Vector Lovers - Capsule For One

Soma Quality Recordings: 2005

If I had spotted it in an A&B Sound, or an HMV, or even a (*snicker*) Best Buy, absolutely I'd have bought Capsule For One no matter the cost. Okay, reasonably so – such a CD selling for over thirty Canadian bones is too steep no matter how much I adore an artist. Seeing it at the 'regular price' of twenty-five on Amazon always put this on the back-burner though, longer, longer, longer, until it became a rarity on the standard market, price jacked to stupid amounts of money. Why it never occurred to scope out Soma Recordings own webshop, I can't explain. I just assumed they'd do business through Amazon like so many others, but nope, independent and remarkably affordable. I swear this isn't meant as a plug for Soma, just an overlong ramble-excuse on why I skipped out on Vector Lovers' sophomore album for so long. A very lame excuse, I cannot deny.

Now that I have taken in Capsule For One, enjoyed its various toy-box electro melodies, bobbled my head to its various tech-house grooves, skitter-skatterd my brain to its sporadic IDM beatcraft, and double-taked to actual sung lyrics in Melodies & Memory (not even by a robot! Maybe a kawii cyborg tho'), one question remains: would I have liked this when it was new?

Don't get me wrong – if nothing else, Capsule For One would have been a grower, an album that I'd come to appreciate even if it didn't blow my mind right out the gate. I can't understate the degree to which Vector Lovers' did though. An album that featured music and ideas I'd never heard before. Themes that appealed to both my casual enjoyment of sci-fi anime and lonely, lovelorn walks through big cities. Electro and house blended in ways I always imagined they should be, not as they currently were (dammit, 2005).

Capsule For One touches on these too, but not with the same poignancy as its predecessor, Martin Wheeler making room for braindance electro instead. Overall, it's a more aggressive album, getting on that hectic Detroit pace than the easy cruise of neo-Tokyo. When those minty spritely melodies crop up, it doesn't deter the propulsive momentum of tracks like Arrival, Metropolis, Substrata, Microton (that bassline!), Nostalgia 4 The Future, Boulevard and To The Stars. Even the chill moments seem uneasy with their surroundings, less nostalgic for times past and more apprehensive for the future we venture into.

Vector Lovers can still craft a tune that pulls the ol' heartstrings though, City Lights, Empty Building, Falling Rain, Melodies & Memory and Neon Sky Rain carrying similar tones and sounds as found on his debut. They come off a little lost among the tougher electro and techno, however, like characters intended for a different series. They're fine in providing chill downtime, necessary refuges in an ambivalent cityscape. I'm just missing that amazing album narrative from Vector Lovers, is all. Spoiled for choice as always.

Autumn Of Communion - Broken Apart By Echoes

...txt: 2016/2017

The Broken Apart series marked a change of direction for the boys behind Autumn Of Communion (Lee Norris and Mick Chillage, if you're just joining us). After a fruitful run of self-titled albums, the duo consolidated them into a memory stick box-set (mini-box!) as a summation of that period of work. Not that they were done working together, new material still being released at a steady pace after. Can't say I've heard much of it yet, but ooh, what I wouldn't give to nab a CD copy of Polydeuces. Say, 15% above regular retail?

Still, even if the creative embers between the two remained nice and toasty, there had to be an itch to try something unique. What else was there though? They'd both released music on CD and digital, had taken the move into box-sets, and everyone goes the vinyl or tape route as a collectible option (as if ...txt CDs weren't 'collectible' enough). Maybe try their hand at an ultra-deluxe DVD 5.1 recording, or go stupidly obscure with 8-tracks? Instead, they opted for the neglected CD3, otherwise known as the mini-disc. I'm surprised there's even still a market for them, but the computer I built this year still has the familiar indent in its disc tray, so I guess there is.

Thus it came to pass that the next major Autumn Of Communion project would focus on utilizing this format. Two sets would be produced, consisting of five individual tracks running the full twenty-two minute length of five mini-discs, contained within a box-set apiece. Naturally, I totally missed the boat on Broken Apart By Sunlight and Broken Apart By Moonlight, but hey, Lee & Mick had a few leftover tracks that ended up on one of ...txt's Nagual mega-compilation memory sticks. That wouldn't do for AoC completists though, an even extremely limited amount of Nagual sticks produced. So, the two tracks were released separately as Broken Apart By Echoes, first as a digital download, then on CD with an additional track. *whew* I think that finally brings us up to speed on this project. How many words left do I offer myself for the actual music then? Oh dear...

