Radium (Waveshape) Arkos (1) Please go to the Store to buy this item.

I know I go on about presentation perhaps too often. Ultimately we’re buying the music not the sleeve, but I strongly believe that packaging is important and Radium obviously agree. This is a lavishly presented boxed CD with a 16 page A5 comic/booklet containing some stunning imagery and extensive sleeve notes which portray a Space related concept. Unfortunately it’s all in German so the plot is difficult to pick up!

Another fact which may be of interest is that this is in fact Waveshape under another name. Waveshape’s sound has been drifting towards ambient/dance recently and here’s the manifestation of that trend, though it is firmly towards the “chill out” end of the bpm spectrum. When the rhythms really kick in they are pulsating and the sequences rarely deviate from the complex matrices which they construct. Waveshape’s sequencing prowess has obviously been focussed on this album to great effect, however after a while I found the less “in yer face” sections beginning to stand out. Star of the show for me is ‘Wolkenhort’ which opens with a hugely impressive industrial collage before choice synth sweeps bring to mind expansive canyons on a distant planet. Then a shuffling rhythm emerges to create an unlikely yet inspirational partner. There are some staggering rhythms on this album if you’re merciless with the volume control. Somehow though I’m still not 100% convinced - except by the presentation. (GG)

This page is part of a frame set. If you can't see the information strip to the left of the screen then click on the smd logo above.