Marconi Union – Weightless (Ambient Transmissions Vol. 2)

The Bandcamp digital downloads are all lossy, regardless of which format you choose, and they all have a two-second gap at the end of every track which destroys the intended seamless listening experience. Thankfully, the pressed CD (available in a Digipak case with catalog number TAO049) is fully lossless. I've no idea why the Bandcamp downloads are so lousy, but the CD has much better fidelity and presentation. I'd be interested to know about the masters used to make the Dolby Atmos and vinyl versions; hopefully the sources were lossless as per the CD release.

I agree with the idea that minimalism is not the lack of something, but rather a simplyfied, polished, pure form of something – the essence of an idea. This album is a perfect example of minimalist perfection. Marconi Union has always been great at composing simple, emotive melodies, and then dressing them with either dark downtempo, gloomy post-rock or pulsating dub. This time all the clothes go down, and six "stripped" tracks make up the whole album. Which is one of the best, not only from them, but also in the genre. Meditative is a really frequent term used in connection with this record (see Acoustician's review above), and it is indeed one of the most meditative works I ever heard. Marconi Union is examplary: whatever they do, they do it at the highest level.

"Weightless - by Marconi Union and Lyz Cooper, founder of the British Academy of Sound Therapy - works by using specific rhythms, tones, frequencies and intervals to relax the listener. A continuous rhythm of 60 BPM causes the brainwaves and heart rate to synchronise with the rhythm: a process known as ‘entrainment’. Low underlying bass tones relax the listener and a low whooshing sound with a trance-like quality takes the listener into an even deeper state of calm.

Dr David Lewis, one of the UK’s leading stress specialists said: “‘Weightless’ induced the greatest relaxation – higher than any of the other music tested. Brain imaging studies have shown that music works at a very deep level within the brain, stimulating not only those regions responsible for processing sound but also ones associated with emotions."

The study - commissioned by bubble bath and shower gel firm Radox Spa - found the song was even more relaxing than a massage, walk or cup of tea. So relaxing is the tune, apparently, that people are being advised against listening to it while driving."