Ian Boddy & Marcus Reuter & Nigel Mullaney Triptych Please go to the Store to buy this item.

The album opens with 'Sienna Daze', the main theme being electronic rhythmics and stylistically this is reminiscent of elements of Ian's Jodrell Bank set, however it's clear that there is a desire to plot a tangential course to traditional EM avenues. It's primarily the synth voices which distinguish the approach. The sequences, were they to be adorned with traditional synth references, would - dare I say it - be classic 'Berlin School' but here the voices are restrained, clamped down so that they impart rhythm rather than melody. The result is more Node than Schulze, and on this album the fruits of that approach are really starting to become evident. I'm not familiar with the bulk of DiN's back catalogue but I'm told this is a much more accessible work, perhaps the easiest to pin reference points on so you can scale the tracks with a degree of safety rather than risking freefall.

The latter portions of the piece are supplemented by guitar and synth riffs, no doubt thanks to the collaborators, indeed without the sleevenotes I'm unsure who is doing what on the album but it's clear that this is a true collaboration and their styles complement each other seamlessly.

'Mystertronic' opens with 5 minutes of atmospheric drones and effects, very well constructed, before an almost stuttering rhythm takes over, fretless bass is then added and a jazz style lead line emerges. I'm not a jazz fan, but there's something familiar about this and suddenly Vangelis's 'Albedo 0.39' comes to mind, 'Main Sequence' to be exact.

The title track is split into 4 sections, the opening 10 minutes is moody and dark with long guitar layers, then at the 10 minute mark the sequences emerge and together with the guitar refrains create a pulsating section which is surprisingly "EM friendly"! More, primarily guitar based, effects and textures to finish – this is an excellent piece. Finally we have 'Ionosphere', and again this is an impressive outing with a heavy beat, supplementary be sublime weaving synth layers and exemplary guitar detail.