Function - Existenz

Tresor: 2019

David Sumner didn't need to join Sandwell District, already having a modestly successful career in techno for nearly a decade. It certainly gave him a significant boost in profile though, and when the conglomerate disbanded, he had plenty of buzz going for him in where he'd take his Function project next. A proper debut album on Ostgut Ton apparently, which was probably the most obvious thing he could have done at the time. But hey, fair play, the Berghain label about the hottest thing around, and a long supporter of the Sandwell sound before it truly took off. Following that, he did a collaborative work with Vatican Shadow, then got all chummy with Speedy J's boutique vinyl label Stoor.

Which I'm sure was fun for a spell, cutting lathe records live and all, but hardly anyone's ever gonna' play those. Sometimes you just want to make some music that will actually get heard. He must have had a fair bit of material percolating in his head during those Stoor years, as when he finally did emerge from that, he dropped nothing less than a double-LP on one of the longest running German techno prints in existence, Tresor. Hey, is that where David got the title for the album? Mm, yeah, no...

Anyhow, this is a dope-ass album. Overstuffed a little, y'say? Well, if you prefer some styles of techno over others, there's a small argument there. Like, if you just wanted a collection of clubbing tools, then the more experimental pieces like Ertrinken, Zahlensender and Alphabet City may not be up your alley. Or you're so absolutely done with Berghain minimal, you never want to hear it ever again, then sure, you could leave Vampir on the floor. Having a Robert Owens feature strikes you as nothing more than a decades old nostalgia gimmick? Fine, you can skip Be, if that's how you feel. All are valid reasons to critique Existenz, but personally, I'm all for the diversity.

Primarily though, it's that vintage Detroit retro-future techno that dominates, the first disc with the downbeat options, CD2 featuring stronger rhythms. Sometimes it goes trancier (Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Distant Paradise), sometimes housier (Growth Cycle, Be), sometimes electroier (Kurzstrecke, Nylon Mood), sometimes vintage Detroitier (Pleasure Discipline, Golden Dawn, Interdimensional Interferenc), and sometimes even ravier. Yes, the breakbeats in No Entidendes pushes that one into rave territory to me – nothing robotic about those drums – while Downtime 161's about as blatant a 'feel the gurn for a dozen minutes' tune as I've ever heard. See, something for everyone!

While this album is half a decade old now (!), I do hope it helps prove the modern LP format is better served offering diversity rather than a run of tracks mostly doing the same thing over and over. Not that I mind having a few items in my collection that do so (oh hi, Planetary Assault System!), but for a couple decades there, too many techno records seemed to forget that.

N:L:E - Ethereal Land

Liquid Frog Records: 2021

Another N:L:E mini-album with four self-titled tracks, but surprisingly not part of an ongoing series. Or maybe the various [Blank] Land items in Mr. Giacovino's discography are a series in of itself? I've already done an Uncharted Land - heck, basically kicked his catalogue off on that one. There's also Wetlands, Mushroom Land, Fungus Land, and even Yaghan's Land and Land Of Fire, over on the Yahgan side-project. Lot of Lands, is what I'm sayin'. Which would have made for a handy 'cheat' if they were all titled Land Of instead. Could have consolidated everything into one lump of a review, like all those Caravan Of Healing Sounds. Oh, you bet your bottom dollar I'm gonna' do the same with a few more series scattered about the Natural Life Essence catalogue. Gotta' cut corners wherever I can with so many odds n' sods.

Ethereal Land is pretty much a stand-alone though, which is surprising in of itself. Juan Pablo hasn't shown much hesitation in dropping sequels to these short-form concept albums, especially when each track is self-titled and numerical. Even some of his earliest works like Emerged Garden and Wetlands have seen follow-ups in the time since I bulk-bought everything off Bandcamp. Which was, what, a year and half ago now? Huh, doesn't feel a week over fifteen months. That isn't to say he won't come back to the Ethereal Lands at some point, I'm just surprised he hasn't yet. Maybe he felt all that was worth tapping into this concept was fully explored in this singular session?

