seven

as with some of the more ambient cds, "castor & pollux" took me a while to get into, at first I didn't pay much attention to it, but for some reason I kept playing it again and again, and after a while it grew on me more and more. it turns out that its subtle elegance is irresistibly charming and quite addictive. lilienthal is new york's arrow kleeman and I first heard the band on n5md sampler, and later on excellent emanated records compilation.

the album follows the general style of emanate records releases combining soft percussion textures with rich atonal ambient. opening tracks on this cd are my favorites - "blue laser" is playful and almost groovy; minimal strings and atonal motives add weight to this track, while playful, bouncing percussion layers with soft atonal keys is the force that moves it forward. following "crysta" is full of melancholic sentiments; the percussion is something that is simply fascinating on this track, it moves on its own adding rich swirling layers to initially simple technoid beats. soft and fragile "colectr" uses small string elements on the background, a times completely relying on percussion layers that are bouncing and toying with each other.

those were just some of the tracks on this cd that has a lot more to offer. ambient and percussion elements that lilienthal uses could be what inspired the album title, both elements are inseparable and the result is very impressive. this album is not simply ambient, or a percussion-based playground, it is a combination of both that results in a rich atmosphere that is both soothing and provoking.