Plaid - Double Figure

Warp Records: 2001

Back to the lands of Plaid, taking another tentative step beyond the classics and the currents. Actually, check that, I'm pretty sure Double Figure is considered one of the duo's better works, but it's hard finding definitive consensus within their fanbase. Opinions and proclamations run almost as idiosyncratic as a typical Plaid track list, a little something for anyone, but seldom something for everyone. I heard mostly positive things about this one though, so figured it a worthy continuation of my explorations in their wider discography.

And don't Double Figure waste little time in getting tunes stuck in the ol' noggin'. Opener Eyen is a chipper, jaunty of a whistlin' tune, with just enough of an IDM menace lurking underneath such that it doesn't fall into twee silliness. Follow-up Squance, on the other hand, drops an instantly hooky bassline with a skippity beat and jubilant brassy synths. After that, Assault On Preceint Zero works a groovy techno rhythm with punctual synths and... gosh, does this every remind me of Orbital.

Come to think of it, a lot of Plaid reminds me of Orbital, at least whenever the Hartnoll brothers would get more experimental. I'm surprised I never made that connection before, the two duos inhabiting such vastly different corners of the 'electronica'-o-sphere. It ain't like Plaid's getting the same level of crossover fame, their tracks almost never winding up on any commercial compilation or soundtrack. I do wonder if either of them noticed the similarities though. Maybe Orbital did, since they included the Plaid track New Bass Hippo on their Back To Mine collection. I'd like to think Andy and Ed would have returned the favour had they been tapped for an edition that compilation series. Guess including Chime on their throwback set for XLR8R is a nice alternative.

Anyhow, there's a whopping nineteen tracks on Double Figure, though five of them are taken up by little sonic doodles, or Taks. Yep, it's the same trick that was pulled on The Black Dog's Spanners and all their Bolts. That still leaves a hefty chunk of running time for all manner of typical Plaid musical indulgences. Jazzy ditties like Zamami and Ti Bom. Braindance spazzies like Silversum and Twin Home. Straight-forward Warp techno titties like Ooh Be Doo and Porn Coconut Co. Tunes with synthy shinies like New Family and Sincetta. And whatever Light Rain is supposed to be. Trip-hop with squeaky bubblies, I think?

In any event, Double Figures is another solid outing from Plaid, with a decent amount of tunes that you'll want to come back to a few more times down the road. It's only real fault is it's just so darn long, all those Taks giving it a bit of a bloated listen. I suppose it helps space some of the quirkier tunes apart, but Plaid's never worried about that before or after. Maybe they felt it a nice nod to Spanners? Eh, it made a bit more sense there, what with such disparity of genre hopping.

Various - Disco Kandi 05.04

Hed Kandi: 2004

Right, don't need to get deep into this one. I've talked plenty about Hed Kandi, its various compilation series, the rise, the buy-out, the fall, the continued existence. Heck, I've already dabbled in their disco series twice now, so no need to get more detailed about something as self-explanatory as this.

Eh, before I talk the music, you want to know where Disco Kandi 05.04 falls on the grand timescale of Hed Kandi's lifespan? Oh, somewhere in the middle. I think this was one of the last before Ministry Of Sound came along, doing away with the numerical titles after. Disco Kandi became just another yearly DJ mix series, the first track of this new direction a remix of Fedde Le Grand's Put Your Hands Up For Detroit. As if you needed a more perfect example of Hed Kandi's brand losing the plot under the Ministry's 'guidance'.

Not that everything was flying high while still under Mark Doyle's supervision. Even here, one can sense a bit of struggle in filling out two CDs worth of up-front disco leaning house music. Change was unavoidable by the year 2004, most producers chasing that lucrative 'electro' craze, leaving things like 'funk' and 'soul' behind. There were hold-outs, of course, with many regular Kandi contributors featured across these two CDs. The days of finding hot up-and-comers were long gone though, few future hits makers found on Disco Kandi 05.04.

