Various - Fabric 34: Ellen Allien

Fabric: 2007

Yeah, yeah, I know. How has it taken me this long to cover anything from Ellen Allien, and finally only doing so by way of a discounted Fabric CD? She's an intriguing figure, no doubt, carving out her own niche and brand within a heavily male-dominated Berlin techno scene. I'm sure if I take a full, proper plunge into her discography – albums, mixes, art – I'll find plenty of golden nuggets to gorge myself on. Still, there's always that lingering caveat that keeps me hesitant: '00s' 'Berlin' 'techno'. You know the era I'm talking about.

I'm not saying Ellen was just as guilty in steering that scene into the dry, minimalist waffle that turned techno into such a pretentious chore to trudge through. If anything, she was an outlier to all that, going more brashy electro during minimal's rise. It was the omnipresent sound whether you liked it or not, however, and being heavily involved in that region's music scene, she too eventually fell sway to what you were 'supposed' to be doing with techno at any given time, personal preference be damned. At least, that's my impression of her career in the years surrounding this CD, and in a way, her Fabric set kinda' confirms my assumption.

Before I get into that, let me once again throw some shade on the 30s run of Fabric mixes. Yep, yet another CD in this era that's been reduced to bargain bin lows. I'm now missing only two out of this portion of the series: Steve Bug and Robert Hood. I almost want to get them just for completist sake, but nay, I'll wait to see them on the cheapy-cheaps. Bug I could see happening, but not Hood – that one's been hailed as being good, actually.

The first half of Fabric 34 is the sort of set I was hoping to hear: an eclectic ride through various forms of house and techno without ever sounding too much like a mixtape in the process. A little vintage Larry Heard acid, a little retro-future Detroit cool groove (Estroe's Driven), a little propah' Detroit dubby freshness (Don Williams' Orderly Kaos), and even a little neo-trancey melodic charm (Artificial Latvasmäki's It Is Now Either). Yes, all the kinds of techno I've no problem hearing from the mid-'00s. That second half though...

Yeah, I didn't care much for this stuff back when, and time hasn't been kind to it either. Roman Flügel has earned his stripes, but Mutter is every cliche of wanky, plinky-plonk minimal you can imagine. Even that's more interesting than the utterly uneventful Plastikman rub of Heartthrob's Baby Kate, a tune that really didn't need going more minimal. There's also seven minutes of Thom Yorke warbling over stripped down electro beats, in case the big, bold, artiste sign in this portion of the set wasn't clear enough. I know Ellen isn't the sort of lass to bang out anthems, but this portion of Fabric 34 is pure navel-gazing tedium.

Various - Fabric 28: Wiggle

Fabric: 2006

In some ways, it's remarkable this CD took so long to appear on my Fabric On A Budget list. It's an edition that seemed destined for the bargain bin, a name only the most ardent of Fabric faithful would be familiar with. When you've built your DJ mix series brand on featuring recognizable names from across the house and techno spectrum, most folks will come away with only confused glances of who 'Wiggle' is.

Right, you, oh tech-house disciple of yore', may know this is a reference to the Terry Francis' label of the same name, one that was celebrating a decade of existence when fabric 28 was released. It wasn't a major print though, and kinda' petered out shortly after. Some would argue the label was just the side-hustle, that it was the club nights with the Wiggle brand being featured that was the real attraction. Among particular house heads in the UK, I can believe that, but something tells me folks across waters weren't so hep to what was going on in the underground of merry ol' London, especially when tech-house was becoming quite the mainstream club thing as the mid-'00s rolled on.

From my lofty vantage point eighteen years on, however, fabric 28 feels more like a stop-gap of a set. As this is technically a Terry Francis set (did Nathan Coles contribute? Liner notes are unclear), it marks another instance of a returning Fabric alum, Terry having done the second release in the series after Craig Richards. Why go back an already tapped well when I'm sure there were plenty of other worthy candidates waiting in the wings for a crack at Fabric? Oh, right, that ten year anniversary thing of the Wiggle brand. Well sure, I guess that's an excuse for the label in having an off-month.

I really shouldn't be so nitpicky on the reasons for a Wiggle set though, because gosh darn it, at least it's a proper tech-house set. That may seem glib, but y'gotta' remember when this came out: 2006, the height of the minimal era. Indeed, Wiggle is surrounded by an Audion set and a Tiefscharz set, both of which I've covered, and capturing the minimal trend at its most trendiest. None of that plink-plonk-hiss nonsense is heard here though, with some basslines that actually make your hips wiggle. Yeah, there are portions where the vibe goes a little deeper, or things strip back so a vocal or acid line can shine, but that's all part and parcel of the ebb and flow for a set such as this. Not really peak-time, but definitely a solid warm-up for the headliner.

