"Just beautiful."

"Just beautiful."

"Perfect in it's simple beauty."

"Perfect in it's simple beauty."

"Sweet Jesus this kid can play piano! Thank the good Lord he is touring with Peter Broderick or half the planet still wouldn't know who he is. The spirit of Keith Jarrett has been passed on..."

"Sweet Jesus this kid can play piano! Thank the good Lord he is touring with Peter Broderick or half the planet still wouldn't know who he is. The spirit of Keith Jarrett has been passed on..."

"Brand new Matthew Ryan from his upcoming album, "Dead Satellites." He is letting you download the song now for free: http://www.last.fm/music/Matthew+Ryan/_/IfIWantedYouMSTR Summer will always be that season that begins with afternoon storms and still evenings, swallows hurtling past the corners of the house and the sounds of children, sirens, thunder and lovers dying away into the aqueous nights. Beside an upstairs window open to the northern breeze filled with the scent of osmanthus, the stars are brilliant in the sky more blue than black. The latch on the screen door slips open...to see them better. To see them as they are. As they move across the sky and night by night through the seasons."

"Brand new Matthew Ryan from his upcoming album, "Dead Satellites." He is letting you download the song now for free: http://www.last.fm/music/Matthew+Ryan/_/IfIWantedYouMSTR Summer will always be that season that begins with afternoon storms and still evenings, swallows hurtling past the corners of the house and the sounds of children, sirens, thunder and lovers dying away into the aqueous nights. Beside an upstairs window open to the northern breeze filled with the scent of osmanthus, the stars are brilliant in the sky more blue than black. The latch on the screen door slips open...to see them better. To see them as they are. As they move across the sky and night by night through the seasons."

"The boys from Scotland at their finest. Epic"

"The boys from Scotland at their finest. Epic"

"An incredible cover of the U2 classic."

"An incredible cover of the U2 classic."

"The Leeds, UK-based five piece band combines the soulful voice of lead singer Chris James (who some remember from DJ Shadow’s The Outsider) with instrumentation that ranges from downtempo, trip-hop as well as a little hip-hop on the side. Instead of the guitar heavy rock that usually dominates from the UK, you get samples, dj scratches, synths, and keyboards. From the get go, Stateless sets a mood, a tone, and a feeling for this album. Its got a consistency that can’t be touched."

"The Leeds, UK-based five piece band combines the soulful voice of lead singer Chris James (who some remember from DJ Shadow’s The Outsider) with instrumentation that ranges from downtempo, trip-hop as well as a little hip-hop on the side. Instead of the guitar heavy rock that usually dominates from the UK, you get samples, dj scratches, synths, and keyboards. From the get go, Stateless sets a mood, a tone, and a feeling for this album. Its got a consistency that can’t be touched."

"Just a great song."

"Just a great song."

"Yup...indeed."

"Yup...indeed."

