in the course of his career. There was Seasons – Les Quatre Saisons with Alvina Red on BineMusic, and the odd track here and there, but by and large, Lars does the bulk of his music making as a solo venture. So yes, no more loopholes for me to exploit in my original proclamation in covering Mr. Leonhard's output. Nope, none at all. What do you mean, you can smell clouds burning?

So the first thing I wondered over Patterns In Nature is what this Roman Ridder would add to the Leonhard stylee. Or would Mr. Ridder be the one leading the music charge with Lars in sonic support? What sort of music does Roman even make? I've never heard of him before, but there must be something in the cut of his jib if Lars was interested in working with him. Would I be able to pick out any songcraft traits? Gosh, I hope so! I've consumed so much of Lars' music that his sound is instantly recognizable to my ears. Any deviation from a contributing musician should stand out.

And there's definitely that in opener Prismatic. Like, holy cow, those sweeping pads! It's not like Lars has shied away from melody, but he's typically on a subtle tip when it comes to its deployment. Not so in this track, spacious spacey synths front and centre as they ride along a dubby techno groove. Simply lush. So is this the Roman Ridder stylee, big spacey ambient or prog-psy that wouldn't sound out of place on Altar Records? Let me check out some of his other stuff!

*checks out some of his other stuff*

Ah, hm, okay, apparently Mr. Ridder doesn't have much other stuff for me to check out, a handful of self-released albums and singles to his Discoggian name (ooh, is that an ode to The Planets I see?). And of what samples I hear, gosh does this ever sound like Lars. Maybe a little more melodic and upbeat, but generally in the same downtempo dub techno lane. I probably would have assumed it Mr. Leonhard's work with a blind test.

Going deeper into Patterns In Nature, the melding of minds is much less apparent, the two complementing quite well. There's still more overt melodic touches compared to the typical Lars release (Strange Attractor, Spherical Symmetry), while some tracks tread into pure ambient dub drone territory (Circadian Rhythm, Penta Plexity, Fractal), but that's the extent of it.

Still, Roman's extra melodic-dub touches do lend more warmth to the usual Leonhard fare. Patterns In Nature wouldn't sound out of place on Silent Season, is what I'm sayin'.

Lars Leonhard - Dark Tales From The Woods

self-release: 2014

Another day, another Lars Leonhard album. Look, when I say I was sent a lot of them, I meant it, the man rather relentless in his output rate this past decade. Maybe not 'tech-house singles' or 'industrial noise experiments' relentless, but averaging a couple LPs per year ain't no slack either. Heck, since I was sent this then-current bundle, Lars has released five more albums. Guess that just happens when your sound is in high demand for NASA videos. Moar muzik for the Stellar Gods!

Thus I must reiterate I've exhausted almost all avenues in talking up Lars Leonhard. There may be a couple albums with specific reasons that went into their creation, but there hasn't been that much sonic difference between most of them, especially in his post-BineMusic era. He's found his lane in downtempo dub techno, and by g'ar, it's where he remains. Unless he has expanded a little more beyond that in more recent albums. I don't know, I haven't heard them yet. I'm still catching up in all these older ones.

So on first ear-glance, I don't have much unique to say about Dark Tales From The Woods, because my first impression is this is more of the same that I've come to expect from Mr. Leonhard. I wonder though, if this impression is due to the general listening gap I give between albums. If I actually played each one after the other, whether significant differences would emerge. Fortunately, due to alphabetical stipulation, I'm dealing with two Lars albums in a row, this one, and Deep Venture. This has given me an opportunity to properly examine them, and whether my lack of picking such distinctions out of other works is simply due to that aforementioned gap. Okay, enough fancy conceptual talk, let's get into Dark Tales From The Woods.

This was among the first (the first?) of Lars' self-released albums, though he still had at least one more outing in store for BineMusic (Passenger At Night). As such, his conceptual streak was still more specific than later efforts would go, though not so razor-focused as 1549 went. The opening track Three Oaks Legend is certainly a moody enough number to set things off, and we're right in the thick of that deep, immersive downtempo dub techno.