As always, disc one gives us the mid-tempo garage, exuberant Latin, and soulful side of house, with names like StoneBridge, Basement Jaxx, Funkstar De Luxe, and Joey Negro (as The Sunburst Band here) keeping things in familiar Hed Kandi territory. There's also that Axwell kid doing a remix on Mambana's Felicidad, but is more of a standard, loopy French house rub and anything 'Swedish'. The only track I recognize from elsewhere is Seamus Haji's go with Belezamusica's Running Away, though I can't help but think this is a remix of a cover? There's a fair bit of that going on between these two discs.

Oh yes, we get a couple of such tracks on CD2 (the late-night option), including Mr. Haji having his own go with Last Night A DJ Saved My Life. There's also Soul Central doing rather generic cover of Strings Of Life, a tune that I'll never understand the appeal of (those 'strings' always sound like ass). King Britt is here with a decent little acid boogie number in I Can't Wait (Milk & Sugar on the rub). Armand van Helden is still trying to ride that French house thing with My My My. And gosh, is that a touch of the space disco in opener Solaris from DJ Gregory? Sure sounds like it to me.

Overall, Disco Kandi 05.04 doesn't offer much that you wouldn't have heard before. It's just more of the same from the Hed Kandi brand, but as a slice of fluffy, funky house on a rainy day, it'll do the trick.

Lorenzo Montanà + Mick Chillage ‎- Deviazioni Cosmiche

Carpe Sonum Records: 2016

I generally like Lorenzo. I generally like Mick. Yet between the two, I don't think I've heard a solo work of theirs that makes me sit up and shout, “That's the JAM!” Not that you'd expect such a proclamation from a pair of producers who typically reside in the ambient techno domain, but I know I've thought such things in their collaborative projects. Mr. Chillage in particular has had several such moments impact my brain matter when working as Autumn Of Communion or Skua Atlantic. And that doesn't mean such a track doesn't exist within their vast discographies that I've yet to hear (Mick's Over Ingia on Saudade is the closest yet), but I do wonder if such a moment will ever leap out. Maybe I should have sprung for that twenty-five CD box-set of Chillage's discography to find out?

What I'm getting at is with their powers combined, surely Montanà and Chillage might produce such a “JAM!” I've been waiting for. They certainly have similar lineages: early career markers with Pete Namlook's Fax+ label, some trying times with another label after, continued releases on well-regarded prints like ...txt, Fantasy Enhancing, and Carpe Sonum Records. I like to imagine the two crossed paths somewhere in the Carpe Sonum office, started sharing war stories about their time dealing with the unmentionable one, and felt enough creative synergy to have a stab at a collaborative project together.

I dunno though. Something doesn't seem to quite click whenever I play Deviazioni Cosmiche. It's like Lorenzo and Mick are two puzzle pieces that look like they should fit together, but are meant to go in different parts of completed picture. It makes a bit of sense, Mr. Montanà's approach to ambient techno more on the IDM side of things, Mr. Chillage's more on the dubby side of things. It's not completely incompatible, but there are many stretches throughout this album that feels like two guys doing some low-key ambient techno noodling with little direction of where each piece should go. Which is fine if that's the intent, but man, it can't be a good sign when whole chunks of Deviazioni Cosmiche just flutter away from my memory membranes minutes after playing.

Ironically, this dilemma is the result of one of the more interesting tracks, A Legacy. It's a gentle piece of ambience, with a tasty touch of vintage Fax+ psychedelia. Trouble is it's the second track, and when the surrounding pieces are more upbeat, this blissful tune lulls you into such a sense of calm, you kinda' zone out from everything else. Which is a shame, because in isolation, tracks like Vinctos Temporis and Microscopic+Mechanisms+Moon have plenty of nice things going for them (being upwards of fifteen minutes in length each helps).

It's not until second-to-last track The Last Pulse Of The Universe that my attention is forcibly dragged back, a surprisingly brisk tune from these two of spacey electro and... oh my, is that an acid solo? Damn, now that's the JAM!