"Friday night. You’re broke and twenty-four, sick of recycling satellite shows and the fine points of internet obfuscation. Going through your record collection yields nothing but slices of discomfort—good times you don’t want reminding of right now, not now that the town outside’s started pumping. What you need is fresh pickings, a white soundtrack song-sheet you can fill with your own mix of crayons. But who in Cardboard City is prepared to write something for dubbing your old storyboards on? Something designed for public consumption before a budding producer absconds with it? Van…Vangelis, can you hear me? The Abbasi Brothers haven’t made a diatribe against the mistreatment of soundtracks in the media. Hailing from California—the land where screenplays float like infinite dandelions—Yousuf and young Amman stay cool for their debut LP, producing smooth insulation for that all-important critical moment. Their passion for big-screen awe sizzles like the hero’s pulse in the finale, and their less glamorous background in mechanical mathematics keeps the whole thing attached to formulae. See the chilled din of the album’s title track, whose icy piano and live drumming could easily be any goodbye scene from the last ten years of Sundance. The Brothers are preparing for reverie; something warm with sad corners you can imagine yourself one day growing old in. Such is the craftsmanship of their fifteen artificial suites that you want to trade up to better headphones, and not in an Ulrich Schnauss “on my signal, unleash programming” kind of way either. If you don’t feel stirred by the Eastern love scene set to tragic fireworks in “Mr. Boe” then you should check your instructions for solubility, because this is music in one of its most powerful forms: therapy. “Stacy’s Day Parade” drops a squall of raw feedback deep into succulent Mogwai, fading and rising with flotsam beats. That hustle modern composers pull where they amplify two bars of music into an oven-ready crescendo? Old hat. The pads and sequencing on Something Like Nostalgia are much more freshly mined, alien to the point where my girlfriend sat up and asked “Is that the sound of a printer?” I mentioned the Abbasis practice therapy because that’s the best way I can describe their patient response to trauma: calm, learned, personalised. When the new angry post-rock of “Approaching The End” hit me I was instantly nineteen again, alone and fuming to blazing Moby, only to be quickly anointed by “Fragments Of Memories As A Child” and all its Milky Way potential. “The Social Evening (In 1992)” even throws out some maternal keyboard loops, mopping the brow of anyone who’s that much in need of a cuddle. But what primarily concerns the Brothers is that lukewarm half-state we adults escape to when we’re working/driving/fucking. They line it, draining the grey from the puddles in car parks and replacing it with a rainbow meniscus. If Something Like Nostalgia‘s ultimate fate is it being spread onto processor commercials then at least you don’t have to feel violated, as, like you, the Brothers have been already there. They’ve seen their favourite themes shot into lesser material like steroids into a part-timer, and now they’re responding with something hand-built and futureproof. It’s for this reason I’d declare Something Like Nostalgia as being deeply and wholly affirming, and feel astonished that it’s been out there and waiting since July."

"Friday night. You’re broke and twenty-four, sick of recycling satellite shows and the fine points of internet obfuscation. Going through your record collection yields nothing but slices of discomfort—good times you don’t want reminding of right now, not now that the town outside’s started pumping. What you need is fresh pickings, a white soundtrack song-sheet you can fill with your own mix of crayons. But who in Cardboard City is prepared to write something for dubbing your old storyboards on? Something designed for public consumption before a budding producer absconds with it? Van…Vangelis, can you hear me? The Abbasi Brothers haven’t made a diatribe against the mistreatment of soundtracks in the media. Hailing from California—the land where screenplays float like infinite dandelions—Yousuf and young Amman stay cool for their debut LP, producing smooth insulation for that all-important critical moment. Their passion for big-screen awe sizzles like the hero’s pulse in the finale, and their less glamorous background in mechanical mathematics keeps the whole thing attached to formulae. See the chilled din of the album’s title track, whose icy piano and live drumming could easily be any goodbye scene from the last ten years of Sundance. The Brothers are preparing for reverie; something warm with sad corners you can imagine yourself one day growing old in. Such is the craftsmanship of their fifteen artificial suites that you want to trade up to better headphones, and not in an Ulrich Schnauss “on my signal, unleash programming” kind of way either. If you don’t feel stirred by the Eastern love scene set to tragic fireworks in “Mr. Boe” then you should check your instructions for solubility, because this is music in one of its most powerful forms: therapy. “Stacy’s Day Parade” drops a squall of raw feedback deep into succulent Mogwai, fading and rising with flotsam beats. That hustle modern composers pull where they amplify two bars of music into an oven-ready crescendo? Old hat. The pads and sequencing on Something Like Nostalgia are much more freshly mined, alien to the point where my girlfriend sat up and asked “Is that the sound of a printer?” I mentioned the Abbasis practice therapy because that’s the best way I can describe their patient response to trauma: calm, learned, personalised. When the new angry post-rock of “Approaching The End” hit me I was instantly nineteen again, alone and fuming to blazing Moby, only to be quickly anointed by “Fragments Of Memories As A Child” and all its Milky Way potential. “The Social Evening (In 1992)” even throws out some maternal keyboard loops, mopping the brow of anyone who’s that much in need of a cuddle. But what primarily concerns the Brothers is that lukewarm half-state we adults escape to when we’re working/driving/fucking. They line it, draining the grey from the puddles in car parks and replacing it with a rainbow meniscus. If Something Like Nostalgia‘s ultimate fate is it being spread onto processor commercials then at least you don’t have to feel violated, as, like you, the Brothers have been already there. They’ve seen their favourite themes shot into lesser material like steroids into a part-timer, and now they’re responding with something hand-built and futureproof. It’s for this reason I’d declare Something Like Nostalgia as being deeply and wholly affirming, and feel astonished that it’s been out there and waiting since July."

