Indra The Challenge Play Sample:   56K Dialup   Broadband   Download Sample:   500K   1.5Mb (Excerpt from track(s) 'Intermission') Please go to the Store to buy this item.

Indra is a name I've heard, but until this CD arrived I'd heard not a single note of music by the artist(s). I'd imagined 'new agey' music, but I was very wrong if this disc is representative of Indra's output.

A reverberated piano note echoes into the distance and chilled pad sets a classy and relaxed atmosphere for 'Rudyan'. A 'whistle' type sound is used for a mournful and simple melody. A steady, but not overpowering ethnic type rhythm sparks up, the echoing piano continuing to offer rhythmic support. A subtle bass sequence is added to create yet another layer of rhythm. The track runs in this fashion, with new elements added and subtracted at times in the classic ambient fashion. We get choral sounds and more robust beats for example. Eventually the track slides into ambient environmental sounds. A classy opener.

'Crossed Memories' is up next and is a little odd. It consists of a treated loop from Kraftwerk's 'The Man Machine' with abstract effects layered over it! I just hope that Indra cleared the sample with the teutonic tronmeisters!

Clanging white noise effects herald a very Kraftwerkian rhythm as 'Intermission' launches. A rapid sequence careers around the stereo field; this is a real body moving track. Again Indra constructs the track in the ambient tradition, different sound elements are added and subtracted from a central core. In this case we get a melodic sequence and choral drones as 'signature' sounds whilst the beats just hypnotically evolve. The whole track has a strong feel of Kraftwerk – so I loved it!

'About Seven' is up next. A dense choral pad rises beautifully and is closely followed by a very New Order-like sequence. The beats harden with snappy 808 snares. A bleepy bass-line is added, over-laid by abstract vocal samples and all manner of synthetic effects (and the sound of a telephone ringing). There's also snatches of an eastern melody. This is a very busy track that transported me back to 1980 and the dawn of synthpop – nostalgic heaven for 4.20 mins for me!

Whale calls (I think), ethnic chants and a glorious drone take the mood down for the opening of 'Dreaming the universe'. After one and a half minutes a crunching rhythm begins to build, taking the track out of new age territory. Various drones and pads rise and fall creating a sense of melody, this is certainly an evocative and clever track. There is a brief lull from the beats for a very atmospheric pause, but they return to the close. Fans of Ian Boddy and Chris Carter's work would love this.

A bleeping, ethereal sequence opens 'The end of the childhood'. Abstract effects accompany it for a while before a warm pad rises to give some harmonic control. A second sequence is added, again it's gentle and helps to create a syncopated rhythm. A hint of melody hovers in the background. This is a gentle and atmospheric piece. An abstract vocal passage banishes the sequences and we enter a disturbed section, perhaps a nightmare as the opening of the rack had a very dream-like quality? However, it's a brief lull as the opening elements of the track return. This was a fave track for me, just a lovely, moody piece of electronica.

'Serenade in Due' is initially very abstract. Environmental sounds are set against a tortured, overdrive sound. We also have the sound of a very folky, guitar-based band for a few seconds before the tortured sound returns. All very odd! By the 2.15 min mark a sequence and rhythm (mid tempo and mid-register) have been added, but are treated and mangled as bleeps are bounced around the track. The weird opening returns for the close. I didn't really get this one at all, it sounded like an experiment.

'Fantasia' opens with treated vocal fragments and various drones/effects. But a fairly rapid, rhythmic sequence is launched to signal the track's intentions. Another eastern melody and gong clashes add to the atmosphere. The sequence dies away before the 2 min mark and we enter an abstract section with heavily filtered sounds, before a new sequence and ring mod beats spark up. A warm analogue pad washes away the abstract work. The track has settled. Choral washes soothe the senses and snatches of a haunting melody just tantalise in the distance. I could have listened to this for hours! Beautiful!

'The Soldier's Requiem' sees a return to the lab! Ring mod effects and hesitant beats stutter into life, we are back in experimental territory. However, slowly a warm pad builds and cements the beats somehow. An odd, faintly metallic melody, simple but beautiful, is added to the mix and again seems to solidify the track. You forget that the beats are strangely disjointed as the beauty of the melodic work overwhelms. This is a grower of a track, which really works on second or third hearing.