Side A presents 4 tracks from Tim Martin (aka Maps & Diagrams). His music is mellow and soothing, typically comprising of gently drifting synth washes and unobtrusive rhythmic beats. The nice thing about Martin’s work is that the soothing qualities of the synths are not lost under a distracting barrage of beats – they actually compliment each other. Somehow the beats are toned down to the point where they fuse seamlessly with the calming qualities of the background synths. “Piedras Blancas” bubbles and bleeps along with old school simplicity while “Rhythm Tumbler/Opaque” features melodic chime-like keys and a deep shuffling bassline. In contrast, “237Emotion” is a short track that combines hard but discrete hazy beats with floating church-like keyboards to create a gently flowing ambience. The last of Martin’s tracks is “Flanel”, an uplifting and spatially aware track with very low-key beats and quiet melodies that provide a sense of relaxed calm.
Jackiw’s 3 tracks on Side B offer a different take on the same musical style. His tracks are harder with sharper more clearly defined techno influenced beats. Jackiw’s music is altogether faster paced and more active, providing a sense of speed and motion but in a calm unthreatening way. His first track, “Colour Consciousness”, resembles a hi-speed yet enjoyable train journey where the passing scenery becomes a blur of hypnotic color. On “Form” however Jackiw adopts a drum ‘n’ bass riff alongside gentle sweeping synths somewhat similar to Martin’s tracks on Side A but with the addition of drum ‘n’ bass rhythms. For the last of his tracks, Jackiw brings funky stabbing beats and keyboard melodies to the forefront over an almost orchestral backdrop.
Stylistically Martin and Jackiw are very much alike, with Jackiw emphasizing beats and rhythms while Martin tends to give beats and synths equal breathing space. Not truly ambient but fitting nicely into the ambient techno territory that Biosphere used to inhabit during his earlier days. As Glaciarc is a great debut release for Tundra Music it will be interesting to see what both artists and the label produce in the future. Check Tundra-Music
for more details and sound clips.
Available for purchase through S://kimo Music Mail-Order or direct with an email to PJ with the Subject header ‘Tundra001’. Glaciarc will be available in the second week of June!..
