Ametsub - All Is Silence (CD)

Are ya ready for some gorgeous, glacial electronica? Are ya???? Well, really this album is absolutely wonderful. Its outta Japan, the fellas last effort was praised to the hilt by Ryuichi Sakamoto no less. This one immediately channels the kind of beautiful electronic music that I’ve loved down the years, from Kraftwerk  to Boards of Canada, from Arovane to Bibio. It has a wonderfully warm organic sound that sounds like it was generated old school via tape and found sounds rather than an ipad.  It has a fluttering almost underwater type sound to it with chopped up micro beats and haunting synth pads. A very textural work throughout with great attention to detail and a knack for a melody that shows a firm knowledge of the back roads of Boards of Canada but doesn’t ape them completely. Pretty stunning throughout, this is well worth an investigation.

Where does this music come from? From inside a chopped up piano, from a windy place haunted by birds, from a crowded street. But above all from this man's wonderful, luminous imagination. Deep rivers of ambient texture wash over glitchy, edgy beats, carrying the listener to an intimate, reflective place. This is emotive music, despite its apparent detachment and its sometimes uneasy feel. It's also highly personal; despite the great swathes of sound that threaten to engulf the listener, it's the little details that really matter, betraying the miniaturist at work. Very special; silence never sounded so good.