Wouldn't surprise me, as a generally ambient excursion, Ethereal Land isn't charting terribly different sonic avenues as I've heard in so many other N:L:E outings. I'm actually more surprised it is so strictly an ambient one, most of Juan Pablo's outings under this banner typically featuring some dubby beatcraft among all the layered synth pads. Then again, having any sort of rhythm section would likely clumsily contrast with the whole concept of ethereal music in the first place, so just as well he didn't bother with it.

And what sort of ethereal soundscapes do we get to indulge in this four-tracker? Ethereal Land 1 gets heavy with the field recordings, distant synth tones lazily doodling about, more prominent pings and pulses piercing the tranquil state of things. Ethereal Land 2 does have more momentum going for it, the bell tones approaching something actually rhythmic while voice pads ebb and flow for a while. After that, it's similar territory as 1. Ethereal Land 3 almost entirely does away with melodic harmony, letting the water-logged field recordings do the heavy lifting as the subtlest of drones do their thing in the background. Ethereal Land 4, meanwhile, jettisons the field recordings in favour of layered synth pads and sci-fi sounds. Yep, it's the ol' 'leaving terra firma for upper astral' play again. Seems to be a running theme for many of these N:L:E sessions. Can't blame 'im tho', an effective ambient concept as it is.

Kiphi - Eternal Molecule

Liquid Frog Records: 2020

Oh, wow, a side-project from the Giacovino family that I don't have to submit to Discogs! Yeah, there were already a number of Natural Life Essence items within the Lord's tomes before I started adding a bunch more, but all the other aliases like Yaghan or H:U:M or Spiritual Fields? Forget it. For the most part, Kiphi's fallen under that banner too, but lo', this solo 'debut' from Jose was already in the database, which saves me the hassle of doing the deed myself.

Eh, why am I even bothering with such a time-consuming process as archiving the entirety of Liquid Frog Records' catalogue? Shouldn't Juan Pablo take care of that business? Well, maybe, but remember, I have this 'thing' where I'll only review something if it has an entry with Lord Discogs. If I must submit the release myself to maintain that standard, then I must, even if it's one as extensive as this one's turned out. Still, I cannot deny, had to cheat a little on that Caravan Of Healing Sounds series, in that I totally skipped adding any at all. Maybe I will, latter in life, when I have nothing better to do, but yeah, not really in a hurry to start on that. There's plenty other N:L:E releases to deal with than a dozen long-form ambient pieces.

Which Eternal Molecule definitely is not. Before I realized Kiphi was a different Giacovino, I still noticed the project paired with N:L:E brought something slightly unique to the music, mostly in the way of arps. This album was released shortly after the consolidation of Between Dreams Or Reality, the first one standing apart from Juan Pablo's contributions. If Jose was gonna' make his mark, this was the prime opportunity to do so. Something that couldn't be mistaken for another Natural Life Essence joint.

He succeeded there, though only in the slimmest of margins. Folks unfamiliar with the nuances of downtempo music likely wouldn't notice (or care) how the music on Eternal Molecule skews slightly more psy dub than ambient dub compared to the bulk of Liquid Frog releases. For yours truly though, it was enough of a difference such that I was more engaged with Kiphi's material than I have been with much of N:L:E's works as of late. Over-saturation of a particular artist's style tends to do that.

There's noticeable elements reminding you these are still tracks produced in the same studio and emerged from similar creative processes, just performed in a different way. Don't think I've heard a digital vocal sample manipulated this groovy in opener Temple Of The Sun, for instance. Or a downbeat acid jam flirt this closely to vintage Delerium as heard in Ulthar. The more ambient pieces though, like Beyond Thoughts and Holistic Source, while nice, don't deviate much from other N:L:E works.

One thing did catch me by surprise though, something I heard little obvious reliance on: arps! Eternal Molecule's kinda' better for it, too.

