Pete Namlook
Music for Urban Meditation
CD / 7 tracks / 62 minutes

This is Namlook in 'pure' ambient mode. You can forget about chunky rhythms or filter sweeps. Instead, the CD takes you on a journey through the urban environment, evoking the sounds of cities and factories at rest and deserted.

A single, sustained, mournful note is the central theme of 'Part I'. Behind it a deep drone pulses slowly, but rhythmically. The sounds rise and fall in volume and tone but really, not a great deal happens – this is after all ambient in the Eno vein. At the 13 minute mark a vaguely rhythmic, 'crunching' sound enters the mix, and the central note falls away to reveal a rather beautiful pad. The 'crunching' tone rises in volume and becomes more synthetic sounding as we pass into 'Part II'. Clearly the index points are just that, this is a continuous suite. Slowly the pad mutates into a thinner, slightly industrial sound. Disembodied electronic pulses flicker in the margins and I imagine myself walking through a deserted power-station at night. ALONE! Spooky stuff.

At the 13 minute mark very warm analogue pad and accompanying distant, echoed percussive sounds signal the opening of 'Part III'. This is a very mellow piece – I visualised a warm, orange sunrise over a cityscape. Electronic 'twitters' and hums signal the arrival of 'Part IV'. A 'glitchy' humming pad builds to form the 'harmonic' content of the piece. After 4 minutes a very dark, deep presence is 'felt' in the mix as a sinister drone builds and sweeps away 'Part IV' to reveal 'Part V'. The drone has a very rhythmic quality, but not in the traditional sense of the term. It's as if you're hearing a rhythm through thick wadding. The sound design throughout this CD is superb. This is vital for ambient music as each sound is essentially presented naked – it has to sound good in isolation.

'Part VI' consists of two pad sounds which rise and fall subtly around each other. A 'hollow' drone and the most traditional rhythm of the CD introduce 'Part VII'. A simple bass pulse adds to the sense of rhythm. Slowly we fade to silence.

Really, this CD has not been designed to be listened to in the conventional sense. I listened to it first as I worked late at night at home. I often forget it was on until I stopped to think, and then was aware of the atmosphere created. A true ambient piece, and a very sophisticated one. (WP)

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