And mostly stay in that lane for the duration of the album. Yeah, a couple tracks go groovier than the rest (Forest Window, Rustling Leaves), some feature more of a proper techno pulse (Guardian Of Crows, Deep In The Fog), and others offer a lighter tone to the general mood (The Glade, Rustling Leaves again). It all kinda' blends together though, which makes sense for an album maintaining a consistent theme throughout. Would have been nice to have a journey into these woods, but if tales is what Lars wanted to tell, then tales it was.

Tune in next review to read whether Deep Venture ends up being 'more of the same', or starkly contrasted with this album. Oooh, suspense!

Astral Engineering - Chronoglide

Worm Interface: 1994/2012

I don't normally follow Bandcamp suggestions. Not that I doubt they'll lead me somewhere interesting, but as my Discogs digging already takes up most of my exploratory attention, there couldn't possibly be any avenues not already covered there that Bandcamp offers. Well, not entirely, the deepest depths of that streaming service a mysterious domain of The Unsigned. At least there's some official capacity with Bandcamp, where folks expect their efforts could earn them a few bones, unlike the constant demo reel of Soundcloud productions. Lacking the time to explore that realm, however, I simply pass on whatever unfamiliar names crop up in Bandcamp's algorithms.

Except this one, for some reason. I can't recall which release it was tied to, but the cover art got my retro-senses tingling, so gave it a click. Lo', my senses proved accurate, for I'd stumbled upon a gem of an artifact in ancient ambient techno and dub. Astral Engineering emerged from the post Artificial Intelligence / Beyond Records era of British downtempo techno, finding a short-lived home on Worm Interface. Folks of the here and now may not recognize the label, but the London shop it based its operations out of – Ambient Soho – will certainly bring a flood of memories back to those vibing on the chill side of electronic music. Sadly, the label remained one of those hopelessly obscure prints that didn't generate much in the way of future Very Important talent (save a Tom Jenkinson), but has its dedicated fans floating about the perimeter of scene interests.

So Chronoglide. It's something that could possibly have made its way into the early Fax+ catalogue, though less on that pure, noodly spaced-out trip Pete Namlook and his associates often dabbled in. It's got the ultra-dorky sci-fi fetishism the IDM wonks were all about (Wave Part, Beyond The X-Ecliptic). It's got naturalistic sounding tracks that remind me of Delerium during their more experimental phase (Neural Net). It's got rather subdued, meditative pieces for those proper chill-room experiences (Ring, 2010). It's got some proper ol' school trance (Brainstrobe) paired with proper ol' school ambient dub (Bios ...such bass).

And finally, it has a low, dubby synth lead in NGC 4512 that I cannot but help feel Underworld jacked for their first post-Emerson single Luetin. A coincidence, I'm sure, but man, if Underworld had ever gone ambient dub instead of prog-house, this is probably what it'd sound like. Also, what a strange namedrop, NGC 4512. Far as I know, it isn't a terribly remarkable galaxy, merely a smear of light in the Draco constellation. Why Simon Rees would feel inspired by it, I haven't a clue.

Ah, right, I should get into who Astral Engineering is, and all that. Sadly, Lord Discogs says he didn't do much else after this, though re-emerged this past decade to, along with this Chronoglide re-release, put out some unreleased material, plus a new album just this past year. Only a quarter-century in the making!

Bill Laswell - Bill Laswell

(~): 2002

Track List:

1. Psychonavigation - Black Dawn
2. Divination - Descent
3. Above The Earth
4. Bob Marley - The Heathen (Bill Laswell Ambient Dub Mix)
5. Sacred System - Babylon Ghost
6. Commander Guevara
7. Sacred System - Galactic Zone
8. White Arc Spiral
9. Bonus: Brian Eno - 1/1

Not as redundant a burned disc as you'd expect, but yeah, I've gathered a few of these on their proper albums now (Sacred System's Book Of Entrance and that Bob Marley remix project). Still, that's another handful of Bill Laswell jams I haven't gotten either, hence why this old personal compilation has remained with me all this time. I had to do something with all those Laswell tracks I nabbed off AudioGalaxy, see, put some order into that bundle of discographical chaos. Oh, how little did I know I was just barely scratching the surface of how deep it went. Ah well, it's a pretty tidy little summation of his '90s work, mostly on that ambient jazz-dub tip.

