Markus Reuter and Zero Ohms / The Sun is Just the Sun, But the Stars They Call The Heavens

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Ambient albums aren’t usually my thing, but to me this one shines out against a backdrop of countless other drone merchants. ‘The Bridge and the Mother’ starts with abstract sounds of someone walking over gravel, backed by deep but warm textures and bright percussion. Gentle guitar touches shine above it all like the early morning sun. The music fades away leaving the walking sound effects. A car starts up and drives off. ‘Marsh of Sleep’ takes us to another beautiful warm setting, like a peaceful garden with birdsong in the background. Ethereal shimmering effects float through the air. There are no obvious patterns or structures, just a lovely ever shifting sea of sound conjuring up one pleasant image after another. ‘Of Praise and Motionless Skies’ is the best track so far with deep windy reverberating drones contrasted by angelic sighing pads. Bright note droplets fall like a gentle refreshing rain. As the track goes on the mood gets a little darker but it is still beautiful throughout. A deep dark sonic soup gives ‘Letting Go Is The Hardest Kind’ a rather eerie but also melancholy feel. As we progress things become increasingly intense, stormy and even aggressive. Anger amongst the sadness. So much seems to be going on in‘ How I Became’ that it is hard to focus on any particular element. Layer after layer of sound shifts, swirls and mutates. Best really not to analyse it at all- just go with the flow. ‘The Perspective of Disappearing’ creates images of dark undersea realms with curious Morse code bleeps over the top. There is loads of energy, indeed it could be said to get quite violent at times! It is the shortest track on the album at just under five minutes but another highlight. ‘The Emptiness Continues’ is initially a montage of swirling sounds until a bright lead line floats above the storm. Must admit that this track didn’t do a great deal for me compared to the rest of the album. Quite frankly it was too complex with loads of subtle sub plots going on underneath. There was just too much going on for me to take it all in. It just came over as chaos, but that could easily be to do with the limitations of my brain rather than the music! There is an instrument list in the sleeve notes but throughout the album everything is so processed it really means nothing to me. All I hear are electronic sounds and textures but what wonderful sounds and textures they are. DFL

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