Testa 1105

This is an odd one, but I like it. Part with any ideas of this being a followup to Bass, Sweat & Tears: this is more experimental, a kind of industrial/dub/ambient crossover deal that only really comes into its own when played start to finish. “Proper” ambient as my mate Mike used to say, and probably would about this. For the most part, this is a single-track dronejourney, with ambient moog moods and deep space sounds aplenty. Technically, not that I understand it technically, it’s a dazzling album – the flow from track to track is simultaneously sublime and intense, and themes from the album’s start find their way back into the flow further down the line. You’ve got a selection of warmer, dubbier tunes that are strung together by vast, drawn-out ambient pieces; most of which have a strange isolation about them, that contrasts well with the warmth and groove he puts together with the bass-led tracks. Micro-Evolution sees some trancey lines add grounding to the music, before it splinters and dichotomises into wobbly nothingness. Shades of Gaudi’s bass-fetish crop up (Night Watch, Dub Hypnosis) but are defragmented into a sort of laconic, postmodern reggae the likes of which have never been heard before. Bass Instinct is a jaw-droppingly good industrial dubscape that’s completely beyond any genre-led description. By the time is all winds up with the expansive pads on After The Plunge, you’re most definitely left thinking you’ve been on a journey – and this, I assume, is Gaudi’s mission accomplished. Not an easy album to get to grips with, but I get the feeling that it’s one that will become a real cornerstone in the ambient collections of whoever gives this a whirl.