Broken Apart By Echoes Pt. 1 does the grand, wall-of-sound synth ambient drone thing, gently fading off in the back third into something a tad less opulent sounding. There's also a twitchy, oscillating transistor tone running throughout most of the track. Pt. 2 is a calmer, soothing piece of ambience compared to the former track, a little astro-chatter sprinkled in here and there among the gentle tones and blissy melodies. Pressure your planetarium DJ to play this one at some point. Pt. 3 brings the dubby ambient techno beats for half its runtime, then moving onto more conventional space ambient stylee for a lengthy lead-out. Think I like this one best, just because there's more going on in it than the other two. All are solid offerings though, as can be expected from Autumn Of Communion at this point.

Cyril Secq & Orla Wren - Branches

Dronarivm: 2016

Can't say I've ever taken in an album of classical guitar music. Have I even dabbled? The closest I can think of is Michael Brook, but his Cobalt Blue was more an ambient thing, his guitar work another layer of timbre (especially that sweet 'Infinite Guitar' layer!). I must have a couple stray examples of the stuff lurking in this pile of music o' mine, yet the fact I can't instantly recall any doesn't bode well for its prospects. Like, is Jam & Spoon's Hispanos In Space really the best I can think of?

And yeah, all those prog-rock dudes for sure lay out some complicated, classically inspired segments in their works. They're still doing it within the confines of prog-rock though, with fellow band members contributing to the overall songcraft. No, I'm talking solo, acoustic, non-folksy, improvisational technical works. With such greats as... um, okay, I don't know anyone in this field. Even bringing up Wiki-Lists draws a complete blank on yours truly. Julian Bream? Xuefei Yang? Craig Ogden? John Williams? (no, not that John Williams) Yeah, I know shit all here. But hey, even doing this cursory research into the subject has jacked a solid info-dump into my brainpan, so there's that.

Which finally brings us to Branches from Cyril Secq and Orla Wren. The former formed the experimental French folk group Astrïd, while the latter often pairs up with acoustic string musicians to make clicky fuzzy abstract ambient folk-pop. I'm assuming the two were at least aware of each others work, as somewhere along the way, Orla roped Cyril into providing guitar work for his 2013 album Book Of The Folded Forest. Mind, several musicians contributed to that one, as is often the case with many Orla Wren albums, but the creative synergy must have held stronger between the two, going into a collaborative project together. Cyril will provide the strings, and Orla will provide the treatments.

No, really, that's about all there is to Branches. Mr. Secq's finger plucking is spacious and unfussy, the very definition of music as like a meandering stream of conscious flow. Or exploring the branching paths on the limb of a tree, as it were. Of the eight tracks, Troisième Branche uses violin strokes rather than acoustic strumming, while Sixième Branche and Huitième Branche mixes the two together. Regarding the types of guitar Cyril uses, 'fraid I can't help you there. As said, I'm woefully under-educated in the intricacies of classical acoustic music. It does all sound quite pleasant though.

As for Orla Wren, it seems as though he's taken a step back in this partnership, his minimalist sounds consisting of static burbles, clicking pops, sprinkling tonks, airy feedback, weird echoes, and the sort of random electronic noises you'd expect of musique concrete. You know, pretentious art! Heh, no, I'm ribbing - Branches doesn't come off nearly as stuffy. It is extremely avante garde though, clearly intended for intellectual sorts more interested in studying minutiae than a little easy-listening enjoyment.

Ajna & Dronny Darko - Black Monolith

Reverse Alignment: 2017

I never intended to get into dark ambient. It was, at best, the type of genre that I happened across if an established act I enjoyed dabbled in it (Delerium, Juno Reactor, Bill Laswell). Still, I found it interesting, some cursory research into prominent albums intriguing me for sampling, but never would I have considered immersing myself into the scene. Then along came a happenstance crossing with Simon Heath, discovery of Cryo Chamber, and you all know the rest of the story. After two years of strictly following this one label though, I've grown itchy to hear if there's more out there I can vibe on. Is there ever a lot out there to sift through though, a scary intimidating domain one can easily get lost in, giving up in despair from the futility of it all. I need some guiding hands, artists within the Cryo Chamber fold who contribute elsewhere. Ah, Dronny Darko, he'll do.

