Ian Boddy & Robert Rich React CD / 11 Tracks / 63.55 mins Play Sample:   56K Dialup   Broadband Download Sample:   500K   1.5Mb (Excerpt from track(s) 'Slow Hand')

Recorded live in Philadelphia as part of a 30th Anniversary celebration for the Stars End radio show, this is the best collaborative album by these two so far. Three of the tracks are live versions from their first two albums whilst the other eight are completely new to this project. The opening sounds to 'Depth Charge' are simply awesome, like a cross between swarming insects, the lushest of ethereal drones and cosmic winds. Faint percussive crystalline tones take us into 'Ice Fields'. Things gradually becoming more syncopated as sighing guitar textures weave amongst the ticking pulsations. It's all so delicate and brooding but incredibly effective. Gradually the rhythms become more aggressive, the lovely subtle underlying sonic textures bringing up pictures of spectres rising from their disturbed sleep. Lonesome flute whispers take us to 'Sojourn', like a gentle mist being blown in a morning breeze. Simply gorgeous. A little tinkling reverberating sequence picks up the pace slightly for 'AxD'. A second sequence falls into formation with the first, dark almost growling effects underpinning everything. The pulsations go through a period of deconstruction as we descend into really deep brooding subterranean atmospherics. 'Veiled' sounds like a strange heat hazed jungle as if heard from a fevered dream. A slow pulse rings out giving a rather uneasy feel. 'Slow Hand' introduces sparingly used drums which gradually form into a steady rhythm. Ghostly wailing floats through the air as the rhythms solidify still further. This is a track just dripping in attitude and pent up menace. Absolutely fantastic! 'Messages' returns us to more atmospheric realms but even here there are ominous undercurrents. 'Lithosphere' uses gentle interweaving echoing rhythms as subtle structure over which guitar textures, like the sighing of long dead souls, float skyward. It really is stunningly beautiful stuff. 'Blue Moon' takes over, sequences bubbling very low in the mix. A lovely little plucked melody then gorgeous flute put the mind and body in a blissed out state. The same sequence is taken into the title track but now low faint crashing effects can just be heard. These effects become higher in the mix forming part of a steady rhythm which gradually becomes an insistent groove, more guitar touches adding that little extra oomph. 'Edge of Nowhere' is the encore piece. Exquisitely chosen sounds form complex rhythms whilst more spectral wailing imparts a feeling of melancholy. Gradually the drums gain steam but without harming the delicate balance between a dogged determination and deep felt sadness. This album is the ideal combination of power, attitude and ambience. (DL)

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