False Mirror - Derelict World

Malignant Records: 2010

If you must point to any album that sparked my interest in dark ambient beyond passive curiosity, it's this one right here. Prior, I figured the genre consisting of either macabre industrial horror or suffocating existential drone (with some pagan ethereal worship thrown in). If you'd told me the scene also contained reflections on post-apocalyptic settings... Well, I'd have believed you too, since that seems right up the genre's wheel-house. Okay, okay, but what if... with landlocked seacraft? Ooh, now that's something super specific I'd never considered. You're telling me there's music that contrasts our engineering triumphs with our apocalyptic hubris, a perfect soundtrack for traversing the Aral Sea region? Tell me more!

Still, if the cover-art of Derelict World captivated me so, why has it taken me this long to review it? Wouldn't this have been among my first purchases? Yeah, funny thing happened, mostly by way of a Cryo Chamber. This album may have sparked my interest, but it wasn't until indulging Simon Heath's print that I actually started buying up dark ambient releases. By then, I'd forgotten about the intriguing CD with the captivating artwork, who it was from, where I even last saw it. Many years passed before it finally crossed my eyes again, wherein I'd taken in a fair bit of the stuff from various corners. It felt like obligatory duty to get Derelict World by that point, whether it was good or not.

Fortunately, it is good. As False Mirror, Tobias Hornberger had released a few albums throughout the late '00s, including dataObscura (and there's the reconnect). When he got the chance to debut on long running industrial print Malignant Records, he didn't hold back in creating nothing less than a magnum opus. Well, something with an immersive narrative at least. The concept is simple enough: the end of the world, a torrential cataclysm of predictive but unknown origin, and its aftermath. Is it though? While the track titles and prose within the liner notes imply as such, perhaps this is more of a psychological horror. I sure had images of The Lighthouse floating about my head-space as Derelict World was playing. Probably because part of the album's narrative includes finding refuge in an abandoned lighthouse. Or is it?

Musically, Derelict World is all about that omnipresent drone-tone, varying intensity and mood as the story unfolds, with field recordings filling in the gaps. Given the cover art, it's surprising hearing so much water dripping and sloshing about hollowed husks of metallic dwellings, especially in the final stretch of tracks. Final piece, The Sea Of Oblivion, is quite fascinating, drones gradually fading off until all you hear is the quiet lapping of small waves against the shore. It plays out like this for many minutes, to such a point you may not even notice it any longer. After a while, a gentle dirge emerges, as though our viewpoint character has found solace in whatever realm they now dwell. I've had dreams like this.

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.

Si Matthews - Decoding Signals

Fantasy Enhancing: 2019

It's sometimes a struggle starting these Si Matthews reviews. Albums and artists with rich histories or crazy stories are fun to write, and Mr. Matthews had a humdinger right out the gate. It was a tale of perseverance and triumph, overcoming odds and seeing one's hopes and dreams coming to fruition. Okay, I'm overselling, but the background behind his debut album Tale Of Ten Worlds was a nice feel-good story, one that's honestly hard to top. Since then, Si's kept a steady pace, and while one can glean some sort of narrative out his discography, it hasn't been as captivating as that opening chapter. Is it even necessary writing such a thing? Probably not, but oh, it makes starting a review so much easier.

After a strong showing with the double-LP outing Across The Ether on Carpe Sonum Records, Si returned to the single CD format with his debut on Fantasy Enhancing. He's mostly stuck with this label since, working with Sven Kössler on multiple releases. That gives Decoding Signals at least one talking point, being the last time Mr. Matthews put out a solo work. Highly unlikely it'll be the final time though, Si the sort of chap undoubtedly burbling with ideas worth exploring down the road.

Decoding Signals feels like an introduction to Si's stylee for those just joining him on Fantasy Enhancing. Which is weird, since I'm pretty sure folks following this label are mostly migrants from Lee Norris' other prints, including ...txt, where Si released Aurora. He isn't that far below the associative surface of what would be considered the Lee Norris Iceberg Theory (or whatever that current meme is), is what I'm saying. If Decoding Signals is somehow the first Si Matthews album a few have come across though, it's as solid an entry point as any.