"You know him as, "Eluvium," but Matthew Robert Cooper has chosen to use his own name on his most recent work. it goes well with snow dancing in the wind and thoughts of hidden places. Like Explosions in the Sky, Cooper’s band Eluvium has mastered the art of cinematic ambient rock, the likes of which play endlessly on Friday Night Lights. Here he journeys off on his own for some more personal pared down instrumental odysseys, some led by guitars, some led by a lone piano, some fronted by hand bells. It can be repetitive at times, but that’s the point mainly, to let the brain hypnotize itself into other lands of odd emotional resonance, but at the same time nothing makes a man feel as lonely and introspective as this does bleeding through spaghetti string headphones while he takes a winter walk through a snowy park or jostles against strangers on the downtown train. Sometimes the deepest thing you can say is nothing at all. Words can be indeed, very unnecessary. "

"You know him as, "Eluvium," but Matthew Robert Cooper has chosen to use his own name on his most recent work. it goes well with snow dancing in the wind and thoughts of hidden places. Like Explosions in the Sky, Cooper’s band Eluvium has mastered the art of cinematic ambient rock, the likes of which play endlessly on Friday Night Lights. Here he journeys off on his own for some more personal pared down instrumental odysseys, some led by guitars, some led by a lone piano, some fronted by hand bells. It can be repetitive at times, but that’s the point mainly, to let the brain hypnotize itself into other lands of odd emotional resonance, but at the same time nothing makes a man feel as lonely and introspective as this does bleeding through spaghetti string headphones while he takes a winter walk through a snowy park or jostles against strangers on the downtown train. Sometimes the deepest thing you can say is nothing at all. Words can be indeed, very unnecessary. "

"She makes other music almost unnecessary. What a voice."

"She makes other music almost unnecessary. What a voice."

"Screen Vinyl Image is formed by ex-members of DC shoegazer’s Alcian Blue and members have also worked in Skywave and Ceremony. Their music is best described as Electronic Psychedelic, with influences that range from early electronic artists like Tangerine Dream, Patrick Cowley, John Carpenter, and early Chicago House to shoegaze/psychedelic bands like Curve, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Loop, Suicide, and My Bloody Valentine. While the duo has only been around for a little over a year, their tour schedule has reached near 50 shows including touring with Ulrich Schnauss, Auburn Lull, The December Sound, and shows with A Place To Bury Strangers and A Sunny Day in Glasgow. Their live show has been compared by many to Suicide and My Bloody Valentine both in volume levels and intensity and their DIY visuals combined with 2,100 watts of strobes take their audience into a trip of sensory overdrive. Screen Vinyl Image have released a 5-song EP (The Midnight Sun), a single (Chaser), a split 12 inch (Ceremony/SVI), and now release their debut full length “Interceptors.” The album presents the full gamut of the band’s influences, from atmospheric synths, dancy electronic beats, tripped out drones over hypnotic samples, and of course layers of fuzz and guitar over slamming beats."

"Screen Vinyl Image is formed by ex-members of DC shoegazer’s Alcian Blue and members have also worked in Skywave and Ceremony. Their music is best described as Electronic Psychedelic, with influences that range from early electronic artists like Tangerine Dream, Patrick Cowley, John Carpenter, and early Chicago House to shoegaze/psychedelic bands like Curve, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Loop, Suicide, and My Bloody Valentine. While the duo has only been around for a little over a year, their tour schedule has reached near 50 shows including touring with Ulrich Schnauss, Auburn Lull, The December Sound, and shows with A Place To Bury Strangers and A Sunny Day in Glasgow. Their live show has been compared by many to Suicide and My Bloody Valentine both in volume levels and intensity and their DIY visuals combined with 2,100 watts of strobes take their audience into a trip of sensory overdrive. Screen Vinyl Image have released a 5-song EP (The Midnight Sun), a single (Chaser), a split 12 inch (Ceremony/SVI), and now release their debut full length “Interceptors.” The album presents the full gamut of the band’s influences, from atmospheric synths, dancy electronic beats, tripped out drones over hypnotic samples, and of course layers of fuzz and guitar over slamming beats."