Afgin - Eternal Freedom

Suntrip Records: 2021

Speaking of artists who dropped an album during Suntrip's formative era, then seemingly disappeared for a decade after, here's Afgin again. True, he emerged at the tail-end of that first wave, but releasing Astral Experience around the same time Filteria and E-Mantra were releasing records ain't nothing to sneeze at. Merr0w too, I guess, Born Underwater's mermaid forever etched into the annals of unique Suntrip covers. (don't know anything about Radical Distortion's Psychedelic Dreams - the 'P's are still a long ways down in my current queue).

Okay, comparing Afgin to Khetzal is silly, and it's not like Elad was as quiet as Matthieu throughout the 2010s. True, Emotional Peaks was quite the departure from neo-goa, instead getting its toes wet with regular ol' progressive trance, what with the breakdowns and diddly piano bits and basslines that have actual chord progressions, not just key changes. Look, I like you, goa trance, I really do, but man, you could use more dynamism in your low-ends, even just once. I mean, it works for the prog-psy guys, so why not you?

Anyhow, whether Emotional Peaks was intended as a deliberate appeal to the Trance Family that failed, or just a passing fancy on Afgin's part, it cannot be denied that it curtailed whatever production momentum he had entering the '10s. He pretty much spent the rest of the decade on the DJ circuit, which is where he probably would have stayed had a pesky little pandemic not interrupted the clubbing sector something fierce. Can't tour festivals for a spell? Welp, may as well hunker down in a studio and crank out a few tunes, see where the inspiration takes you, and wouldn't you know it, there's a whole album's worth here. Maybe give the Suntrip lads a call, whether they're interested in some more material.

Right, I'm just forming conjecture based on little more than what Lord Discogs tells me. Still, it's funny how all these seemingly dormant neo-goa artists suddenly re-emerged at the turn of the '20s.

That all said, is Afgin's Eternal Freedom any good? Well, I like it better than his Astral Experience, if that helps. Not that I felt his first Suntrip CD was bad or anything, but it didn't really leap out at me as anything more than an Astral Projection nod, fairly standard fare as far as retro-goa acts were concerned. This one has that too, with plenty of acid to spare, but holy cow, th'ar be basslines here! It's like Elad's taken the best elements of his progressive trance tunes, and fused them with your regular wiggly, squiggly, ultra-punchy psychedelic Suntrip stylee. Chord progressions, oh so sweet chord progressions!

Okay, it's not in every track, acid-drenched goa still the dominant strain of trance we're hearing here. Still, if you don't mind a little of the classic progressive in your diet, final track Reaching Sunrise is a tasty morsel to end on, plucky synth breakdown and all. Reach for those lasers, crusties!

Khetzal - Etamines

Suntrip Records: 2021

Mr. Chamoux's debut wasn't just hailed as an instant classic for the psy scene at large, but a defining statement for a new breed of vintage goa trance, cementing Suntrip Records' status as the label if you wanted more. So, y'know, absolutely no pressure at all in providing a follow-up. Fans eagerly waited, and waited, and waited, and... Y'know what, mates? I think he ain't gonna' do it. What's he doing, pulling a Burial on all of us? Well, even the post-dubstep artist released enough EP material following Untrue for a double-LP once consolidated. All Matthieu managed following Corolle were sporadic compilation tracks, keeping the name out there, while dashing expectations in the process. Keep 'em hungry, but not anticipating.

Then, kinda' out of the blue during the Lockdown Years, here's Etamines, a sophomore effort sixteen years in the making. Okay, not that long, but officially the time between it and Corolle. For perspective, the birth of goa trance to his debut is a shorter gap than both Khetzal albums. What's even funnier is the genre had gone through so many variations up to 2005 that tracks on Corolle were considered retro, whereas on Etamines, general consensus is “yep, it's more neo-goa”.

Which had to be expected, right? Like, it's pretty rare any artist gets to define a new micro-genre, much less do it again (Aphex Twin aside). I doubt folks expected Khetzal would create another nu-retro strain of psy, but where exactly could he go that still sounded fresher than his contemporaries when hailed as The Next Great Hope was never part of the exercise? As said, the Burial Problem.

