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Fri, Jul 30 2010

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Bert


	A BLUE OCEAN DREAM - The Sea (cd-r)


	A PRODUCE - A Smooth Surface (cd-r)


	A PRODUCE - Black Sands (cd-r)


	A PRODUCE - Inscape and Landscape (cd)


	A PRODUCE - Land of a Thousand Trances (cd-r)


	A PRODUCE - Reflect like a Mirror, Respond like an Echo (cd)


	A PRODUCE - Smile on the Void (cd)


	A PRODUCE - White Sands (cd)


	A PRODUCE & M. GRIFFIN - Altara (cd)


	A PRODUCE & RUBEN GARCIA - Early Sessions (cd-r)


	AAIRRIA - Urbanisation (cd)


	ABANDONED TOYS - The Witch's Garden (cd)


	ACHELOO - Ishtar (cd-r)


	ACHELOO - Sirens (cd-r)


	RUDY ADRIAN - Desert Realms (cd)


	RUDY ADRIAN - Kinetic Flow (Sequencer Sketches Vol. 1) (cd)


	RUDY ADRIAN - Moonwater (cd)


	RUDY ADRIAN - Subantarctica (Atmospheric Works Vol.1) (cd-r)


	RUDY ADRIAN - The Healing Lake (cd)


	RUDY ADRIAN - Twilight (Atmospheric Works Vol. 2) (cd-r)


	KEES AERTS - If One Door Closes (cd)


	KEES AERTS - Slices of Time (cd)


	AES DANA - Leylines (cd)


	AETOPUS - Memories of the Elder (cd)


	JOHAN AGEBJöRN - Mossebo (cd)


	AIRSCULPTURE - Fjord Transit (cd)


	AIRSCULPTURE - Quark Soup (cd)


	AIRSCULPTURE - TranceAtlantic (cd)


	AIRWAVES - Ambient Tracks (cd)


	AIRWAVES - Second Shift (cd)


	AKIKAZE - The Age of Deception (cd-r)


	ALEMIS - The Music of Alemis Vol. 1 (cd-r)


	ALIEN NATURE - Anna (cd-r)


	ALIO DIE & JACK OR JIVE - Mei-Jyu (cd)


	ALIO DIE & MARTINA GALVAGNI - Eleusian Lullaby (cd)


	ALIO DIE & PARALLEL WORLDS - Circo Divino (cd)


	ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT - Beyond Silence (cd-r)


	ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT - Cosmic Mandala (cd-r)


	ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT - Cosmology (cd)


	ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT - Drifted Into Deeper Lands (cd)


	ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT - Terra (dvd-r)


	ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT - The Mystic and the Machine (cd-r)


	ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT - The Regions Between (cd-r)


	ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT - Transcendence (cd)


	ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT & JIM COLE - Bislama (cd-r)


	ALQUIMIA & RüDIGER GLEISBERG - Garden of Dreams (cd)


	ALTUS - Black Trees Among Amber Skies (cd-r)


	ALTUS - City of Ashes (cd-r)


	ALTUS - Coma Cluster (cd-r)


	ALTUS - Excursion Two (cd-r)


	ALTUS - Macro (cd-r)


	ALTUS - Rapid Eye Movements (cd-r)


	ALTUS - The Grand Expanse (cd-r)


	THE AMARANTH SIGNAL - Penumbra (cd-r)


	AMBIENTIUM - Fractal Philosophy (cd-r)


	AMETHYSTIUM - Aphelion (cd)


	AMETHYSTIUM - Emblem (cd)


	AMETHYSTIUM - Evermind (cd)


	AMETHYSTIUM - Isabliss (cd)


	AMETHYSTIUM - Odonata (cd)


	AMONGST MYSELVES - Auburn Silhouette (cd)


	AMONGST MYSELVES - Sacred Black (cd)


	JACK ANDREWS - Electrokinesis (cd-r)


	MIKE ANDREWS - Time & Science (cd)


	ANDYMIAN - In the Garden of the Rainy King (cd)