"Imagine the sound of diamond studded subway tunnels where mirror balls reflect the light of bonfire flames dancing to the sonic pulses of 20-inch subwoofer stacks. From start to finish, Metaform's 2008 release, "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" is the best break-beat album of 2008. If you want to shake what your momma gave you, you need to listen to this."

"Imagine the sound of diamond studded subway tunnels where mirror balls reflect the light of bonfire flames dancing to the sonic pulses of 20-inch subwoofer stacks. From start to finish, Metaform's 2008 release, "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" is the best break-beat album of 2008. If you want to shake what your momma gave you, you need to listen to this."

"Of your eyes...I think I've seen them once...or twice. This guy is just incredible. If you love singer-songwriters, you have to have a listen."

"Of your eyes...I think I've seen them once...or twice. This guy is just incredible. If you love singer-songwriters, you have to have a listen."

"They are not from Nebraska, but the northern Kentucky americana/folk rock band Frontier Folk Nebraska have successfully harnessed the heartache of the heartland."

"They are not from Nebraska, but the northern Kentucky americana/folk rock band Frontier Folk Nebraska have successfully harnessed the heartache of the heartland."

"Just in time for their 10-year anniversary, MONO returns with their fifth studio album, the absolutely massive Hymn To The Immortal Wind. The music is naturally majestic, with MONO's trademark wall of noise crashing beautifully against the largest chamber orchestra the band has ever enlisted. The instrumentation is vast, incorporating strings, flutes, organ, piano, glockenspiel and tympani into their standard face-melting set-up. While Hymn continues to mine the cinematic drama inherent in all of MONO's music, the dynamic shifts now come more from dark-to-light instead of quiet-to-loud. The maturity to balance these elements so masterfully has become MONO's strongest virtue - save for perhaps their uncanny ability to sound every bit like a plane crashing into a Beethoven concert."

"Just in time for their 10-year anniversary, MONO returns with their fifth studio album, the absolutely massive Hymn To The Immortal Wind. The music is naturally majestic, with MONO's trademark wall of noise crashing beautifully against the largest chamber orchestra the band has ever enlisted. The instrumentation is vast, incorporating strings, flutes, organ, piano, glockenspiel and tympani into their standard face-melting set-up. While Hymn continues to mine the cinematic drama inherent in all of MONO's music, the dynamic shifts now come more from dark-to-light instead of quiet-to-loud. The maturity to balance these elements so masterfully has become MONO's strongest virtue - save for perhaps their uncanny ability to sound every bit like a plane crashing into a Beethoven concert."

"In 1981 the crowd spilled out into the street to hear him perform in Bregenz. His concert was over but they wanted an encore. They got one. And they never forgot it."

"In 1981 the crowd spilled out into the street to hear him perform in Bregenz. His concert was over but they wanted an encore. They got one. And they never forgot it."

"12 minutes and change of total post-rock bliss. The vocals of Japanese native, Eugene Wakamikoto are superb on this track."

"12 minutes and change of total post-rock bliss. The vocals of Japanese native, Eugene Wakamikoto are superb on this track."

"Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world". I think he was right. "

"Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world". I think he was right. "

"Few tributes get it right. This one may be perfect. Somewhere, Coltrane is smiling."

"Few tributes get it right. This one may be perfect. Somewhere, Coltrane is smiling."

"Stirring in a way that most violin-featuring post-rock acts can only dream of, the Canterbury-based five-piece are the sort of band whose in-the-flesh performances stay with the audience member long after they’ve left the show. Like, a good year after, really…"

"Stirring in a way that most violin-featuring post-rock acts can only dream of, the Canterbury-based five-piece are the sort of band whose in-the-flesh performances stay with the audience member long after they’ve left the show. Like, a good year after, really…"

"Wow. Slow...and dream-like. A great song."

