Beautiful little soundscape album by Boc Scadet.

For me, a good soundscape album, should be a coherent piece that flows from one track to the next without clearly stopping and starting between each song. It should also succeed in creating some kind of atmosphere (be it dark/brooding, light/playful, ...) that wraps itself around the listener.

Vessel In June scores great on both criteria: the album is of consistent good quality and tracks flow seamlessly into one another. And there is more than enough atmosphere (in general of the more sombre/brooding variety)!

Ochre deserves special mention as it is truly THE standout track (for me, although other reviewers also award Iguana that honour): you just have to check it out but I can assure you that it is awesome (make sure your speakers are capable of producing deep bass).

Excellent listening material!

Absolutely fantastic, mindblowing record! Just recently discovered (and bought) it and have been listening ever since.

'descent' is a magnificent opener that immediately transports you to a place far away from you earthly environment. It also sets the scene for what is to follow, a beautiful ambient intro.

'black state special' continues with beautiful ambient pads and gradually introduces some more structure by bringing in some clicks and a gentle lead, then adding some gentle drum programming.

'raine' continues much in the same vein of 'black state special' but introduces very simple, yet touching synth chords that really connect on an emotional level. This is then beautifully complemented by slow evolving ambient pads.

'carbonek' comes next and immediately starts of with an arpeggiated synth line followed by a beautiful synth line (my god, the sounds on this album are breathtaking!). This awesome, epic feeling is then further enhanced by warm, engulfing ambient pads...close your eyes and you're in musical heaven. A drum sequence kicks in, a menacing bass joins it and seems about to destroy your precious little heaven but then the original sounds kick in again and fuse with the drum programming, robbing it from all its menacing features. And in heaven you remain right until the ending of this beautiful song...

'tremearne' ends the first side of this genre-defining album starting of with atmospheric pads quickly followed by a chilled drum pattern. Once again it's hard to describe the various sounds but suffice to say that they once again manage to create a certain relaxing and engulfing atmosphere that can easily help you recover from a stressful day at work.

'drexler' starts the flipside. I'm not sure but I think the title refers to K. Eric Drexler (a contempary scientist that defined - and is still defining - the field of nanotechnology). If so, Drexler's vision of a nano-powered society conflicts with the, once again, very relaxing, beautiful and refined song that is developed here. On the other hand, perhaps it is just this refined song-crafting that connects 'drexler' to Drexler because nanotechnology too is a very refined field working on the level of molecules and perhaps one day even individual atoms. Then again, I might be completely wrong and Stendec were unaware of the existence of Drexler and all this is just a coincidence ;-)

'incluse'...well what can I say? This album is very coherent hence what I have described earlier applies to this song as well and just as the previous songs it is flawlessly executed here. Mind you that I'm not saying here that they all sound the same! They all share the same characteristics but they are certainly not identical songs or slight variations of the same theme: they all manage to convey the same sense of rest and peace but do so via different paths, each path as interesting as the previous one.

'aileron' opens with angelic pads and soon brings in an infectuous drum pattern and soft bursts of noise.

'ubik' ends the album on a beautiful note. Once again transporting you to a safe and warm place (you can imagine that this is how unborn babies feel in the womb of their mother - a beautiful feeling).

Sadly the album then ends but to all good things must come an end and you can always start over which is exactly what I have been doing for the last couple of days!

By the way, the title of the album is explained on the back of the record sleeve by quoting Arthur Stanley Eddington (a rather influential scientist living from 1882-1944):

"we often think that when we have completed our study of one we know about two, because 'two' is 'one and one'. we forget that we still have to make a study of 'and'"

I'll leave it to you to think about what this means on a musical level but considering that electronic music is made by machines that think in zeros and ones, you'll probably figure it out soon enough...

Conclusion: a genre-defining album that I can easily place alongside others of its kind (Arovane's Tides and Lillies comes to mind as well as certain tracks from Boards Of Canada) and a must for all those who love their electronica injected with a relaxing dose of ambient...

Awesome double album by Silicon Scally aka Carl Finlow. Minimalistic and moody electro the way I like it. Very sparse use of sounds and yet each one so powerful as to create an essential electro album. I'm not going to discuss every track on this album, just picking out those that really catch my ear (although there really isn't one bad track on this double album): "Auton" immediately sets the tone with a brooding bassline and apocalyptic synths.
"Downtime" brings up an image of funky Internet servers breaking down (yes, I'm a nerd) and you just loving it.
"Entron" is pure machine music with a haunting digital vocal and menacing textures...machine's closing in on you. Awesome track and for me one of the best on the entire album...together with "Magnified". I just love the way this track starts out very simple with nothing more than a simple drum sequence and then gradually adds more elements: beats, bass,a hypnotic dark pad, wobbling synths, little blips and bleeps that make your skin crawl! Brilliant!
"Non Functional" is an instant classic if you ask me: pure electro that you just have to move to. Once again very carefully selected sounds and minimal programming...Carl definitely knows how to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts!

Beautiful 12" by Ola Bergman. Opener "Pseudocarp" shows that electronic music can be as emotional as any other genre (beautiful detuned synths with a hip-hop beat underneat), "Lima" continues in the same vein but with a more downbeat drum rhythm to it. "Snake Meadows" is really something special, the beginning of the song is rather tricky and you're not sure where it is leading to, but all of the sudden it turns into a powerful emotive electro tune...absolutely brilliant!

The B-side starts of with "Vulture's End" which has a funky electro feel to it with lots of detuned synths and a beautifully layered construction that shows off Ola's production skills. As with all the other tracks on this 12", this is once again a very emotional song (yes, I'm getting boring but it's true!). The final track is "Cypsela", a warm chill-out track...great after a day of hard work.

One word: essential!

Sync 24 is Philip Bolland, who is also one half of Cultek. With Darker Senses he delivers a very atmospheric little EP that has a powerful psychedelic feel to it. "Sense 1" is a slower spacier track while "Sense 2" brings forth a very harsh and cold breakbeat that commands you to move your body while dark synth pads and noisy synth washes give you a glimpse of a dark and cold future in which man has been enslaved by the machine! Killer dancefloor material! On the flip side, "Sense 3" continues in the vein of "Sense 2" by giving you a powerful breakbeat and again those dark pads and noisy synth washes that define Sync 24's unique style. As with all tracks on this album, psychedelic synth leads arpeggiate over this dark foundation to take you further into the music. "Sense 4" meanwhile sports a driving laser-like bass complemented by some very goa-like (don't flame me for this one ;) synth leads.

A very interesting album, although perhaps a little bit repetitive as the 4 tracks are all variations on each other using quite a few similar sounds. Nonetheless this EP comes recommended and is an excellent addition to the catalogue of Andrea Parker's Touchin' Bass label.

Pure electro that can easily be compared to the work of Drexciya and Dopplereffekt. All 4 songs are wonderfully written but what really stands out is the superb bass programming. "Hardware" has an aquatic feel to it that immediately reminds me of "Neptune's Lair" from Drexciya, "Nematod" is a very funky and lighter song which is in great contrast to much of the darker electro nowadays (which I like as well, but some variation is always welcome). "Phase 1" is clearly the dancefloor killer of this album with a much more straightforward 4/4 beat and some very exquisitely layered sounds. "Robomelo", as its name suggests, is a much more "mellow" song that has a very hypnotic effect (no, I'm not on drugs ;) and some melancholic sounds in it that make me dream of faraway places...very powerful emotional stuff!

If you're an electro lover or simply someone with a deep intrest in electronic music, this EP is something you should definitely check out! I can't wait to hear more from Diplomat...