Unfortunately, that's likely why fabric 28 remains one of the most forgotten of the early sets of Fabric's legacy. A very meat-n-potatoes CD, released when folks expected tunes and sounds on the cutting edge of clubland. Okay, it also didn't help this was some of Fabric's ugliest cover art to date. Would you impulse-buy something sneering at you like that?

ACE TRACKS: April - June 2024

I cannot deny, these last few months have been a bit of a slog. Never mind allergy season kicking my ass in April, and never mind dealing with the aftermath of my grandfather's passing in May – those were kinda' things I was prepared for one way or another. No, when it came to June, I decided to do something I should have done a long time ago: finally get off energy drinks, specifically the Monsters.

Yeah, I've been drinking the bastards since they first came on market in North America, a handy pick-me-up when first working graveyards and all. Then they just became routine, my dedicated caffeine injection when everyone else resorted to coffee. There were times when I made concerted efforts to get off them, and was briefly successful on a couple occasions. Always that relapse though, when things would get hectic and I needed to find that artificially induced higher gear. And always that assumption that, hey, there's nothing that wrong drinking 1-2 cans a day, right? I haven't felt any major ill effects in these two decades, right? Well, maybe not so much anymore.

So I started feeling persistent tension in the left side of my head and down my neck. I knew if I went to a doctor about it, and I told them of my Monster addiction, the first thing they'd tell me was to get off the sauce. Looking to nip that factor, I committed to quit drinking them, and sure enough, after a week, most of the pain subsided. Still, some lingering feeling in my left temple, plus intense pressure in the bridge of my nose. Hm, a sinus infection, maybe? I tried Sudafed for a week, and that definitely helped with the nasal cavity and the temple pain, but there's still some lingering soreness just above my ear, noticeably felt when my blood pressure goes up a little.

Though I've now been off Monsters for almost three weeks, I still get a caffeine fix from drinking green tea. Will I have to give that up as well? Or is this just some long-term after-affect from pounding back energy drinks for so long? Ugh, so many distracting issues, when I need to be getting prepped for Basscoast too. Here's some ACE TRACKS to help distract even further!


Full playlist here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Spiritual Fields - Dharma
Kiphi - Divine Flux
N:L:E - Docking To The New Space Station
N:L:E - Dune
Nacht Plank - Echo Ark
N:L:E - Ecovillage
God's Groove - Elements Of Nature
D York - Melancholic Gardens
Herne - Emotional Axes
Sacred Seeds - Migration
Tierro Cosmico - Figments Of Wonder
Natural Life Essence - Emerged Garden
Kiphi - Eternal Molecule
N:L:E - Ethereal Land

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 5%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Nothing overt, except for the title of Futuregrapher's album Geirþjófsfjörður


Shame God's Groove ain't available on Deezer - that's one I think really deserves some rediscovery. Beyond that, pretty much the usual overabundance of goa trance while missing out on all the obscure Natural Life Essence itmes and Lee Norris sponsored ambient. I'm glad there's enough other assorted music in this batch breaking up any monotony, but yeah, if you're not sick of the psy by this point, tip of the hat to ya'.

I'll be taking a half-month break now, partly for Basscoast, but also because I don't want to interrupt my next run of reviews. We're returning to an old standby here at EMC, one that's technically been a couple years building. I am, of course, talking about Fabric On A Budget! Quite a few made the cut this round, by g'ar.

Dead Melodies - Fabled Machines Of Old

Cryo Chamber: 2021

I haven't been back to Tom Moore's project for a while, and it's not for a lack of interest. Okay, maybe a little, his albums seemingly often getting into territory Atrium Carceri treads, mostly explorations of old civilizations and such. Which hey, I'm down for on occasion, but I tend to favour such sojourns when we're seeing some future-tech involved as well, which is why Sabled Sun hits my sweet spot more than Simon Heath's other works. Dead Melodies doesn't really go that way though, so you understand why half a decade passed before I wanted to check out another album from him.

Check that. Less than a year went by from when I reviewed Primal Destinations and this one dropped, but it was a long while before I went back to the Cryo Chamber fold. As for why this one, well, just look at the cover. Now that's some future-tech I can get behind! What even are those? Marauding machinery? Wandering harvesters?