"Wow. Slow...and dream-like. A great song."

"When the words fail you before you begin to write, then you know...your really know...it's a great song. Listen to this one. Let it breathe for a little while...like an open mouth preparing for a whisper."

"When the words fail you before you begin to write, then you know...your really know...it's a great song. Listen to this one. Let it breathe for a little while...like an open mouth preparing for a whisper."

"That scene, in an open field, hands running slowly over barley tips...and there is music."

"That scene, in an open field, hands running slowly over barley tips...and there is music."

""Keith Kenniff has been with Type from the very beginning, and now as Type is well into its fifth year he offers us his fifth gorgeous release. In five years Keith’s style has evolved constantly, with his drifting piano compositions taking the Goldmund label and the Helios sound moving out from undreneath the clipped beat-heavy electronics of ‘Unomia’ and into a more unique place, even incorporating vocals on the ‘Ayres’ mini album. ‘Caesura’ however is his ‘proper’ follow-up to the acclaimed ‘Eingya’, and sees Keith return to the instrumental sound he knows so well. In fact in many ways ‘Caesura’ is a more electronic work than its predecessors, blending layer upon layer of synthesizer and adding his assured drumming to come up with the perfect meeting of indie-pop and ambient music. The haunting cinematic element is still present of course, but these songs are more rounded and confident than any in Keith’s career. From the delicate bliss of ‘Hope Valley Hill’ which opens up the album with gauzy nostalgia and, as the title promised, hope, through the chunky pop of ‘Come With Nothings’ it is clear that Keith’s music is as arresting as it ever was. Taking cues from the lilting indie-electronics of Ulrich Schnauss and the unfussy ambience of Brian Eno, Keith manages to inject this with his knowledge as a composer. The epic harmonies of ‘Backlight’ for instance reveal a lightness of touch rarely heard in the genre with sweeping synthesized chords buzzing alongside Keith’s signature guitar. Accompanied by more gorgeous artwork from Matthew Woodson, ‘Caesura’ is a glowing record for the winter months, and a glimmer of hope to keep the seasons at bay.""

""Keith Kenniff has been with Type from the very beginning, and now as Type is well into its fifth year he offers us his fifth gorgeous release. In five years Keith’s style has evolved constantly, with his drifting piano compositions taking the Goldmund label and the Helios sound moving out from undreneath the clipped beat-heavy electronics of ‘Unomia’ and into a more unique place, even incorporating vocals on the ‘Ayres’ mini album. ‘Caesura’ however is his ‘proper’ follow-up to the acclaimed ‘Eingya’, and sees Keith return to the instrumental sound he knows so well. In fact in many ways ‘Caesura’ is a more electronic work than its predecessors, blending layer upon layer of synthesizer and adding his assured drumming to come up with the perfect meeting of indie-pop and ambient music. The haunting cinematic element is still present of course, but these songs are more rounded and confident than any in Keith’s career. From the delicate bliss of ‘Hope Valley Hill’ which opens up the album with gauzy nostalgia and, as the title promised, hope, through the chunky pop of ‘Come With Nothings’ it is clear that Keith’s music is as arresting as it ever was. Taking cues from the lilting indie-electronics of Ulrich Schnauss and the unfussy ambience of Brian Eno, Keith manages to inject this with his knowledge as a composer. The epic harmonies of ‘Backlight’ for instance reveal a lightness of touch rarely heard in the genre with sweeping synthesized chords buzzing alongside Keith’s signature guitar. Accompanied by more gorgeous artwork from Matthew Woodson, ‘Caesura’ is a glowing record for the winter months, and a glimmer of hope to keep the seasons at bay.""

"Difficult to categorize for those of you who need to put sound in nice little boxes-Jacaszek's Treny has a classical edge but with some electronics and it languishes somewhere between Early vocal music and more contemporary Eastern European classical sounds. The orchestration which is provided by a violin, cello, harp, and voice and then complemented by Jacaszek's electronics is very inspirational. Anthem-like and yet detailed enough to provide surprises, the music takes you to places you haven't been to recently."

