2350 Broadway – 2350 Broadway 4

Two Lives gradually forms into a "call and response" drone and drone, alternating. It's a simple device, yet it sounds utterly, utterly harrowing. Every time it falls away to end the album I'm left staggered - you can probably interpret it in so many ways, but I liken the whole thing to a eulogy to the life of two people from birth to death. I don't have many Fax releases, but god I'm glad I tried this one. I'm no drone fanatic, but this is a CD's worth of truly delicious, emotional, warm, spacey and very melodic drones. Beautiful stuff, recommended strongly to absolutely anyone.

I recently bought some of Tetsu Inoue’s mid-career albums like “Fragment Dots” and “Waterloo Terminal,” and for those of you who are as unexcited as I am about that abstract and experimental type of music, you’ll be happy to know that “2350 Broadway 4” is a beautifully strong return to ambient form for Mr. Inoue.

That’s not to discount Pete Namlook’s work on this release. As you would expect from long-time collaborators, they blend like a sunset sky, with constantly shifting colors that each complement the other. Listening to the album is like laying on soft sand with warm water lapping at the sides of your body. The melodies are prevalent, interesting, and enveloping. For all its soothing ambience, however, something about the album still calls up a city atmosphere without blatant sample use. I get a similar feeling when listening to Vangelis’ opening track from “The City” or his track ‘Blade Runner Blues.’

I was hesitant to purchase this album because the first two 2350 Broadway albums were a bit more spacey, full of drones and random musical notes plucked from the ether. This one is more similar to 2350 Broadway 3, but with soundscapes that are even more dense. Another wonderful journey with Messrs. Namlook and Inoue.

This is a welcome return to one of the best collaborations on FAX. The music is spacey ambient, long tracks that will remind you of the three earlier 2350 Broadway projects from the mid 90's. It's wonderful to hear Tetsu Inoue and Pete Namlook pairing up again, I hope there will be more. Highly recommended.