The Sight Below - Glider (Ghostly International, 2008)

One of my favorite subgenres of music has always been ambient techno. Chain Reaction, Basic Channel, AFX (early Aphex Twin), B12 and Biosphere are responsible for shaping my interests in not only percussive electronics but ambient music as a whole. As we all know, these days ambient artists end up making techno and techno artists end up making ambient. Well, this Seattle producer has offered up the best hybrid I've heard yet.

Icy and haunted drones made with ebowed guitar, loop pedals, viola box and reverb units are stretched ever so slowly with a pulsating spine of the most subtle 808 percussion I've ever heard. Sometimes just a buried bass kick and sometimes a hi hat that is hardly there, these rhythms create a perfect interplay with the lush ambient soundscapes. This is minimalism at its finest in any accessible realm.

The narrative is a deep, mature and almost holy melancholy that I find difficult to stop listening to.



Get it HERE