I've gone over Mr. Darko's history well enough, so let's touch upon his partner for this particular project, Ajna. A bit of a busy-body the past half-decade, he's released nearly twenty digital EPs, a few albums, and has material on labels such a Petroglyph Music, Kalpamantra, and... Treetrunk Records? Heh, unusual name. Do they by chance specialize in 'roots' music? Haha, haha, ha- oh, it's experimental ambient (described as fractal/generative... g'uh?), phonography, and field recordings. Okay then. I can expect Mr. Ajna to be one of sorts of dark ambient composers then, with lots of spacious, empty drone, with subtleties drawing you deep within your sub-conscious. Sounds like a right proper pairing with Dronny Darko then.

Indeed so, the two collaborating a couple time prior to the release of Black Monolith. In fact, CD1 of this double-discer consolidates a couple of their singles released on Petroglyph Music, the three track EP Facing The Void, and the single track EP 1000 Years Of Cryosleep. At over forty-three minutes of empty desolation, broken up by intermittent discordant sounds and forlorn tones, the latter definitely feels like you're locked away in forced, perpetual slumber.

I'm not sure whether this was all intended as a prelude, but as those singles created a mini-narrative to hang off (essentially falling into a black hole, surviving the trip through cryosleep), it's nifty that Ajna and Darko followed it up, with Reverse Alignment presenting it as a two-CD feature. As expected, disc two of Black Monolith is what we find on the other side of this one-thousand year trip to the unknown. Seven tracks, each a perfect eight minutes in length (oh, Oleg), offer mysterious drone, claustrophobic sci-fi sound effects, and that general sense of unease one gets when exploring realms unfamiliar and unknowable.

Yeah, it's all rather 2001: Beyond The Infinite - what can you expect of an album titled Black Monolith? That sequence remains ripe ground for creative sorts, and while Ajna and Darko are treading concepts well explored, their complementary styles provide another worthwhile entry in this field.

Bicep - Bicep

Ninja Tune: 2017

I wasn't hip to Bicep's brand of vintage deep house from the beginning. Like many folks, my ear caught wind of them with the 2012 single Vision Of Love. If you were down with their tough, bumpin' sound from even their Throne Of Blood days though, give yourself a gold hipster star, because following Vision Of Love, it seemed everyone was hyping these Belfast lads up. And for good cause, Bicep making house that sounded retro, but felt as firm as modern production could take it, like the fully-flexed form of Lou Ferrigno's upper arm. Music that appeals to both the olds and the new heads!

That came out a half-decade ago though, and while Misters Ferguson and McBriar kept a steady clip of singles in that time, the anticipation for a proper LP ran hot. Could they translate their sturdy dancefloor tools into a home-listening experience? Might they have other musical tricks up their sleeve yet unexplored? Could they surprise us at all?

Well, they sure surprised me when it was announced their debut album was coming out on Ninja Tune. The famed label has been branching out of their traditional downtempo scene for a while now, but I never expected them to take on a house act this purist. When was the last time they even released a record sounding like Bicep? Have they ever?

And if that didn't throw me for a loop, then hearing the actual music on Bicep's self-titled album sure did. Apparently the duo had been leaning away from sweaty Jersey clubs towards a more Balearic feel since their Just EP in 2015. I hadn't actually kept close tabs on their recent output though, so hearing such shimmering, echoing synths in opener Orca, coupled with ethnic woodwinds out of progressive house's early '90s playbook, and you'll forgive me for my double-take in this development. Hell, triple-take, considering this is coming out on Ninja Tune!

And the progressive house vibes keep getting sprinkled throughout this album. Spring and Rain both build solid, chugging rhythms, while dropping floating vocals and gated synths leads that'll have you reaching for lasers. Aura sounds more contemporary with its prog-house vibe, but maintains the charm of the retro stuff. Oh my, isn't calling progressive house 'retro' something of an oxymoron?

Elsewhere, the Balearic feels are coupled with shuffly 2-step garage rhythms (Glue, Opal, Vale... holy cow, does the vocal remind me of Snap!'s Rame), while Bicep show they fear no downtempo moments either (Ayaya, Ayr). They even work in a couple leftfield pieces, Drift an ambient work with arps providing a lead. In all, a good variety of tunes nicely spaced out makes Bicep a solid LP playback. Mind, if hearing such light, breezy synths as heard from Ibiza's glory years is a turn-off, I wouldn't blame you for bypassing Bicep. For me, I love hearing their tough, taut beatcraft paired with gurning melodies, because of course I would. Have you seen how much trance I have?