Like, I didn't even realize I'd gotten one of the Psychonavigation cuts, though listening to Black Dawn, and those distinct Pete Namlook synths in play, the similarities to those sessions is very apparent. I probably didn't clue in though, since this is a shorter version of the track, whereas the original was over a dozen minutes long. Apparently this cut comes from a double-disc compendium of Laswell music called, um, Ambient Compendium. Also from this compilation is Descent, which originally appeared in longer form on the third Divination album, Akasha. It's along the same lines as the minimalist stuff that project offered.

The other three tracks come from a pair of Bill's regular albums – yes, he even released under his own name too! Above The Earth is more typical of his heavy bass-dub ethnic music, though with the added 'gimmick' of some spoken word stuff too. Meanwhile, Commander Guevara and White Arc Spiral come from Invisible Design, which features different bass tones compared to his vintage low, grumbly style. These are mellow, soft, almost in the range of treble, and played far jazzier than his other stuff I've covered. I'm sure bass guitar experts could fill you in the precise details, but I honestly can't be bothered to do the research. If Laswell's guttural bass tone isn't to your liking though, maybe this one would do you better.

Well, that was a fun little dive into more Bill Laswell, but what's this at the end? A Brian Eno track? And not just any Brian Eno track, but the first track from his first ambient album, Music For Airports (aka: the piano one). What's that doing here?

Ah, see, it comes back to that whole 'raiding AudioGalaxy' thing. Naturally I'd have searched out some Eno, since it was Very Important to ambient as a whole and all that. I saw I had some space left on my disc, and had 1/1 in my folder, so figured may as well stick it on here. I really ought to get Music For Airports proper-like at some point though.

Banco de Gaia - Big Men Cry

Mammoth Records: 1997

Though I place Big Men Cry at the tippy-top of Banco de Gaia albums, if I were to recommend a record for a first-timer, this would be, like, second-to-last. For this is an album that doesn't so much represent Banco as a whole, but rather the bleeding edge of what Banco is capable of.

Even by Last Train To Lhasa, it was clear the classic ambient dub and progressive house style Toby made hay from was tiring out, needing a whole second disc to indulge himself away from dance music's rules. Possibly emboldened by the 'live' nature of those sessions, plus needing to 'evolve or die' in the rapidly mutating scene that was '90s electronica', Toby decided it was time to get the old band back together. Or start up a new band. Get more live instruments into his gigs, is what I'm saying.

And to do that, his approach to songcraft had to completely change, allowing for more freeform flow in his jams than relying on standard acid house loops and samples. Oh, there was still that too, but tracks Drippy and Drunk As A Monk feel far looser than Banco tunes of old, adaptable to musicians playing them rather than being reliant on machines. Meanwhile, Celestine tries the same trick with ambient dub, but despite some wonderful saxophone tooting from Pink Floyd alum Dick Parry, is still a bit stiff compared to the other two. Marks would iron out those kinks in follow-up albums though, and hasn't looked back since.

Still, that wasn't enough to shake Toby out of the doldrums he was feeling around this time. So down he was that he made one of his all-time saddest songs in the titular track, all forlorn strings and beautifully weepy melodies, never again so bare heart-wrenching emotions put to song. Sometimes though, even nakedly laying out one's soul isn't enough. Sometimes you need to escape everything, even if it's One Billion Miles Out, the great beyond and grandeur of the cosmos, unsullied by the hand of man. Banco had ventured into the cosmic realm before, but never in such a manner that you fear its unfathomable desolation.

Yet your gaze settles upon a lone star freighter, quietly drifting in the emptiness, its cargo unknown as it moves through the interstellar medium. Eventually it pulls into Starstation Earth for refuelling and a greasy meal, a real dive of a 'trucker's stop', your only company some droids and a sad-sack singing old country croons from a jukebox. Can't stay admiring the scenery though, as it's back to the stars, taking off at hyperspeed and disappearing into the great beyond before Toby quite literally closes the gate on the album (have I mentioned all the pronounced field recordings yet?).