Mostly, we're still in Si's sweet spot of retro-leaning ambient techno, though with more emphasis on the 'techno' part than previous albums. Not that he's lacked in the rhythm department in the past, but the basslines just feel more prominent here, decent body movers for music that's more about head-space trips. Okay, not all the tracks are like this. Opener Signal 1 goes in on the softer pitter-patter of IDM while spaced-out synths transmit from the deep cosmos. Meanwhile, follow-up 3rd Planet does one of those lo-o-o-ong Berlin-School builds, such that you wonder if that's the whole track (ahh, Vivona flahsbacks!). Halfway through the fourteen-minute long track though, a steady beat comes in, changing the vibe of the tune to something more of a laid-back cruise than an urgent lift-off.

The remaining tracks don't take nearly so long in getting to the business end, some going heavier with the space-hop (Syntagma), others deeper into the Detroit futurism (Automation). And ooh, is final track Signal 2 every airy, angelic, as though being lifted to heaven. Not an uncommon way to end a space-themed album, but something seems more poignant here. *reads liner notes* Ah, yes indeed.

Circle Of Pines - Dark Water Pond

Dark Winter/Neotantra: 2006/2019

When Neotantra first sprung up, I didn't think it'd include re-issues. The original Dark Water Pond came out some thirteen years ago, a seemingly lost digital release on a somewhat forgotten dark ambient net label. Not that Dark Winter doesn't have its share of recognizable names, but this is the sort of story you might expect out of Reverse Alignment or Dronarivm, not Neotantra. What gives?

At first I figured Circle Of Pines was somehow connected to Lee Norris, since everything tends to come back to him with his labels. Sleuthing about Discogs, however, I couldn't find any significant links. Consisting of Nathan Larson (manager of Dark Winter) and Seetyca, the duo only released a few albums under this alias, one of which ended up on one of those ...txt Nagual collections. Yes, the full album, Insistence Of Memory a single long-form composition, which fits easily when your physical release is a memory stick. That itself was something of a re-issue too, first appearing on Atmoworks seven years prior to Nagual 2. That is the only connection I can find linking Circle Of Pines to Lee Norris, and not a solid one at that since Lee never appeared on that label. Some associates and shared-label chaps have though (ISHQ, Vir Unis, Steve Brand), so there's that connection. It's the only one I can find, but who knows, maybe someone at Neotantra just really, really, really vibes on that Circle Of Pines stylee.

I should get more into who's behind this project, but honestly, I'd be here forever. While Nathan's released a fair chunk of material as Bunk Data and Samsa through his own Dark Winter, Seetyca has been relentless. Lord Discogs lists over eighty items to his name, and that's not even getting into side-projects like Serifenlose and International Spaceweather Orchestra (cool name, that). Okay, there isn't that much more, but geez'it, look at all those collaborations too. Dude's a busy-body, is what I'm sayin'.

Enough of all that. How is Dark Water Pond, and if it is indeed dark ambient, how can it possibly fit in with the drone glitch and ambient techno a Lee Norris label typically peddles? Well, if the title alone doesn't put you into an appropriate mood, opener Lichen Ritual definitely will. There's all the hallmarks of vintage dark ambient: sombre melody played at low volume, omnipresent drone creating a sense of claustrophobia, creepy field recordings echoing off caverns or catacombs. Are we sure this isn't a Cryo Chamber outing?

Pretty sure, as lengthy track Down To The Dreamy Sky features bleepy noises closer in kin to techno than gothic horror. Zerfrorenes Glas has a dubby synth echoing from the distance. Final piece Fissures feels more angelic than oppressive. Hey, it's something.

Nay, Dark Water Pond is a dark ambient album through and through, and good on Neotantra's risk taking so early in its life-cycle. Be interesting to hear just how far off the traditional 'Lee Norris Label' mould they may go.

