| review:
Andrew Firth |
| After hearing the real audio excerpt on 2350.org,
I had high expectations for this album. I'm glad to say I
wasn't disappointed. As with previous albums in the VV series,
Namlook and Spyra combine their individual styles to very
good effect. The album starts with "What About God", which
for some reason reminded me of some of Namlook's more jazz
orientated work from circa 1996. Having said that, there's
enough variation to hold the listeners attention, and the
track is not the best thing on the CD, it still makes for
a good opener. "Taurus" is a track of contrasts. An excellent
sequence of stereo phased beats begins, with additional glitchy
synth noises being added shortly afterwards. Then in contrast,
a suitably restrained distant ambient synth pad gives the
piece a sense of warmth, and this is allowed to develop over
the fourteen minute duration of the track. "Oscillation 3"
is a pleasant enough track, although for me personally it's
nothing particularly outstanding, although having said that,
the female vocals do add a certain something to the music.
The fourth and fifth tracks on the CD however, are absolutely
superb. "Event Horizon" features Spyra's Steel Cello sounds
very prominently, and immediately reminded me of "Aeols Harp"
from the original "Putney" album from 1993. Over the tracks
eleven minutes, there are some excellent sound textures reverberating
around giving the listener a very chilled sound, and the overall
impression is of a track that harks back to the halcyon days
of Fax when ambience was everything! The final track is also
very enjoyable, but for a different reason. "Last Dance on
Luna" is a melodic synth track that seems to use a number
of different analogue sounds. The overall impression of this
final track was as if Namlook had taken the best elements
of the New Composers "Smart" album with his own style to create
something that sounds familiar, and yet totally different.
All in all, a very worthwhile album, equalling, (and in places
surpassing) the previous two albums in the series. Very much
recommended. |
| Andrew Firth |
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