Ken Martin Beyond Ultraviolet Play: Lo-Fi   Mid-Fi   Hi-Fi   Download: Lo-Fi   Mid-Fi   Hi-Fi (Excerpt from track 'Space Cruise')

Lovely soft shimmering pads mix with cosmic effects at the beginning of the appropriately titled 'Space Cruise'. It isn't long however before the first tinkling sequence emerges coming and going as it ebbs and flows in the mix. Another more substantial sequence comes to the surface in the fourth minute, mutating beautifully as it goes.

The obvious comparison would be with mid to late 70s Klaus Schulze both in sequence, as it progresses through various transitions, as well as the underlying palette of sounds. Anyone into 'Mirage' in particular should check this out. I wouldn't have thought it possible but 'Ancestral Voices' utilises even more gorgeous pads than the opener, lovely, thick and analogue sounding. They are also subtly melodic, swelling and falling wonderfully throughout the whole duration of the number. An excellent slow sequence gently bubbles into life in the second minute and becomes the backbone to proceedings.

'Alien Detection' again takes us out to the deepest corners of space, electronic fizzes and little melodic note droplets gliding over the blissful atmospheric backing. The combination of sounds simply couldn't be better. One of the best floaters I have heard all year. We finish with the title track. Shimmering metallic drones initially create quite an eerie feeling but become dreamier as we progress. Deeper pads begin to form and it is out of these that a ballsey bass sequence rumbles forth accompanied by one insistent lead line after another. It's as if a storm has been brewing on the edge of a restless sleep to then suddenly break, shaking us awake. After about five minutes of wonderful sequencing the picture is completed with the introduction of some gorgeous mellotron, the lead lines still doing the business over the top. With two and a half minutes to go the sequence slowly fades away and we drift to the end.