Si Matthews - Aurora

...txt: 2017

After years floating in the periphery, Si Matthews' mythical Tales Of Ten Worlds finally came to light in 2015. Alright, 'mythical' is laying it on a little thick, but it was a good album for fans of '90s ambient techno, the sort of release folks from back when would constantly name-drop as 'must have'. As it'd been gestating in cryostasis before seeing daylight, however, Mr. Matthews had plenty of time to tweak it to perfection upon release. What would he do for a follow-up though? One doesn't drop a debut album that makes it onto 'Best Ambient Of 2015' lists without some expectations in the sophomore effort. Maybe not so much in this particular scene, where commercial aspirations are comical, but a little preconceived hype never hurt no one.

Okay, it does, in that it ofttimes leaves one wanting in first impressions. Two years after Tales Of Ten Worlds, we finally got Aurora on ...txt. Given the work rate of some of Si's peers, that's quite the gap between albums, with nary a contributed compilation track elsewhere in between. Yeah, not everyone can be like Lee Norris or Mick Chillage with their fifty albums per year (roughly), but I suppose not everyone can dedicate their whole life to constantly releasing music either. It don't pay the bills so good as years past.

Still, with all that time between albums, Mr. Matthews no doubt had plenty in his reserves, tweaking and pruning material for a magnum opus on par with- wait, Aurora is only five tracks long? They're long tracks, the shortest around ten and a half minutes, the longest over eighteen minutes, but that still feels rather slight given the time between LPs. I was expecting more, and I can't imagine me being the only one.

What we do get is five distinct pieces of spacey, dreamy ambient techno that gradually evolve as they play out, never losing the plot along the way. Opener A New Star In The Night Sky is the soft, chill sort that has me thinking of stargazing on a Balearic beachfront. A Portal works a simmering, bleepy vibe as it cruises along comet tails. Aurora itself does the ambient/New Age thing that has me thinking classic Iasos. Celestial Orientation has Apollo-era ambient techno in mind, with dubby, bleepy rhythms from the book of vintage Biosphere, though never going so cold. Twin Pines brings things back to modern sensibilities in its use of soft pads and velvety timbre, wrapping you in a comfy, snuggly blanket of sonic bliss.

As for the airs of petty self-entitlement in this review, I'm just laying my personal bias right in front. It took me a bit to get into Aurora, for a whole litany of stupid reasons not the fault of Si Matthews. Now that I've actually given it the time it deserves, I do enjoy it, but man, was it ever hard letting go of those initial biases. Don't let them control you too!

The Oak Ridge Boys - At Their Best

United Artist Records/EMI-Manhattan Records: 1968

Greetings, Past-Peoples, it is I again, 2073 Sykonee, brought back to your time by Sykonee Prime to review music by The Oak Ridge Boys. I know, I know, this doesn't make a lick of sense. I must be nearly a hundred years old - aged and decrepit, like a rusty tin of sardines. Not really, no. Hearty genetic stock notwithstanding, a benefit of the radiation fallout was unexpectedly extending lifespans in several lucky souls. I may be in my Nineties, but I don't look or feel a day over Sixty-Seven.

'Tis true, the Atomic Brotherhood provides mighty fine benefits for those within their influence, not least of which exposing us to music I'd overlooked in my youth. Yes, it's nice that Nuclear Ramjet and Atomic Babies finally got their due, but I never knew about obscure acts like Oppenheimer Analysis, or tech-house labels like Heisenberg. Our musical consumption may be limited to that which honours the Atomic Age, but it's a wide range nonetheless.

Few dominate our tastes like The Oak Ridge Boys though, because few have as massive a discography. The original incarnation of the group, as The Oak Ridge Quartet, started out in the Nauty-Foreties, their first singles pressed by Capitol Records in 1946. Over time, the line-up changed, as did the name of the group from 'Quartet' to 'Boys' early in the Nauty-Sixties (t'was hip to be 'Boys'). Though they sangs the gospel, it was to the tastes of Red Belt America, eventually going country-full once their latter-era line-up was concreted. When they recorded this particular album though, the group was in transition, Willie Wynn and Herman Harper the vets, Duane Allen and William Gordon the fresh chickens of the coup. And boy was Mr. Gordon ever fresh as this point, prim and proper with nary a whisker of beard found on his chin. Hard to imagine him in any other form.

