Various Artists Lunar Twilight

Well they certainly pick a good track to start off with - 'Gentle, The Night' by Jonn Serrie from his 'And the Stars Go With You' album. Soft pads mix with cosmic effects and a little melodic motif. It then all fades away as the sound of the wind comes to the surface. Next we enter another spacie section- all rather ethereal. A very gentle rhythm starts up to give some focus to the gorgeous state of float already created. The second track 'Spanish Twilight' is from one of Michael Stearn's better albums 'Floating Whisper'. Metallic sounding shimmers mix with faint bell tones. The sound swells and melodic strummed strings are added, a tuneful acoustic (Spanish?) guitar sound now takes centre stage. Close your eyes and imagine being on a balcony of some beautiful villa looking out to sea.

Steve Roach seems to pop up on compilation albums all over the place so it is no surprise to see him represented here. This time its a track with Kevin Braheny called 'Flatlands', a slow relaxed rhythmic number and as with all the tracks here is extremely pleasant. I had never heard anything by Peter Mannu before (not being a particular fan of the Narada label) so it was with interest that I listened to his contribution 'Three Spirals'. Melodically it was a delight, a lovely looped electric guitar melody mixing with other loops and soft pads to provide a highly enjoyable four minutes. I hadn't heard of Jan Kaczmarek either who's track provided a nice melancholy contrast to what had gone previously. It features some more plucked string melodies however which were slightly too twee for my tasted and I most certainly could have done without the vocal bit at the end.

Initially 'Angel's Cry' by Sativa reminded me of something from one of Jonn Serrie's Planetary Chronicles albums. The mood changes after a few minutes however with the introduction of a piano melody. Things then change again as we get a different looped piano sound low in the mix and a restful synth lead. We finish where we started floating in space. Its amazing what is crammed into just seven pleasing minutes. 'Nearly Awakened' by Harald Budd follows a similar pattern to some of the earlier tracks incorporating bell tones, piano and gentle synth pads. By now you should be so relaxed its positively dangerous! Any more so and you would probably loose grasp of consciousness completely. Long term SMD customers will probably recognise 'On the Forest Floor' from Bob Holroyd's 'Fluidity and Structure' album as it was a very good seller for us nine years ago. Ethnic drumming and sampled vocals mix with the most delightful piano melodies. This is a perfect example of how you can have a stunningly beautiful track without it being sickly sweet.