after reviewing music that i've either purchased or downloaded, i've recently been contacted by a few labels expressing interest in having their music reviewed on this site. it's pretty exciting for me to think that people value what we have to say here. while originally i set out to review things that i felt people should check out, i can't guarantee that these albums will be appealing, but i'll give you objective reviews as always. without further ado, the first review from magnanimous, aaron lennox's sibilance.

aaron lennox

sibilance
[2005, magnanimous]

aaron lennox is an ambient/experimental musician. his music encompasses a broad range of sounds, from drone, ambience/minimalism, field recordings, guitar, sitar, piano and possibly other instrumentation, and it's definitely a pleasure to listen to.

sibilance follows in the footsteps of 2004's highly regarded aellakai, released on foxglove. i'd have to say the biggest differences between the two albums are that aellakai felt more like an ambient album with field recordings. those were the two biggest factors, there was some guitar, but it was definitely less of a feature than on here. another key difference is that the pieces of music on sibilance are far more dynamic. it seems like every two minutes or so, the composition is slightly shifting in sound or changing completely. the changes are never jarring, it's all done very smoothly. the last major difference i noticed was that aaron seemed to be going for more musical territory this time around. the guitar and piano are far more of a presence, it's a very nice addition.

the album opens up with a pretty minimal piece with a persistent drone all the way through, with various other sounds added in the background, possibly the album's most static movement. the second track opens up with a field recording that sounds kind of like a rollercoaster crusing on its tracks, that fades out about a minute and a half into it and then it gets a bit more musical with some acoustic guitar and an ambient background sound. the piece then switches gears once more to a bit of a darker sound about four minutes in. it continues changing shape all the way through, and ends with two minutes of some percussion and piano playing that gives a more memorable quality. since six out of the album's eight tracks (including the 5 second untitled track segueing into the following and etc. movements) are over seven minutes long, you can really appreciate the way aaron keeps the pieces of music constantly changing, for the most part anyway. that's really the way that the album goes. field recordings, instrumentation and ambience, all beautifully crafted and executed. i'd definitely recommend sibilance to anyone who's a fan of the field recordings/ambient style of music, and really anyone who enjoys listening to lush, interesting, music.

Untitled Track Three

polyphasic

petit somme
[2005, magnanimous]

polyphasic are a conceptual ambient techno duo, consisting of west virginia's lincoln miller and lars wigren. i'll say conceptual because the cd's liner notes read as such: "The movements of this composition are engineered to affect brainwave patterns of polyphasic sleepers. Although intended to accompany a power nap, this recording may be enjoyed as an ambient composition for waking hours." i listened to this while wide awake, just to be specific.

this album is definitely of an ambient techno nature. the opener somnolence is the album's most minimal piece, it's really just an eight minute exercise in ambient electronic music. the following pieces add more technoish aspects. i.e. electronic beats, but still maintain a very laid back vibe, it kinda reminds me of a combination of the prettier electronic flourishes of yellow6 and the colder, ambient, soundscapes of zoviet*france. the ending bit of the second track, hypnogogic hallucinations begins what's essentially one eleven minute track that's broken down into three movements, with each subsequent movement adding something new to the piece as it moves along.

polyphasic aren't breaking any new ground in the genre, but i could easily see petit somme appealing to fans of downtempo electronic music.

Brain Wave