Birds of Tin + Ene: key ray Birds of Tin + Ene: key ray (Mystery Sea - 2001) The first release from Belgium's Mystery Sea label adds Birds of Tin + Ene. This intriguing equation is solved by Brooke Oates and Scott Hudgins who swap and reprocess each other's material, recombining everything into the subtly surreal passages which lead to various zones of key ray's oblique structure. Touched by faint breezes, intriguing plains of desolation unfold as key nell expands from the horizon. Inexorably thrumming energies are heard through open doors, slowly flickering amid wispy, wafting tones; the final moments are scored by gritty high sheens. Television voices, then steady-state drones open paper lock (12:43); abruptly interjected musical deformations break that flow, leaving behind a more ominous realm of nervous anticipation where assorted hauntings occur. I suppose it makes sense that it only takes a few seconds to pass through thin walls (0:14)... into the seething vapors of entry where boiling clouds swelter in varying degrees of turbulence. From slightly abrasive textures, title track key ray shifts into a softer mode of rising/falling tonal loops to close the disc in obscure beauty. The generally subdued, though definitely twisted, audioconstruction of key ray will provide murky funhouse thrills for those who seek out-of-the-norm soundscenes. Birds of Tin + Ene generate eight tracks of mysterious, though not inaccessible, experimentation. An 8.4 for these eclectic immersions. Dip into the Mystery Sea website for more information. This review posted December 5, 2001 AmbiEntrance © 2001-1997 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).