Unbelievable things going on... and many more to come, I'm afraid. It's always good to have comforting (or at least interestingly discomfiting) sounds around; like those you're sure to find in the AmbiEntrance Overviews section. (P.S. Does anyone else have troubles playing mp3.com D.A.M. CDs?) body: the thin hour   (rosemont recordings - 2001) (7.8) Off-topic but nice... generally light and often thoughtful rock reminds me of some of my janglepop favorites from a former life (in particular the judybats). Most of the dozen tunes are firmly based in the whole guitar/bass/drums/keys/vocals/verse/chorus thing, though a couple tracks kept the thin hour from getting chucked as totally inappropriate for these pages... birth (and sludgier endpiece rebirth) takes a more-electronic/less-vocal slant and reverb-drenched instrumental lago whirls in its own exotically smoky environs. And several tracks have some nicely moody synthstrains floating around back there behind the words and harmonies and stuff... If you're feeling a little off-topic, check body out at the rosemont recordings site. Cesium137: the fall   (Tonedeaf Records - 2001) (8.2) Grrrrr!! A little vitriol goes a long way... Gothtronic angst is further incited by rapid-fire e-drums and blazing synth riffs as Cesium137's the fall gets five different treatments in this 26-minute ep. Not that I've not heard similar, but I'm finding it poundingly delicious in its various incarnations. If I were DJing a Hallowe'en party, I'd be playing this one LOUD. Additionally, more subdued language without lies interweaves dreamy electron skeins, insistent beats and whisper-to-a-growl vocals. Freaky Chakra vs Single Cell Orchestra   (Astralwerks - 1996) (8.4) A continually thumping mix (from Daum Bentley and Miguel Angelo Fierro respectively) delivers nine beatronic odysseys in less than 57 minutes. Not-too-light but not-too-aggressive electronic atmospheres receive a steady downpour of drumbeats in many varieties and styles. The artists collab on the brief robot-voiced slur, intro (0:27), then take turns laying down slabs of hyperactive electrons. For instance, throbbing bass pulsations and islandic rhythm sounds pepper SCO's i want to fall (9:47) as pretty electrosymphonics seep in. The warmly burbling tones of Freaky's anthem of the forgotten are spattered by relentless rat-a-tatting and strewn with spooky strings. Don't enter unless you're ready to become a slave to the groove! Tony Gerber (w/John Rose): Airwaves   (Space for Music - 2001) (8.6) An mp3.com D.A.M. CD which sometimes decides to be readable to my computer... from Spacecraft's Tony Gerber (with help from label/band mate John Rose). Airwaves seeps easily into your environment on the faint loveliness of The Lift, whose spacious haze is illuminated by sparingly-applied piano twinkles. As its title implies, Space Bound (12:41) expands across assorted nightsky passages, powered by slow bass progressions and ephemeral guitarwork; the track's latter half spirals off into more nebulous surroundings as more-mechanical atmospherics thrum and surround (until the final destination). Gentle musical interplay of muted guitar and synth radiates from the core of Blue Receding. Gorgeous in its celestial understatement, Emanating Signal drifts upon solar tides, which eventually uncover light electronics and levitating guitar strands. From the quiet arrival at The Last Station (6:01), big bass notes begin to fall into a warmly simmering synth-stew. Both artists were featured in last months reviews of Spacecraft's Cybersphere and Rose's Cosmogenesis Scott Mosher: Virtuality   (The Ambient Mind - 2001) (8.1) As well-produced as this project is (which is very) I've got problems with Virtuality... it's hardly ambient (the opening sequencer atmospherics of Upon the Frontiers of the Infinite Night (2:23) and the tone drones of Attilion Sunrise being exceptions)... but that's okay; Mosher's rocking style injects some serious kick-ass into the electro-prog sounds which usually bore me. A Season of Fire for instance deftly slips some old-school synthtronics into layers of slap-happy drumming, power riffing and frenzied bass-stalking. It's actually quite exhilarating to hear some