Various - Dance Pool, Vol. 1

Sony Music Direct: 1993

I've touched upon Dance Pool in the past. In the way, way, way past. It was a pair of Canadian tie-in compilations called Euro Dance Pool, so if you need to know the history of Sony's dance music offshoot, you can scope those reviews out. Eh, they're buried too deep in the long-ago? Well, I'm not gonna' do another recap here. I mean, it's mostly self-explanatory what Dance Pool was, who it's biggest acts were, their impact on the German mainstream clubbing scene. Just think of all the top eurodance names from Germany in the early '90s, and Dance Pool likely distributed half of them.

So when Canadaland was seeing some positive gains with the music, Sony was right there to capitalize on it, premiering their own Dance Pool offshoot here, Dance Pool. Straight forward enough, but this Vol. 1 is an odd one. Oh, it's got some hits of the day, no question, just not the hits you'd expect from a clubbing label with German origins. I can only assume Sony didn't have full faith North Americans would be as interested in those sounds, so reached out among all its national subsidiaries to fill this compilation out.

Thus you get The Shamen's LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Beatmaster Mix) and Sunscreem's Love U More (Album Version). Yes, that version, with that lyric. While those were big hits at the time, they were UK acts, whom folks based out of Toronto and Montreal may not have been as familiar with. To say nothing of names like Bizarre Inc and Rozalla. Actually, I take that back, I'm sure everyone was familiar with Everybody's FREEEEEEEEEEeeeeetoefeelgood by that point. But nay, the only German representation we get here is B.G. The Prince Of Rap, with This Beat Is Hot for the zillionth time. Oh fine, it's the 'hard 'n' heavy' mix, which just sounds like C+C Music Factory.

Forget all that. Dance Pool, Vol. 1 is interesting for how 'of a time' it comes off, catching that weird inflection point where new jack swing was on the outs, but dancehall reggae was on the ins. Thus, you get Shabba Ranks' Ting-A-Ling and Mad Cobra's Flex with Joe Public's Liva And Learn and Cover Girls' Wishing On A Star. And in the middle of it all is Kris Kross' Jump, the rarer Supercat Mix at that, which adds dancehall raps among the bars Mac Daddy and Daddy Mac be spittin'.

And no joke, the tune still bumps to this day. Yeah, it was nauseatingly overplayed when this CD came out, but I dare any DJ to drop this now, and watch the crowd pop off like it was new. Possibly one of the greatest beats Dupri ever produced.

Anything else? C&C Music Factory do show up, as their original producing name Clivillés & Cole, for a ravey cover of Pride (In The Name Of Love). Eesh, and the tune was doing so well, before injecting a gospel version of Bono.

Czarface & Ghostface - Czarface Meets Ghostface

Silver Age: 2019

If any of the Wu needed an official full-length, super-sized cross-over event with Czarface, it'd be Ghostface. Similarity in names aside, Dennis Coles' alias has seen many iterations over the years, including multiple outlandish tales of origin. I don't know if the Ghostface we get is a whole new version or a returning one, though I could see the ghetto vigilante of 36 Seasons working here, as that one had a rather comic book origin story itself (lab experiments gone wrong, never gets old). Does make me wonder who else from the Wu might show up for a Czarface cross-over such as this, with a comic-ready backstory. Bobby Digital? Golden Arms? The Genius as one of those big-headed ultra-beings? Method Man as... Bluntman?

That isn't to say Czar Meets Ghost is some epic narrative of the two combining forces to take on injustices inflicted upon the streets and beyond. I mean, that would be dope as all Hell, but the group helmed by Inspectah Deck, Esoteric, and 7L still have yet to fully capitalize on the concept, so why would they here? Or maybe they have, and I just haven't heard it yet. There's been two more Czarface records since the MF Doom cross-over that I've yet to check out, some even coming with an included comic book. Ooh, The Odd Czar Against Us has a Days Of Future Past homage on the cover. 'Tis tempting...