The fascinating thing about Corolle is when you get down to it, the album was still very much a product of its time. Yeah, there was some blistering ol' school goa trance on there the likes that hadn't been heard for an age, but it was book-ended by prog psy tunes that wouldn't have sounded out of place on an Ultimae collection back when. That diversity is what gave it such lasting appeal. Etamines, on the other hand, does that typical Suntrip Records thing of hitting things hard right out the gate, maybe upping the tempo a little as things move along, but mostly just giving slight variations on the same basic formula front to back.

Only Didge Voices breaks things up some, a second-to-last track that slows the tempo a little to prog-psy levels over the brisk goa before. Everywhere else, there's acid, there's ethnic melodies, there's squiggly synths and soaring climaxes. As I said, standard Suntrip stuff, just a little heavier on the vintage goa.

Still, I can't say this was a disappointment. It's not like I was personally waiting sixteen years for this to come out or anything. Given the bulk of releases I've heard from this label thus far, it's certainly in the upper tier. However, it also highlights just how special Corolle was when it dropped, and remains to this day.

Sykonee's 'Sportsing' Surveys: BOOM BOOM SATELLITES

While going through Tipper's discography, someone on Mastodon mentioned this group as a similar sounding act when it came to complex, nu-skool breaks production. I was shocked in not knowing of them, having been subjected to a lot of nu-skool back when it was so cool. Yet here was a duo that had been around since the genre's heyday, going strong for well over a decade, even getting their start on famed techno label R & S Records. They'd rubbed shoulders with D'n'B luminaries like Optical and Klute, been playlisted by the likes of Carl Cox and Ken Ishii, and apparently even toured with Moby for a spell. Not to mention getting soundtracked on a few anime and video games. Ah, hmm, maybe that's the issue there.

Despite breaking out in a decidedly European rave scene, and even adopting some American industrial rock aesthetics, they couldn't shake their inherent Japanese style, and were forever doomed to only remain big in their home country – a grammatically confounding name likely didn't help. Perhaps that was all they ever needed for a satisfying career, but that shouldn't relegate them to global obscurity. Even sadder, they had to prematurely cut whatever promise they had when band member Michiyuki Kawashima died from brain tumours.

For my own curiosity's sake, then, I needed to hear more from them. Might there be a culture barrier to overcome, as with some of the other Japanese material I've covered here? Possibly, probably, but I won't know until I dive in, will I?










As an addendum, there was something interesting I noticed from my streams off Deezer. Every time I finished listening to an album, tracks from that record would then feature on the band's Top Tracks list. That leads me to believe one of two things: either Boom Boom Satellite's popularity has fallen off so bad that my streaming of them was the only plays they received, or no one in Japan knows what Deezer is. Probably the latter, the streaming service more a European one, and lacking the global clout a Spotify or Apple Music has earned (or does Japan have their own major music app? Wouldn't surprise me).

Still, I can't help but wonder if this group truly are now destined to utterly disappear abroad. For sure they'll retain some fanbase in their homeland, but hopes of a new audience re-discovering them is unfortunately likely to diminish as time wears on. Whatever mark they made upon the turn of the century breaks scene seems mostly forgotten now, and the rock world certainly paid them little heed. I do think they deserve some attention for their production chops, but whether they'll click for you is likely entirely up to a listener's preferences.

Rest Well, Papa (an eulogy)

So my grandfather died.

This wasn't unexpected, being 97 years old and all. Indeed, the writing was on the wall at least half a decade ago, when he was diagnosed with degenerative kidney failure. Basically told one day, they would simply stop working, and that would be that. More than enough time to 'prepare' for the inevitable, and even had a couple extra years when he was given over to hospice care. I'm not terribly saddened by this outcome, having said all I felt needed to be said to him well before. I honestly felt more of a 'gut-punch' when news came down that Tony Schnur (Thick44) of the Neebs Gaming crew was taken by brain cancer than when I finally got 'The Call' about the state of my Papa's final breath. One doesn't feel as much loss when you know the person who's passed lived about as full and rich a life as anyone could hope for.