In the grand ol' Opry scheme of things, At Their Best isn't the most remarkable of releases under the Oak Ridge Boys banner – they have tons and tons of gospel recordings highlighting their harmony talents. What makes this one unique from the others is that it came out on United Artists Records, more known for releasing soundtracks of the time (Jim Bond movies, It's A Mad, Mad, Maddy, Mad-Mad World, The Greatest Story Done Told). It was a one-off deal for The Boys, more comfortable releasing records with strict gospel outlet Heart Warming. I guess someone must have liked their full-range vocals to give them a little larger exposure.

Not much to remark upon the music on my end. It's gospel, mangles! Lots of songs about loving Jesus, loving the Lord, loving your home with Jesus and the Lord within. All charming and quaint where I come from, but The Boys of Oak Ridge sound quite pleasant singing these hymns with organs, pianos, soft drums, and electric guitar in support. I'll believe it that it's them at their best, for the time.

Aythar - Astronautica

Carpe Sonum Records: 2016

Aythar is Tamás Károly Tamás, who- wait, his name without the middle is “Tamás Tamás”! Holy cow, that stupid joke in the Super Mario Brothers movie actually has validity! You know, where the Mario Brothers are in the cop office giving a testimony, and so not Italian Bob Hoskins says his name is “Mario Mario”, while John Leguizamo is Luigi Mario. Because they're the MARIO Brothers, get it, so Mario's full name must be Mario Mario! Cripes, was that movie balls. At least the theatre line-up was almost non-existent, a novel experience after Jurrasic Park was busting all the blocks at the time. Good God is this ever a horribly long, dumb tangent. I promise I'll never do this again ...until I do do this again. (hee, hee, 'doo-doo')

Where was I? Ah, right, Aythar. The alias itself first properly emerged around 2010, but Mr. Tamás has made music for much longer than that. Go to his Bandcamp, you'll find “rudimentary and amateur” productions from as far back as the early '90s. When he finally went more public with his works, it was still by independent means, self-releasing five albums in the span of a half-decade. Still, his ear for Berlin-School ambient and space techno was too good to keep under wraps forever, thus now finding himself on two of the most prominent labels promoting the stuff in Carpe Sonum Records and ...txt. This here Astronautica is his debut album with the former print, and his first physical release period. Well, if you discount old tape stuff never meant for commercial release, but if Aythar somehow becomes as adored as Boards Of Canada, you bet those items will fetch stupid amounts of money!

As the tasty retro cover art implies, Astronautica has its sights squarely on space music, the opening titular cut featuring Apollo 11 radio chatter. Yeah, we've heard these recordings many, many, many times in electronic music, but I never tire of 'em, always drawing me out into the cosmos with those intrepid cosmonauts. What I've also heard before are those opening synth pads, almost a direct lift from the old Pete Namlook track of Pulsar as Pulsation. Because if you're gonna' impress the Fax+ community, it's always best to crib from an obscure track, amirite?

Actually, it's a very tasteful crib, Mr. Tamás making it clear it's intended as an homage. I'll buy that. Aythar even provides a dancefloor version as the original Pulsation EP did, though clearly his Deep-Tech Remix is much sturdier than the hard trance of Transpulsation.

And the rest? Mystical Clouds does the beatless ambient-techno thing. Alien Worlds Part 1 goes widescreen ambient that could make AstroPilot gush, while Part 2 goes more blippy-bloopy as a Detroit techno guy would. Reactor and Space In My Heart stretch further back to the Berlin-School era, while Moon Landing returns to dubbier, Fax+ era ambient with more astro-chatter. All in all, definitely scope out Astronautica if your old-school itch needs a strong, satisfying scratch.

Architects Of Existence - Architects Of Existence

Carpe Sonum Records: 2017

Mick Chillage manages a heck of a work rate lately, with an impressive clip of albums released. True, a lot of it is the sort of noodly ambient that's rightly criticized as minimalist musical wanking, but me, I'm perfectly fine with a little ol' mental masturbation, so long as the tone and timbre used sparks something in my cerebellum. And Mr. Chillage's style done does that indeed, but even he must fall back on collaborative help, pairing up with Lee Norris on many occasions as Autumn Of Communion. One is okay, but if Mick has aspirations of becoming a dominate force in the world of ambient (probably not, but let's play the thought experiment), he needs to up his collaboration game. Like, how many pair-ups has Mr. Norris undertaken the past decade?