"Difficult to categorize for those of you who need to put sound in nice little boxes-Jacaszek's Treny has a classical edge but with some electronics and it languishes somewhere between Early vocal music and more contemporary Eastern European classical sounds. The orchestration which is provided by a violin, cello, harp, and voice and then complemented by Jacaszek's electronics is very inspirational. Anthem-like and yet detailed enough to provide surprises, the music takes you to places you haven't been to recently."

""Play like your mama just died," George Clinton told guitarist Eddie Hazel. The result was "Maggot Brain," ten minutes of Hendrix-style guitar anguish. This is the heaviest rock album the P-Funk crew ever created, but it also made room for the acoustic guitar funk of "Can You Get to That." No matter how many times I listen to this song, my mind gets blown every damn time."

""Play like your mama just died," George Clinton told guitarist Eddie Hazel. The result was "Maggot Brain," ten minutes of Hendrix-style guitar anguish. This is the heaviest rock album the P-Funk crew ever created, but it also made room for the acoustic guitar funk of "Can You Get to That." No matter how many times I listen to this song, my mind gets blown every damn time."

"Once a band has developed a sound that is undeniably theirs it can be difficult to push beyond those confines and expand the sound into new territory. Lights Out Asia set out to do just that and have succeeded in writing a record that was as much a sign of the times as it was an expansion of their aural bubble that has been their watermark. They have been called ethereal, post-shoegaze and sleep-rock, but on their third full length "Eyes Like Brontide" the band slides into a darker more ominous and less lucid dream than on previous efforts. The release is a stylistic shift from the sweet lullabies of their debut "Garmonia" (Sun Sea Sky) and the electronic drum driven post-shoegaze of 2007's "Tanks and Recognizers" (n5MD). The song dynamics on the album deserve special attention. For the first time in Lights Out Asia's history they have gone for broke with some of the most epic drum machine driven post-rock this side of the Pacific along with solemn disconnected passages of dream nourished sonics. The occasional floating vocal and dusty winding guitar they are known for are still present, but "Eyes Like Brontide" brings a whole new dimension to the Lights Out Asia ethos. Most importantly, the band has expanded upon its sound without throwing away the original blueprint or alienating it's fanbase. If you have the time take a minute to at least listen to "Six Points of Fire." It is the best new song I have heard in 2008."

"Once a band has developed a sound that is undeniably theirs it can be difficult to push beyond those confines and expand the sound into new territory. Lights Out Asia set out to do just that and have succeeded in writing a record that was as much a sign of the times as it was an expansion of their aural bubble that has been their watermark. They have been called ethereal, post-shoegaze and sleep-rock, but on their third full length "Eyes Like Brontide" the band slides into a darker more ominous and less lucid dream than on previous efforts. The release is a stylistic shift from the sweet lullabies of their debut "Garmonia" (Sun Sea Sky) and the electronic drum driven post-shoegaze of 2007's "Tanks and Recognizers" (n5MD). The song dynamics on the album deserve special attention. For the first time in Lights Out Asia's history they have gone for broke with some of the most epic drum machine driven post-rock this side of the Pacific along with solemn disconnected passages of dream nourished sonics. The occasional floating vocal and dusty winding guitar they are known for are still present, but "Eyes Like Brontide" brings a whole new dimension to the Lights Out Asia ethos. Most importantly, the band has expanded upon its sound without throwing away the original blueprint or alienating it's fanbase. If you have the time take a minute to at least listen to "Six Points of Fire." It is the best new song I have heard in 2008."

""Night Falls," Hecq's follow up to the ambitious double album "0000" may be the best ambient album since Biosphere's "Substrata". With the release of "Night Falls", it is hard to see how the genre can be pused any further. If you are a fan of ambient music, get a glass of something you love, hit the lights, put the headphones on (the really good ones) get comfortable and disapear."

""Night Falls," Hecq's follow up to the ambitious double album "0000" may be the best ambient album since Biosphere's "Substrata". With the release of "Night Falls", it is hard to see how the genre can be pused any further. If you are a fan of ambient music, get a glass of something you love, hit the lights, put the headphones on (the really good ones) get comfortable and disapear."