Could I have gone visit him more often than I did before the end? Probably, though you can't really blame me for not. The one time I did, he was having something of a delusion, thinking he was Babe Ruth needing to get to Wrigley Field in Chicago. I humoured him some, even got the nurses on hand to let me wheel him around the block for a bit before he got so angry at me for not getting him to the “fucking airport”, he essentially shut down in a huff. So I caught him on a 'bad day', just unfortunate luck of the draw. Still, I cannot deny it left me shook, realizing I couldn't bare to see him like that again. I'd see him in a more placid state at some family gatherings, but one-on-one? That was it. (side note: the day I did see him having his episode was October 1, 2022, exactly 90 years after Babe Ruth did his famous Called Shot at Wrigley Field – talk about coincidences!)

Some time passed, then I had a... hunch? Intuition? Pent-up guilt? Whatever it was, I felt I should go see him, even if he was doing nothing but resting in the hospice. Sure enough, he was in a deep sleep, perhaps stirring a little as I talked with his wife (my step-grandma) and daughter (married in). We tried to wake him, but he was out like a light. I sensed he was in some lucid dream state, able to hear us but other images playing out in his remaining memories. Before we left, I gave him a single, gentle touch to his head, telling him to rest well. Two days later he was gone.

So why bring all this up on a blog dedicated to covering (mostly) electronic music? Well, this is a blog, right, as in, a platform to share personal thoughts? That was the intent of these platforms, before folks started monetizing it. More than that though, I feel I owe it to Papa, to use this platform to share some thoughts about him, for truth of the matter is, without him, I may not even be where I am today.

Many, many moons ago, I was at bottom's end, having tried to make a new life work and miserably failing in the process. I saw only four options ahead of me: stick things out in the dire straights I was, go back to my hometown with my tail between my legs (another dead-end as far as I was concerned), give my grandpa a call and see if I could try my luck in the Lower Mainland, or join the army. I went with option number three. The timing was perfect for him, as he needed someone to house-sit while they went on a two month vacation. He said I could stay rent-free for those two months, after which I needed to be working and able to earn my keep while I rebuilt my life. I had a job within two days, and here I am today, all the better for it. Maybe I eventually would have gotten my shit together some other way, but at the time, he gave me the lifeline I needed when I had no other.

So, with nothing more than some personals in a back-pack and a garbage bag full of clothes, I took the Greyhound bus to Vancouver. Funnily, hilariously, kinda' stupidly, I missed my transfer in Chilliwack (one of the Fraser Valley stops), and was stranded. I had to call Papa to come 'rescue me' at the bus depot. I have no idea how he knew where to find the Greyhound station, but after nearly an hour of waiting, he picked me up. Talk about your auspicious starts to a 'new beginning'. And it wasn't the last time he'd be there to help me 'start anew' when I had no one else to turn to.

When I look back though, he was always there to help give me little 'boosts' in growing up. He taught me to play Cribbage at a young age, giving me quite the advantage over my classmates in the multiple ways to add up to fifteen and thirty-one. He got me to appreciate classical music, learning how to let one's imagination do the storytelling as I played back some of his 8-track tapes. Heck, my habit of using the CBC Radio as my morning alarm was likely instilled from memories of him waking up early morning, listening to CBC Radio while prepping his coffee and toast. I just assumed that's what you did as you matured.