truly blistering leads erupt from the thundering core. No... the problem is the vocals... fine as they are... I can't handle the Whitesnake, Styx, Rush, etc. flashbacks they induce... sorry, man. Other instrumentals include the synthswept planes of Shores of a Cosmic Ocean and the pulse-pounding rocktronica of Infinity Burns. With less-bombastic singing, Sorrow in a World of Darkness (10:11) wraps the tight sound-art-philosophy package with keyboard action sparkling amid boilingly metallic strings. Released 20 years ago, this would've ranked right up there with Billy Thorpe's Children of the Sun as a sci-fi-rock hit, and could still thrill the classic-rock crowd today were they able to let go of their beloved icons of yesterscene for just 72 minutes. Sorry to let my personal anti-rockstar-vocal thing get in the way, Scott... if you go all-instrumental, I'll be jammin' right along! For those ready to rock their listening world, seek The Ambient Mind. Nightmares on Wax: Smokers Delight   (Wax Trax/TVT - 1995) (8.6) Can't judge a CD by its cover... when I saw all the reggae and dope trappings covering Smokers Delight and that the disc was on the infamous Wax Trax/TVT label... I anticipated loud, druggy, aggressive industrial-flavored sounds with a dash of Jamaican vibe... what I find is a long-playing (74:29) series of danceably smooth groovers with a dash of Jamaican vibe, mostly in the heavy-syrup bass oozings and upbeat guitar strums, as evidenced by the smoky jam of Pipes Honour (9:05). Many tracks contain surprisingly sweet synth-string sections and often simply do their thing, like rhythm tracks with no real "leads" over them. Any disc which contains a track as seductively engaging as (Man) Tha Journey is a disc worth having. It closes on the extended tribalesque drumplay of Gambia Via Vagator Beach and its rippling harmonica glaze. Smoking is optional... I'm delighted anyway. Tim Tatum: Music and the World   (www.timtatum.com - 2001) (7.9) Would you be surprised if I told you Music and the World featured World Music? Well, it's World Music as composed, arranged and performed by Tim Tatum, which means its quite gentle in its "world"-liness... softly meandering synthtronic orchestral-like movements sweep and swirl with occasional ethnic rhythms, flavorful guitar strums and more. The melodic ebb-and-flow of Son Arise (5:48) exemplifies the pretty (yea, some would say New Agey) instrumental expanses within. Lightly pulsing beats and magically jangling strings traipse across This Time. Throbbing drumskins and basslines provide the lows while tweedling flutestreams and sparkling cymbals reach for the highs in Fire Loop of Thar. Adroit fretboard gymnastics spark the trilling guitar leads of Mediterranean Sun. Like a warm sunset, string drones and insect-like accompaniments descend upon atmospheric Dusk in Nassar (2:48) to close the disc. Though the overall style tends to get closer to the afore-mentioned New Age sounds than I normally care to go, I have to say the 15 tracks (60:38) are lovingly rendered with genuine skill and sincerity, so I can't knock it too hard. Zero Ohms: Sweven   (Zero Ohms - 2001) (8.2) D.A.M. it! This is another one of those mp3.com CDs that just won't load in my computer (where I do the bulk of my listening)! Richard Roberts offers up more of his shapeshiftingly mysterious expanses as Seek Afterward the Featureless (2:15) opens the disc. Amongst the thrumming alien dronescapes of Eternal Nows (9:27), muffled bleeps (of assorted sonic sizes and shapes) engage in various activities. Slurry and deformed semisymphonic sounds ooze through Express Neither Feature Nor Intent in wavering discordance. Even more-aggressive experimentalism abounds in Sonic Wind's spluttery flutelike trills and wisps over a steady-state smear of brassy tones. Sibilant shimmers are scribbled across the subtler backdrop of slightly American-Indian-flavored Nikwasi and the Immortal. Crossing the Laya Center concludes the hour-long disc on an appreciably more peaceful scene; maybe I'm just craving relaxation, but the finale is by far my favorite track! Posted September 29, 2001 | 1999/2000 Overviews Index

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