"In all my years and hours of listening, I had never before heard a Keith Jarrett sample used in ambient sound. But, Blackfilm did it - and boy did they do it! The term cinematic gets tossed around a great deal in the music reviewing business, especially when it comes to those genres and styles of an electronic inclination. For the most part anything appearing particularly dark, atmospheric and epic seems to get pasted with this descriptor, and much of that undeservedly so. Perhaps the right adjective at the time, in comparison to Blackfilm's self-titled debut album, most other so-called cinematic peers fall short. This stuff simply defines cinematic. Its orchestral nuances and muffled piano ("Interference"), spectral voices and effective interlude transitions ("Eastern" and "Untitled"), among other elements, serve to elucidate this formative strategy. As the second release for young label Spectraliquid (based in Athens, Greece), "Blackfilm" reflects a promising musical direction and, more significantly, astute artist selectivity. The disc invites its listener in with "Come & See," an introduction to both the sound textures and strong thematic aspects that intertwine its ten compositions. "Blackfilm" brings a post-structuralist film noir quality to the forefront of pieces characterized as sweeping, ghostly, orchestral, downtempo and, of course, epic. Brilliant "Stalingrad" figures prominently in this idea; its ten-minute duration encompasses abandoned Cold War ambience and ominous post-urban illbient alike. In shorter tracks, other strengths come to prominence. The gently pushing bass tones in "Five Years" are masterful, while the insatiable trip hop groove of "Sonar" burns well into the night. The sensual Indian singing wafting through "Mahabharata" arouses fantastic visions of that poem's grandeur and ancient metaphysics. The spacey tenor, echoing voices and maudlin strings of "Midnight to 4 A.M." conceives a vast and unquenchable insignificance in the face of a universe beyond human comprehension. "Blackfilm" is gritty music for an eyes-closed headspace, at once harrowing and enlightening. "

"In all my years and hours of listening, I had never before heard a Keith Jarrett sample used in ambient sound. But, Blackfilm did it - and boy did they do it! The term cinematic gets tossed around a great deal in the music reviewing business, especially when it comes to those genres and styles of an electronic inclination. For the most part anything appearing particularly dark, atmospheric and epic seems to get pasted with this descriptor, and much of that undeservedly so. Perhaps the right adjective at the time, in comparison to Blackfilm's self-titled debut album, most other so-called cinematic peers fall short. This stuff simply defines cinematic. Its orchestral nuances and muffled piano ("Interference"), spectral voices and effective interlude transitions ("Eastern" and "Untitled"), among other elements, serve to elucidate this formative strategy. As the second release for young label Spectraliquid (based in Athens, Greece), "Blackfilm" reflects a promising musical direction and, more significantly, astute artist selectivity. The disc invites its listener in with "Come & See," an introduction to both the sound textures and strong thematic aspects that intertwine its ten compositions. "Blackfilm" brings a post-structuralist film noir quality to the forefront of pieces characterized as sweeping, ghostly, orchestral, downtempo and, of course, epic. Brilliant "Stalingrad" figures prominently in this idea; its ten-minute duration encompasses abandoned Cold War ambience and ominous post-urban illbient alike. In shorter tracks, other strengths come to prominence. The gently pushing bass tones in "Five Years" are masterful, while the insatiable trip hop groove of "Sonar" burns well into the night. The sensual Indian singing wafting through "Mahabharata" arouses fantastic visions of that poem's grandeur and ancient metaphysics. The spacey tenor, echoing voices and maudlin strings of "Midnight to 4 A.M." conceives a vast and unquenchable insignificance in the face of a universe beyond human comprehension. "Blackfilm" is gritty music for an eyes-closed headspace, at once harrowing and enlightening. "

"The solo debut from Trespasser William's lead singer Anna-Lynne Williams. Jeff Martin of Idaho joins her on piano for this song and lends his voice for a few haunting harmonies. Just beautiful. If you are a fan of Trespassers you need to hear the whole album."

"The solo debut from Trespasser William's lead singer Anna-Lynne Williams. Jeff Martin of Idaho joins her on piano for this song and lends his voice for a few haunting harmonies. Just beautiful. If you are a fan of Trespassers you need to hear the whole album."