In the end though, there was one particular life lesson I received from him early on, perhaps the greatest that's stuck with me since I was a wee chile'. It's perfectly fine to be content with your surroundings and your life, no shame in that. Yet sometimes calamity can befall you at any given time, irrevocably changing things you could never have anticipated or prepared for. This doesn't have to be a tragedy though, indeed maybe a change that results in something better, to grow from, with new possibilities before you. He told me this life lesson in the form of a nursery rhyme:


A peanut sat on a railroad track
Waiting for its supper
Along came a choo-choo train...
*choo-choo*
Peanut butter

Various - Epoch Of The Terrans (The Best Of Neogoa)

Suntrip Records: 2014

Driving the point home that Suntrip was onto something in 2010, another neo-goa label launched, called Neogoa. Oh my, can this micro-scene be robust enough to support two prints promoting the stuff? Well, maybe not anymore, as I can't say many of their roster sparks any recollection on my part. Not that Suntrip was filled with highly recognizable names before I jumped in there either, but I knew a few (E-Mantra, Khetzal, Ra). And while Suntrip held strong, it looks as though Neogoa didn't quite survive the Pandemic Era, Lunar Dawn's The Purge their lone release in the last four years.

But hey, for a time, this new wave of retro psy was getting all the attention, and Neogoa carved out their little niche on the always awesome Ektoplazm. It was enough that a few years into their run, Papa Suntrip came along saying, “We like the cut of your chai, kid. Interested in a little cross-promotion, give your artists extra shine off our back?” Thus we got Epoch Of The Terrans (The Best Of Neogoa). Yet cheekily, Suntrip released their own 3-CD ten year anniversary extravaganza Ten Spins Around The Sun that same year. That's some mighty fine struttin' there, Lou.

The first two cuts off here are from artists that would make the jump from Neogoa to Suntrip: Crossing Mind and Morphic Resonance. If you recall, I wasn't too enthused about C.M.'s album Beyond Duality, feeling it held back by rhythms sounding a tad plastic compared to what I expect out of Suntrip material, and it holds true for this Virtual Mind Cleaner, the same aesthetic ever present, and just not grabbing me. M.R., on the other hand, had a fairly kick-ass debut on Suntrip with The City Of Moons, and his offering of Chromatic World here is... Okay, it's an earlier tune, probably still finding his footing, and all that good stuff. It's a solid slice of psy and acid, f'sure, but just not as solid as his debut.

Astrancer is also here, his Tetragammaton getting on the squiggly vintage space goa vibes. Somnesia's another name that appears on both this and Energy Waves, but only in collaboration, and with different partners in each. I will give this pairing with Arronax though: their Black Hole (Revisited) definitely hits the Suntrip style of modern goa proper hard, which is more than can be said for the other artists featured on this comp'.

Yeah, I just can't ignore it, but these tracks from Lunar Dawn, BlackStarrFinale and GoaTree all carry that same plastic sheen as Crossing Mind, the sort of production I more associate with full-on psy than Suntrip's standards. Supposedly the label gave these Neogoa stars some extra beef, but as when they bring old, dusty, unreleased '90s trance to the modern ear, there's only so much that can be done with the source material. Epoch Of The Terrans was an interesting look-see into what other branches of this micro-scene was up to, but hasn't really compelled me to dig further.

Various - Energy Waves

Suntrip Records: 2010

Brace yourself, more goa trance is coming. No, I mean, all at once, in a row. As alphabetical organization has decreed, I now have a run of four Suntrip CDs ahead of me. And even after getting through this mini-block, I still won't be done with the label among my 'E' albums! Heck, I nearly had another one included in this bundle, Morphic Resonance's Extrasensory Perception coming out mere months after I splurged. Psy trance peeps just really love the letter 'E', I guess.

On one hand, hey, swell beans, knocking off a bunch of these in one fell swoop. That'll help getting through this catalogue a bit quicker, right? Then I look at what I still have sitting in my CD rack, just the barest of dents made. I swear, Suntrip's discography didn't look this big when browsing it on Bandcamp. Who knew over seventy CDs was actually a large amount! Maybe should have settled on one of their smaller packs, like the thirteen CD 'Darker & Acidic Goa Sound' one, or the nineteen 'Suntrip Classics', or the twenty-one 'Melodic Overdose Extended'. Bare minimum, the thirteen 'Compilations' bundle, to at least get a feel for the label before going whole hog on it.