For a supposed cross-over event though, Face n' Face doesn't feature as much Ghost' as you'd expect. Heck, the Killah is totally absent in a number of tracks, which I guess makes this more of a Czarface album, with Ghostface appearing on about two-thirds of it. Like, he's an apparition, or something (especially at the end of Masked Superstars, almost invoking 12 Reasons To Die). It's great hearing him when he does, his presence dragging this project deep into the slums of Shaolin.

Credit also given to 7L for coming up beats that suit the street-soul Ghost is well known for. Like, holy cow, that Mongolian Beef cut at the end, already a remarkably grimey bit of business, but the ganky soul-funk that bridges everyone's verses is permanently seared into my grey matter. Elsewhere, Morning Ritual features a rhythm and gnarly bassline that sounds like its constantly tripping over itself, suitable for a tune about sunrise regrets. The King Heard Voices brings even more great bass-stomp, while Listen To The Color has plenty of room to switch things up from gritty funk to slummy soul (no Ghost on that one tho'). This strong run of final tracks more than makes up for the album's somewhat sluggish start. Not that it takes long to get there, Czarface Meets Ghostface a rather short LP.

Still, 'tis better to get in with the dope cuts and out leaving them wanting more, than linger far beyond the concept needs. Even if that concept is nothing more than Deck and Eso' hanging out with GFK down in the slums for a late-night indulgence of hot noodle soup.

Ikjoyce - Cosmonaut

Neotantra: 2019

I didn't think it'd take me this long in returning to Neotantra, given how many of their releases I've bought since reviewing Wurrm's album. The offshoot of Fantasy Enhacing (itself an offshoot Neo Ouija) recently celebrated its twenty-fifth album, and a pattern of intent has definitely formed. A colourful pattern, wherein one must get them all, lest the gradient's purity be diminished. Erm, not that I'm implying some psychological manipulation in Neotantra's marketing, but I cannot deny it is a tad triggering for OCD types. *cough* *scratch of head* *tug of collar*

But no, the pattern I've seen form with Neotantra is in their choice of talent exposure. For sure you have the usual suspects within Lee Norris' orbit (Mick Chillage, Ambidextrous, Futuregrapher), but many new and unknown names too. Well, maybe not unknown to the savviest of heads out there, but certainly those with scant Discoggian presence, some of which are getting a nice little visibility bump by being on Neotantra.

That isn't to say this here Ikjoyce lacks for material within Lord Discogs' tomes. Dude's been highly prolific this past half-decade, over twenty albums to his name, plus another dozen assorted EPs and whatnot. Aside from the album Selene and this here Cosmonaut, it's almost entirely been self-released by Mr. Joyce, which is cool if you don't mind the hustle, but does limit how much exposure you can get. He was a frequent contributor to Electronic Music Philosphy's series of 'challenge compilations', where producers were tasked with creating a track with specific features (ie: Short Drones, Plunderphonics, You Can't Have Too Much Reverb, 808 Cowbell). I did fire up Ikjoyce's Spotify for a quick dive, and despite dozing off for seven hours after starting it, the streaming service still hadn't cycled through all that he has there.

I guess that's my roundabout way of saying that, despite 'trying' to take in his body of work, I'm still coming into Cosmonaut a little cold, unsure how this stacks up to the greater Ikjoyce discography. What I can say is this album has a bit of an old school, drone ambient vibe going for it, which is at times lovely, but also rather dithering, depending on the track.

The opener A Warm Embrace, and longest piece at over thirteen minutes goes mostly atonal and metallic, gradually letting the harmonious 'warmth' in. The subsequent tracks are more minimalist, though All Is Calm is quite tranquil in its sparse tones. It's not until track four, the first of two titular parts on Cosmonaut, that we get into some 'planetarium' ambient vibes, a lovely ten-minute piece that makes all the lead-up worth the wait.

The remaining tracks maintain that spacey vibe, Orbital Manoeuvres and Interception even getting a rhythmic pulse in their synth work. Cosmonaut ends on another blissy titular rendition, clearly making this album one of two halves. I quite liked the second, but some may prefer the more experimental first. Or like the little Mexican girl says, why not both?