Banco's music has always been quite 'visual', but Big Men Cry is downright cinematic compared to his larger body of work, pulling you into other worlds well beyond your crusty dance floors. It's emotional escapism music at its finest.

Lars Leonhard - Above And Below

self released: 2018

I never expected to get a ton of Lars Leonhard. Yeah, I liked 1549, enough to spring for another CD of his on BineMusic, but so many of his releases were of the digital variety. How could I, a dedicated consumer of the compact disc, debase myself with buying MP3s and WAVs and FLACs and whatever mess Neil Young was trying to push? Naturally, such ass-backwards modes of thinking couldn't last as this decade wore on, and I made sure Mr. Leonhard's digital releases through Ultimae Records were among my 'Must Get' items when I finally relinquished.

In that time, it turned out Lars had started releasing CDr options for his self-released albums, and I nabbed myself a couple that intrigued me, blogging my obligatory nice words for his nice music in the process. Seems Mr. Leonhard liked my nice words regarding his nice music, such that he sent me a whole bundle of his CDrs, some of which I didn't even think were still available. Sweet deal! And now you know why there are quite a few Lars Leonhard album reviews in the pipeline. Anticipation, ooh!

Anyhow, Above And Below. This came out a year ago (to the day! ...almost), so is about as current a look into Lars' songcraft I can give without springing for an actual 2019 release (Pathway, I believe). While it may not be apparent on the CD cover art, the full digital spread features the inner realm of computer city-scapes, leading one to believe this may be some sonic exploration of the micro-digital realm.

Nah, guy, it's mostly more of Lars' brand of dub techno that's occasionally a little on the psy side of things, a thematic through-line not really apparent. That's fine, I guess? Like, I have no problem hearing more of the same from Mr. Leonhard, in that his style hasn't worn out its welcome in the half-dozen releases of his I've thus far taken in. It does give me a little pause, however, on whether I'll still enjoy it so much after I go through the rest of his albums. Future ruminations for future reviews.

So the sounds and the structure of Above And Below remains familiar to many of Lars' prior albums. The more chill stuff hangs out in the first half, while the tempo gets a nice shot in the back end. The middle portion offers a couple items I haven't really heard much out of his discography, Strolling more of a melodic, floating outing than the usual more clinical dub techno exercises, while Drowned Melody is a pure ambient piece, surprisingly lodged mid-album rather than as a bookend. Meanwhile, Immersion provides that technological, neo-urban soundscape the cover art hinted at, with a rumbly low-end that's almost dubsteppy. Or post-dubsteppy, if you must (it was a thing, once). Finally, Above And Below closes out with Pure Piano Passion, wherein Lars performs on a lone instrument I know I've yet to hear from him. No reward for guessing what.

Spielerei & Mantacoup - Wichman And Other Pieces

Databloem: 2004

I started this current, nigh-endless alphabetical backlog on a Spielerei & Mantacoup release. Seems appropriate that, as I come to its end, I finish with a Spielerei & Mantacoup release. Not quite the end, mind, still a couple more items below here, but man, what a journey it's been, eh? I reviewed Cold War all the way back in, gosh, March? And here we are, around one hundred reviews later, not to mention multiple weeks of vacation thrown in (plus, um, other 'stuff'). All acceptable factors in taking as long as I have in getting through it, but man, it sure felt a slog at some points. Just a tad too much of the noodly, droning ambient, methinks.

What's even funnier about (nearly) ending this run on this particular album is its place in the Spielerei & Mantacoup discography, as this was the first one they released together. Keep in mind that Cold War was their last collaborative work, and was the first CD I reviewed in this stretch. Never would I have thought the sequencing in this project of mine would contain an actual ouroboros; at least, not until I reach Model 500's Classics again.