Like, if I'd nabbed Energy Waves first, it would have been an easy sell after. Yeah, the title and cover art is kinda' corny in that too-retro goa trance way, but it's hard faulting the music within. Suntrip itself had firmly found its footing by this point, emerging acts like Filteria and E-Mantra rubbing shoulders with established vets like Ra and Dimension 5, and a whole burgeoning micro-scene with up and coming talent chomping at the bit to make their mark among all the cyber-crusties.

Like that Mindsphere chap that opens the comp'. He'd been around already, but would soon become a fixture within the Suntrip camps. Right, The Awakening is more of a prog-psy outing, but gotta' start things off on a slower beat before unleashing the blistering 140+ BPM. E-Mantra's here too, giving a rub on Khetzal's Indian Attic, while Ra's Time Current provides another other of their smooth, no squiggly fuss psy tunes. That's about it for the heavy hitters, the remaining tracks featuring relatively new cats, at least at the time. This CD's almost fifteen years old now, at least a couple of them went on to make proper albums since.

Such as Antares, who's Eureka breaks the ten-minute mark of unrelenting, ever-building goa vibes – essentially the de facto Suntrip stylee, come to think of it. Meanwhile, Astrancer gets two tracks, Athanaton going a bit deeper compared to the flying-high Inhabitants Of The Sun. Getting this much shine on a nine-track collection, you'd think he was a sure-shot of future success, but instead mostly stuck things out on compilation market after. Huh, who'd have predicted that? Then again, Khetzal was tapped for Future Star status, and look how long he took for a follow-up to Corolle.

Michael Stearns - Encounter (A Journey In The Key Of Space)

Hearts Of Space: 1988

It's not that Mr. Stearns is some unknown entity among the early ambient and modern classical composers. Chap had a well-regarded discography even before truly breaking out with his work on the visual documentary film Baraka. It's just that there were always other artists within his sphere that seemed to get more of the limelight. Your Kevin Brahenys. Your Steve Roachs. Even your Craig Huxleys, to a degree. Heck, despite providing the bulk of music for Baraka, folks almost entirely remember it for the inclusion of Dead Can Dance's The Host Of The Seraphim over any of Michael's particular works. I can't help knocking the sense that Mr. Stearns is always the bridesmaid, never the bride when it comes to those all-important namedrop sessions. Hell, it's taken me this long to get around to any of his albums!

It probably didn't help that for the first decade of his solo career, he was self-releasing his albums on his own Continuum Montage print. Difficult enough getting much press as an indie in the '80s, much less in the still ultra-niche scene of ambient music. Things finally took a turn when he signed with established label Hearts Of Space, from which he debuted with this little item of Encounter (A Journey In The Key Of Space). Now a wider audience could hear all the sonic richness his multi-instrument studio could bring!

Okay, pump the breaks a little there, Syk', we're still dealing with an '80s album. Though Michael gets some solid use out of synth pads, choir pads, and atonal drone, there are moments where the chintzy sounds associated with the decade appear too. On The Way – Space Caravan features spritely keyboards and flat percussion that can't help but sound way dated, while the woodwinds in Alien Shore – Starlight Bay come off quite out of place among all the sci-fi aesthetics. On the other hand, a repeated leitmotif of ominous, mysterious flutes as heard in Craft – Dimensional Release and Distant Thunder – Solitary Witness wonderfully latches onto your brain matter, convincing you you're listening to something of a narrative, Encounter a film score to a TV or Direct-To-VHS movie that never got made.

It such thematic consistency that gives Mr. Stearns a chance to go rather dark and droning in several places throughout this album. Seriously, the early portions of Craft's desolate halls, or the disquieting emptiness of Dimensional Shift – Across The Threshold that follows a cacophonous eruption of synths, all the sort of sonic tricks I'd expect out of a typical Cryo Chamber session.

Still, this is a Hearts Of Space release, so Encounter goes more Contact than Fire In The Sky with its alien explorations. Most pieces are content letting the tranquil beauty of outer space and higher consciousness sweep over you in that grey area where ambient ends and New Age begins. Just nice of Michael to remind us that getting there can be a bit of a scary excursion of sensory overload too.