Whatever the case, my mind is already aflutter with images of trekking through rural environments long abandoned by whatever advanced peoples lived there. Or maybe they're still functioning, relentlessly going about their business unknowing and uncaring of what their purpose once was, only content that they can continue doing it until the gears of their machinery finally give in to entropy. Makes me wonder if the bots and A.I. flooding our social medias will continue shit-talking to each other long after we've gone the way of the dodo, a forever flamewar for no future.

Anyhow, there's a lot more acoustic guitar strumming in Fabled Machines Of Old compared to the other Dead Melodies albums I covered. There were some melodic elements in those records, true, but Tom was more focused on the cinematic drone aspects of his compositions there. When a piece like Nightrunners features field recordings of crackling fire while a guitar gently plays with orchestral swells in support, you really get a sense of being out and about wandering woods and traversing fields. Preferably at night, when said fabled machines of old won't so easily detect you.

Speaking of, Simon does pop up as Atrium Carceri for a couple tracks, lending some industrial clank and grind to the decaying pastoral setting, a 'comforting' reminder of the menace lurking about. As if that wasn't enough, Northumbria drops in On Crimson Water for a little layered, atonal, wall-of-noise string action, as if things weren't bleak enough. Mostly though, its Dead Melodies' show, flitting between sombre reflective moods, tranquil field recordings, ominous drones, and, as a gentle reminder of the humanity remains, post-rock guitar ambience.

Not the most uplifting album, then. Sometimes though, its the small things that can keep the spirit afloat, and Fabled Machines Of Old excels in finding those in its repeated return to a simple guitar strum. A lone soul of humanity standing firm in the face of mechanisms running unattended and amok. Oh yeah, that's those Sabled Sun feels.

Utada - Exodus

Island Records: 2004

I covered the two Japanese albums that bookend Utada's first foray into American markets, so why not the actual project as well? Even if I don't have the greatest familiarity with her general work, the story behind Exodus is worth at least a couple paragraphs of discourse, right? Sure, which I honestly kinda' covered in those previous reviews of Deep River and Ultra Blue. What else is there left for me to say? Well, what kind of music is actually on the record, so there's that.

Still, a little refresher is in order. Sensing an international starlet on his roster, Island Records CEO Lyon Cohen signed Hikaru to his label for an American-made album. Two problems though: one, J-pop never had any appeal in America, so Hikaru would have to change her style some to accommodate a different audience. Okay, that's not a huge deal, Deep River showing some Western R&B influences anyway, so the transition could be easy. Just assign some top-tier producers to the project to guide her on her way and what do you mean she's gonna' do all the music herself? That's not how things are done in America, yo'! Okay, if you have a ton of industry clout, sure, but someone making their debut in a new land? What do you think you are, big in Japan?

Even more so, I sense that, in having a fresh audience, Hikaru saw it as an opportunity to break free of conventional pop song-writing her first run of albums had. Push boundaries, get a little experimental, explore other facets of genres. This isn't just speculation, some songs on Exodus explicitly detailing how she wants to crossover styles of music, creating a melting pot and all that. Or those lyrics are just clumsy metaphors for sex, mixing 'gene pools' and all. Considering some of the other lyrics on here, maybe so.

I've mentioned in the past my primary hurdle in getting into all these Japanese artists remains the language barrier, but as this is a totally English record, that shouldn't be the case. Thing is, I can't help but get a twinge of cringe over lines like “You're easy breezy / And I'm Japaneezy”, or constantly referring to American guys she hooks up with in clubs as cowboys (this is the last kind of music you'll hear rancher dudes listening to, much less hanging out at urban clubs). Being a sultry seductress hunting on the town really isn't a lane Utada meshes comfortably with, and no amount of Timbaland production can hide that.

Okay, he really only produces a couple tunes, Exodus '04 and Let Me Give Your Love, and they're honestly some of the better cuts on here. Tracks like Tippy Toe and The Workout show some influence from him, if not direct input. There's a fair bit of interesting production on here, even if it doesn't all land. Which it apparently didn't, at least enough to get much attention in America. Still did gang-busters in Japan, because of course it would.

Antares - Exodus

Suntrip Records: 2011

What a curious year Suntrip had in 2011. Only three items came out on the label, none of which were a compilation, and two of which featured debuting artists that would barely release anything after. Well, okay, Artifact303 did re-emerge a decade later, but this Antares, not a single thing. It's like he had an itch to try his hand at that emergent new goa trance thing, put out a few tracks on some comps, made enough original tunes for a proper full-length, then basically ditched the scene thereafter. Did he just find it wanting? Felt his talents were better parlayed in metal bands? Something along those lines, I guess, but for whatever reason, the year 2011 was hexed for whoever Suntrip was pushing as fresh talent. Man, good thing E-Mantra was already well established by that point, eh?