So Chillage again done did got himself another musician to work with, though from a rather obscure source. His partner in crime for this Architects of Existence project (geez, is that ever a Fax+y name) is Eric “The” Taylor, who hails from Rochester, New York, and has barely any presence within Lord Discogs' archives. He did contribute to the incomparable Die Welt Ist Klang box-set (track 82, on CD8, if you're curious), and is part of a group called The Fragile Fate, who made their debut on the Carpe Sonum sub-label, Carpe Sonum Novum, favouring music that doesn't fit the typical Carpe Sonum ambient mould (downtempo dub, experimental techno). The Fragile Fate lean more krautrock, with Mr. “The” Taylor supplying the guitar work. Ooh, might Architects Of Existence be of a similar vibe then, with spaced out string fuzz complementing weird Moog manipulations? No, no it is not.

Architects of Existence consists of four tracks, the shortest a 'mere' eleven minutes of length, the longest nearly reaching the thirty minute mark. To be honest, the first time I put the CD on, I thought the whole thing was one long track, each Part merely an index demarcation. But no, there are differences with each track, though you likely won't notice them if you aren't paying much attention.

Part 1 features the type of ambient I expect of Mick Chillage, long calm soothing pad work that puts your mind floating in space or suspended in ice caverns, passages of subtle burbling synths coming and going. Part 2 is a minimalist drone piece, very little happening aside from atonal pads and subtle field recordings sounding like you're inside some computer lab. Part 3 gets more old-school, pulsing synths dripping in reverb prominently featured in the first half, with a lengthy lead-out of spaced-out effects and soft space pads. Part 4 is more drone, wind chimes joining midway through, followed by distant field recordings, and a very long atonal lead-out. It's all su-u-u-u-per subtle craftsmanship, and very much not for everyone. Hell, it even tests my patience for minimalist ambient music. It does leave me curious where Mick and Eric might take this project though, if they do any more.

Grey Area - And Then The Clouds

Waveform Records: 2005

I've claimed Waveform Records had a brilliant run in the early portions of the '00s, the first half-decade seeing several releases from fresh faces releasing great debut albums. Right, there were a couple 'meh' offerings too, and a few who never amounted to much else of note afterwards, but the fact the label was giving so many unknown names their chances was remarkable indeed. It makes everything from that period worth at least a check-out, and I've been woefully neglectful of doing so. On the other hand, can you blame me for skipping out on this one for so long now? Compared to the usual unique cover art on many of Waveform's releases, this one is so very plain and drab indeed. Looks more like something you'd expect from the sterile dub techno camps, though given the name of the artist is Grey Area, and a title of And Then The Clouds, what else could you do with it?

I should also mention Grey Area wasn't exactly a new act, nor is this album a debut. Rather, it's a collection of previous works, with a couple new/unreleased tunes added to fill things out. Grey Area itself first emerged in 1997 with an eponymous LP on Psy-Harmonics, the Australian psy trance label you might remember me name-dropping on one of those United State Of Ambience CDs from Moonshine Music. The man behind the pseudonym is Alex Salter, who's done TV music for an even longer period of time.

As Grey Area, he put out three albums, the last one in 2002. I guess after Waveform scoped out some 'down under' acts like Pitch Black, they also came across this Grey Area fella', and found his style of dubby downtempo jived with their own. He wasn't making any new music under the alias though, so here's a 'best of' CD instead. Included are five tracks from his third LP Penumbra, two from his second album Absolute, one from his first album, and two fresh cuts titled Sadness Dub and Avon Dub.

Funny enough, Sadness Dub as an opener basically is a dub techno tune, almost confirming my assumption of what sort of music was on here. But nay, Grey Area sticks to a steady, dubby downtempo vibe. It's rather similar to the style Sounds From The Ground employ, though a little more psychedelic and crusty than their jams. He even gets his nu-jazz beat on with Modular Drift, while Pure & Simple wouldn't sound out of place in a smokey cafe. Elsewhere, Mr. Salter does the ambient dub thing (Avon Dub, Penumbra), or dabbles with sound experiments (Iona, Amphibia, that slooshing water in Ersatz Filament... ergh, makes me have bathroom thoughts).

I can't say And Then The Clouds is one of Waveform's classics, but as a companion album from a time when we saw Sub Conscious, Ape To Angel, Luminal, Prima Materia, Blood Is Shining and Omnimotion, it definitely holds its own in such company.