Wichman And Other Pieces may be the first album these two released together, though they each had some work out on dataObscura in that time too. So the two crossed paths, vibed on the synergy, and made some music – not an uncommon occurrence in the going-ons of musicians. What makes this particular CD so funny-weird is the fact it's mostly a live album. Yes, their 'debut' release mostly includes recordings taken from The Wichman Concert, which is a rather ballsy move on Databloem's part. The young label hadn't even reached it's tenth release yet, but hey, here's a live session from a couple artists making their debut on our print. I joke, but truthfully, Databloem had been releasing a few of these 'Databloem In Concert' CDs already, including one from Saul Stokes, plus another due from The Circular Ruins (because of course).

For the purposes of this CD, The Wichman Concert is divided up into seven parts, though it is a continuous long-play with various movements and sections throughout. So lots of segments of synth drone, pad washes, burbly electronics, and soft, dubby ambient techno rhythms. Part 4 gets surprisingly aggressive, its chugging, groovy beats sounding like they're being dragged through dub-mud, while Part 7 provides the requisite uptempo closure to a live set (paging Dr. Jarre on that one), though nothing that'll have folks rioting in their zoot suits.

As the album title implies, there wasn't enough material in the concert for a full-fledged album, so four additional pieces are added. These mostly follow upon the same moody, dubby ambient techno vibes as the live stuff, while Sfunato treads startlingly close to the domain of psy-dub. It's all quite good and all, though really mostly just confirms Databloem a class label throughout its lifespan than anything on the artists' part.

The Gentle People - Soundtracks For Living

Rephlex: 1997

Acts like AIR, Groove Armada, and Röyksopp were highly instrumental in turning the chill-out scene into a radio-friendly commercial juggernaut, but did they really start it all? Okay, yes, but one group was making ultra-retro psychedelic lounge-pop just a smidge before those names broke out. The fact they came out on Rephlex, however, had everyone scratching their heads whether it was all a put-on. Like, really? The label that Aphex Twin started would release something like the Journey single? Hell, not just release it, but give it a remix too! Mr. D. James' rub on Journey must be among his most bizarre creations, in that it's just so... normal.

Answering the question of “What would happen if The Human League and The B-52s took LSD, Quaaludes, and time-travelled to the '60s?”, The Gentle People were an odd quartet even without the Rephlex bump. Whether or not their glassy-eyed gaze into retro psychedelia was a put on, they seemed so sincere that you couldn't help but fall sway to their pulpy charms. You wanted to indulge in their fondue parties while lounging about bubble chairs and shag drapery.

Theirs was musical escapism from a music scene already rather removed from modern norms. The only place left to go was where the establishment had already been, re-purposing it for their own use. Retro trends in a nutshell, really. Still, it boggles the mind that Rephlex would be the first to get hep to such a potential market, even if they never followed it up with musical acts of similar ilk. All others got signed to big Virgin money, probably.

So I've already mentioned Journey as it appeared in Ambient Ibiza, both the most obvious and least obvious sort of compilation The Gentle People to appear on (future Braindance collections from Rephlex too). The rest of Soundtracks For Living generally follows that dubby, trippy, lounge-pop vibe with various degrees of psychedelia. Some tracks use big orchestral swells to oversell the sentiments (World Of Love, Emotion Heater, Relaxation Central). Others get more intimate with mushy lyrics and jazzy solos (Laurie's Theme, Le Tunnel De L'Amour, Tiki Mix).

Then there are the tunes that almost remind you that Soundtracks For Living indeed does have raver roots, however tenuous they appear on the surface. Dream warps a hazy slice of dubby ambience through the lens of a '60s Euro-art flic. Travel Bug is so bassy and spacey and groovy you'd expect Kruder & Dorfmeister to show up on the swirly-coloured couches for a jam. Meanwhile, many of the final tracks aren't too sonically dissimilar to The Orb's antics, or if The KLF had been inspired by British mod fashions rather than American outbacks and Elvis.

Soundtracks For Living can appear shallow and hollow at first ear-glance, no doubt. Heck, I thought it would be going in. The more I listened though, the more I found sucked into a surprisingly deep, warm bowl of delicious fondue cheese. Laced with sunshine acid. The Journey video ain't no joke.