You know what would have made this even more remarkable? If Exodus was just as awesome as Back To Space was. It's not, but then that album still ranks among the upper crust of what I've heard out of Suntrip thus far, with very little knocking it from that podium. Exodus is good enough, for sure, but man, that would just be the right all dickens if somehow the label had pulled that off in 2011 as well. (I'm assuming Pathfinder will be dope, just in a dependable E-Mantra sort of way)

Anyhow, Simon Helix shows solid fundamentals of 'getting' goa trance in this debut, which is remarkable considering he was still just a teen when he wrote this. In a way though, that's kinda' what holds Exodus back from being an all-timer, settling in that 'above average' zone many of Suntrip's releases dwell in the general psy trance scene. If you like neo-goa that doesn't muss and fuss with complications, these tunes will go down easy-peasy into your earholes. Heck, I'll go and say that it's what helps make this one of the more enjoyable sessions of psy I've endured on this comprehensive label dive, even if there isn't much here I'll actually recall later. I know calling music 'vanilla' is often used as a criticism, but sometimes you just want that inoffensive flavour tickling your tastebuds. I'll even be generous in giving Exodus a Vanilla Bean Seal Of Approval!

The titular opener offers more of a prog-psy groove, a solid mood setter that wouldn't sound out of place on an Altar Records collection. Off to the races after that, treading the same lane as Ra of new and Astral Projection of old. Squiggly synths, cosmic vibes, squelchy acid, the usual assortment of sounds. And of course I ended up liking Astral Plane the most out of this bunch, the sort of track you'd likely have found on a Hypnotic CD rather than the usual Distance To Goa fare. Closer Sun Sanctuary brings the party back to the prog-psy pace, book-ending Exodus in a fine fashion. Yep, everything wrapped in a nice, tidy bow. So, who's playing next?

Tineidae - Exo

Cryo Chamber: 2020

Not that Cryo Chamber left the sci-fi side of dark ambient on the sidelines – indeed, it was Simon Heath's Sabled Sun project that helped kick the label off – but it wasn't a primary focus for much of its early years. For whatever reason though, this decade saw quite the expansion of exposure for the sub-genre within. Maybe he's just a fan of the YouTube channel DUST, featuring all sorts of sci-fi shorts? I definitely could see some of the Cryo's output soundtracking a few of those vids, heck maybe even inspiring some. That Solundenia from Skrika, for instance. Good God, what nightmare fuel that would create.

Pavlo Storonsky flitted about a few genres in his early days as Tineidae, his first couple albums on Tympanik Audio of Lights and Shadows running through as much synthwave, dubstep and IDM as anything ambient leaning. Not entirely unexpected, those some of the more influential styles of music in the early '10s as he was coming up. For sure there was a dystopian lean to his works, but nothing to suggest he'd take a full turn to the cinematic drone side. Then he took a break for half a decade, re-emerging with Slowly Drown In Static, a total shift to cinematic drone and ambient. Sounds like a 'proof-of-concept' in getting chummy with the Cryo crew, where he's mostly resided since (a plethora of self-released items notwithstanding).

As far as sci-fi concepts go, Exo is surprisingly straight-forward, and doesn't really get into much cosmic horror. Whether as a scout ship or a salvage crew, you've come across a derelict star cruiser, its history a mystery. For sure something terrible happened here, and as you're wandering its empty corridors, you piece together what might have happened – some sort of struggled ensued. Most of of the 'why' and 'how' is inconsequential for your purposes though, more focused on gathering whatever useful materials and data you can before leaving behind the rest of this abandoned mass of metal. There's a cruel irony that whatever the former inhabitants of this vessel endured is rendered down to nothing more than a passing thought.

Still, the music within isn't all doom and gloom, in that there's actual melody that will latch onto your brain, not just atonal mood atmosphere and creepy sound effects. Opener Blacklight Trail could be a film theme in of itself, the rousing string and ominous choir pads doing a wonderful job establishing mood and tone for what your in for. And goodness, featured twinkly arp synths for Patterns In the Sky? How often does Cryo Chamber go that ultra-melodic?

There's still plenty of ominous and menacing sounds on display, but often tempered with subtle musical moments too (synthwave arps in Battle Scars, overbearing synths in Stars So Bright, My Eyes Hurt). Things slowly tapering off to reflective following Reconnection, reaching final track Epilogue on a suitable contemplative note. It's a surprising amount of feelings for a record mostly about salvage work.

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.