	ANOMALOUS DISTURBANCES - Archive Two (cd-r)


	ANOMALOUS DISTURBANCES - HovR (cd-r)


	ANOMALOUS DISTURBANCES - Inside (cd-r)


	ANOMALOUS DISTURBANCES - The Spirit Molecule (cd-r)


	VINCENT GABRIEL ANTONINI - Unforeseen (cd-r)


	ANTRILON - Mind Erase (cd)


	APERUS - Hinterland (Ep)


	APERUS - Tumbleweed obfuscated by camera failure (cd-r)


	AQUAVOICE - Cold (cd)


	AQUAVOICE - Memories (cd)


	ARC - Church (cd)


	ARC - Fracture (cd)


	ARC - Rise (cd-r)


	ARCANE - Alterstill (cd)


	ARCANE - The Shelter (cd-r)


	ARCANE - Tomorrow’s Wasteland (cd-r)


	ARKHA NOUS - Tria (cd)


	CHRIS ARMSTRONG - A.I. Awakens (cd)


	ARROCATA - In the Distance (cd)


	ARRONIZ - Contacto (cd)


	ART OF INFINITY - Dimension Universe (cd)


	ASHERA - Ambient Selections (cd)


	ASHERA - Cobalt 144 (cd)


	ASHERA - Colour Glow (cd)


	ASHERA - Enviro (cd)


	ASHERA - We Gaia (cd)


	ASHERA & BRANNAN LANE - Sextant (cd)


	DWIGHT ASHLEY & TIM STORY - Standing + Falling (cd)


	DWIGHT ASHLEY - Discrete Carbon (cd)


	ASTROGATOR - Dreamlight (cd-r)


	ASTROVOYAGER - Symphotronic Lunation (cd)


	ASURA - Life 2 (cd)


	CAN ATILLA - Ave (cd)


	ATRIUM CARCERI - Cellblock (cd)


	AUGUST WHEN - The Hour Before Midnight (cd-r)


	AUREALITY - Sense (cd-r)


	AUSTRALIS - Lifegiving (cd)


	AUSTRALIS - The Gates of Reality (cd)


	PAUL AVGERINOS - Muse of the Round Sky (cd)


	PAUL AVGERINOS - Sky of Grace (cd)


	PAUL AVGERINOS - Words Touch (cd)


	AXESS - Voices of Dawn (cd)


	AZUL Y NEGRO - Deja Vu (cd)

ALTUS
Macro
CD-R, Private Release, 2008

"Macro" offers 22 short "behind the scenes" sounds covering a broad range of sounds, from melodic ambient to atonal soundscapes, and a few oddities in between.
As explained by Mike, they are the outcome of the things found after he starts noodling with different sounds while working on new music, but which don't fit in the project he's actually working on.

Well, although the cover of the album scared me off a little (making me a expect a rather abstract sounding recording), "Macro" takes off with beautifully rendered, sedate soundscapes which get even more spacious when "Overhead" comes along.

The abstract sound of an electronic virtual orchestra comes more alive on "Onaip " (which comes in five scattered parts over the album), or "Torrid Sands", but there’s also the saddening string sections of "Ebb". The harmonious, flowing textures continue on "Leaf in the Wind" , "Wood Grain" , "Bialowieza Puszcza" and the spacious realms of "Cerebral Breach".
A track like "Camaraderie" would suit very well as film music while "Stoned-Empire-Monkey-B" is the most experimental piece found here.

The sonic contrast between half of the tracks on this album is something is I don’t know what to do with it, so I simply refer to Mike’s advise: "Given that each track is it's own entity (a rare thing with my work), there's no wrong way to play this album. Pick and choose your favourite tracks, or simply randomize the track listing for a slightly different listen every time. Have fun with it, that's the idea."

In my case that leaves me selecting the textural pieces for my personal enjoyment, approximately 12 tracks in total, although I would have loved all these pieces lasted much longer than they do now.

Website: www.altusmusic.ca